A gun shop owner in Young has blasted proposals to tighten Australia’s gun laws, labeling the debate over the import of lever action Adler shotguns as “pointless”.
Debate is currently raging over the classification of the Adler after reports emerged that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull may be willing to relax gun laws and lift a ban on imports of the seven-shot version of the weapon.
Meanwhile Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce wants the legally-available five-shot Adler A110 shotgun to be placed under greater restrictions.
"I don't want to make it so they are virtually impossible to get. I believe they should be slightly higher rated than they are at the moment," Mr Joyce said.
"I think category B is better than category A."
The seven round Adler A110 was banned in mid-2015 amid police concerns about a plan to bring large numbers of them into the country.
Owner of Young Guns and Ammo, Graham Jamieson, thinks the Adler should remain a category A firearm and the distinction between the five and seven-shot guns is meaningless.
“There are thousand and thousands of lever action guns in Australia and there’s no reason to classify them above category A,” he said.
“It’s not a military or defence weapon, it’s a standard hunting gun.
“In reality, it doesn't make much difference if you get another two rounds,” Mr Jamieson said.
As a category A firearm, the Adler is relatively easy for licensed gun holders to buy but gun control advocates want the Adler classified as a category C or D firearm, making things harder.
There is concern that, because of the high capacity and fire-rate of the Adler it needs stricter regulation.
Mr Jamieson disagrees and said fears that a category A classification would lead to increased crime are unfounded.
“It’s the last gun you’d want to use as a criminal, it’s slow and cumbersome,” he said.
“Those people are not going to use these sort of guns.”
The ban will remain in place until the states and territories can agree.
