Neil Mitchell calls on Australia to ‘get tougher’ on guns

In the wake of the horror Texas school shooting, where 19 primary school students and two adults were killed, Neil Mitchell says it’s time to look at our gun laws closer to home.

The 3AW Mornings host says it’s “time to get tougher” in Australia.

Australia’s gun reform after the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996 has led to the country’s gun laws being considered among the world’s best.

But 26 years on, Neil Mitchell says it’s time to reassess.

“All sorts of things have happened since John Howard took the tough stand on gun laws after Port Arthur,” he said.

“There are 3.8 million legal firearms in Australia, and that’s far more than at the time of Port Arthur.

“We have done an excellent job getting guns out of the community, but we’ve got to have a new look.

“Arguably we need to tighten the laws further. We certainly have to have a look at it.

“We’ve got these rapid fire shotguns that are legally available in parts of the country.

“We have to be alert to what’s changing and we have to continually be refining what we do.”

Press PLAY below to hear what Neil Mitchell thinks should happen

Vice-president of Gun Control Australia, Roland Brown, says since Australia’s 1996 gun law reform, the gun lobby has constantly tried to weaken laws.

And, in some instances, they’ve succeeded.

“Governments have pretty much held the line, but in 2017 we saw rapid fire shotguns legalised for import into Australia. That has to change,” Mr Brown told Neil Mitchell.

“There’s no particular reason that somebody would need a rapid-fire shotgun.”

Gun Control Australia is calling on all states and territories to bring their laws back in line with the 1996 firearms agreement.

“Victoria, early on, abandoned the cooling off period, which is the time between your application for your permit to get a gun and when you can get a gun … for second and other firearms,” Mr Brown said.

The gun control group is also calling for the number of firearms which a person can have to be limited, and for storage requirements to be reviewed.

“There’s significant numbers of thefts of firearms that have been stored in accordance with the regulations,” Mr Brown said.

“We’d like to see alarms and monitoring back to security companies for guns that are stored.”

Press PLAY below to hear what Gun Control Australia says must change