After the Port Arthur massacre, NSW, along with all States and Territories, agreed to a set of principles designed to keep our families and children safe from gun violence.
These laws and regulations have served us well, kept us safe and are supported by almost 90 per cent of voters.
However, the gun safety framework as we know it is under threat from many candidates in this forthcoming NSW election.
There are now over a million guns in NSW alone and some political parties, including the Liberal Democrats, One Nation and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party have actively campaigned to water down our laws, exclusively for the benefit of firearm owners, manufacturers and importers.
In this election, candidates from these parties could hold the balance of power and have an easy road to ensure that all sorts of laws are passed that put children and families at risk of increased gun violence.
We accept the right of people to own and use firearms if they have a genuine need and a genuine reason. But we don't believe that it should be easier to get a gun, to get more guns or allow more powerful guns.
We support increased efforts from law enforcement to deal with the criminals who brandish guns. What we don't support are some of the things that these parties are seeking. We do NOT want to see NSW
· give the right for anyone to own a handgun
· eliminate the registration of firearms
· have lifetime gun licenses with no re-checking
· allow silencers for anyone to use, and
· allow the re-introduction of what are essentially semi-automatic shotguns.
This is not the Australia we want for our children. Our gun laws are balanced and made in the interests of everyone.
Don't let the interests of the firearms industry determine our policies. We only have to look at the USA to see the impact of political influence, lobbying activity and campaign financing to understand the real threat to community safety.
Without our current gun laws it has been estimated that there would have been around 16 mass shootings since Port Arthur.
We are serious about gun safety and, more than most, understand how important strong gun laws are to national safety.
We ask all NSW voters to make sure that their vote counts for community safety and not to support any candidate who wants to weaken our gun laws.
Put the safety of our children and community first.
*The Australian Gun Safety Alliance is a group of concerned organisations from a wide range of sectors, including health, medical, family violence, children, education and emergency services.
The Alliance works to ensure that State and Territory governments continue to comply with the National Firearms Agreement.
