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John Howard leads the State Police Ministers to the conference room to discuss gun law reform.Credit:Andrew Meares

First published in the Sydney Morning Herald on May 11,1996

Australia will have its first comprehensive national approach to gun control after the Prime Minister,Mr Howard,last night secured a historic deal with State and Territory police ministers.

The agreement,which provides a unified government response to the Port Arthur massacre two weeks ago,will see a sweeping ban on the sale and possession of automatic and semi-automatic weapons.

The States will also move swiftly to enact uniform legislation involving:

* A nationwide registration system linking weapons with their owners.

* A much tougher licensing system,giving police broad powers to refuse people the right to possess firearms.

* A 12-month amnesty,giving owners time to hand over outlawed weapons before the introduction of new sanctions,including"severe penalties"for possession of prohibited weapons.

* A buy-back system,allowing owners and dealers to be compensated for the return of weapons acquired legally.

The deal was reached after about eight hours of talks. As expected,the stumbling block was the resistance of the conservative States,particularly Victoria,Western Australia and the Northern Territory,to a complete ban on low-powered semi-automatics such as popular .22 rifles.

At one stage,the Federal Attorney-General,Mr Daryl Williams,QC,advised the Prime Minister that the meeting was close to collapse on this point.

PM John Howard comforts the chief surgeon Dr Bryan Walpole after the State Service for the Port Arthur Victims at The Cathedral Church of Saint David,Hobart on May 1,1996.Credit:Rick Stevens

The deadlock was broken when Mr Howard agreed to a slight retreat on his demand for"total prohibition".

There will be no general access to low-powered .22s and self-loading and pump-action rifles but farmers will be able to apply to police for a 12-month permit to own and use these weapons. They will have to satisfy police that they have a genuine need for the guns which cannot be met by any other methods.

Mr Howard,who announced the deal flanked by the police ministers and the Tasmanian Premier,Mr Tony Rundle,denied that he had been forced to bow to pressure from the States,saying that,if anything,the new laws were tougher than his original proposal.

Pump-action shotguns,which had been originally excluded from the plan,will now be included. They will be available only to authorities and to farmers demonstrating a genuine need.

Mr Howard said the governments had delivered a uniform and much tougher approach to gun laws that had been almost unthinkable three weeks ago.

"I think we have done good work for the future of Australia today,"he said.

"We have done something that will build a safer environment for our children. We have done something that will send a signal to people all around this country that ours is not a gun culture,ours is a culture of peaceful co-operation."

The Sporting Shooters'Association described the proposed bans as a"gross invasion on the rights of law-abiding citizens"and said it would run vigorous protests against State governments.

Front page of the Sydney Morning Herald,May 1,1996Credit:SMH

The association's national president,Mr Ted Drane,said:"I believe governments have underestimated the depth of feeling amongst gun owners about this move. And gun owners'anger will not go away."

The anti-gun lobby,while welcoming the outcome,said it fell short of the minimum originally sought by Mr Howard.

The Coalition for Gun Control said the meeting had failed to outlaw mail-order sales and the new system did not sufficiently restructure the private selling or reselling of guns.

But its convenor,Professor Simon Chapman,added:"Everybody working in public health,domestic violence and in suicide prevention,and the whole of the Australian community,owe John Howard and the police ministers a huge vote of thanks."

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