![New legislation puts civil liberties at threat: Shooters Union New legislation puts civil liberties at threat: Shooters Union](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/88uitQDCBZnXA8enwGJ5Zd/3c89a9a8-28cd-4c46-a15c-7d43b72016de.JPG/r179_0_3840_2005_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Firearms representatives and civil libertarians alike have raised serious concerns about the Queensland Community Safety Bill introduced into the Queensland Parliament at the beginning of May.
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As well as introducing provisions that could expand the situations under which police can conduct warrantless searches of people, places or vehicles; and allow authorities to force people to take down social media posts, Shooters Union Australia believes the planned bill will revoke gun licences from people who have done nothing wrong.
SUA president Graham Park called some of the bill's provisions "truly frightening" and said it was outrageous the consultation period was only a fortnight long.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said consultation was undertaken with key stakeholders, including the SUA, prior to introduction of the Bill, but Mr Park said the bill contained many things they hadn't been told about during a brief meeting in February.
Mr Ryan said the bill had been referred to the Community Safety and Legal Affairs Committee for six weeks for its consideration, and said if SUA would like a longer timeframe to consider the bill, he'd encourage them to apply "via the proper processes".
Among the 'truly frightening provisions in the bill for shooters that Mr Park was concerned about were the section he said would potentially allow police to revoke the firearms licence of people because of things their family members have done.
"There are things that make the friends and family of people with a Firearms Prohibition Order subject to warrantless searches, and the bill would allow the police to order people to take down social media posts with certain firearms content in them," he said. "A mere fortnight of community consultation is spectacularly inadequate and a less charitable interpretation might be that it's intentional, to keep the number of submissions to a minimum."
Mr Park said the bill's contents affected literally everyone in Queensland, so it was imperative the consultation period be extended to allow Queenslanders a genuine ability to have meaningful input on it.
"We're calling on the Miles Government to significantly extend the consultation period for the Community Safety Bill so everyone in Queensland - regardless of whether or not they are a shooter - can properly look over the bill, understand its implications, and make an informed submission on it," he said.
"Right now, this bill claims to be about community safety, but what we're seeing is an erosion of civil liberties and an expansion of police authority - which will further erode Queenslanders' quality of life."
Civil rights lawyer Terry O'Gorman was prompted to write to SUA to advise that he believed there were aspects of the proposed legislation that could have considerable negative consequences for people engaged in the rural sector.
"Close attention needs to be given to the proposed Firearm Prohibition Order," he said. "The term 'public interest' requires close analysis as to the ease with which a police-issued FPO can occur."
Minister Ryan said the bill sought to implement a number of key firearms safety enhancements flowing from the Queensland Audit Office's Regulating Firearms Report, which was published in 2020, and the implementation of a Firearms Prohibition Order Scheme that is in place in almost every Australian state.
Mr O'Gorman said it was claimed that the Queensland FPO model aligns with similar schemes used throughout Australia but the extent to which schemes in other states protect potential miscarriages of justice from occurring with FPOs was not referred to by Mr Ryan in his introduction speech.
Katter's Australian Party MP Nick Dametto said bundling in legislation that would deal with knife crime and juvenile crime with weapons licencing changes smacked of an election ploy.
"I think they've created wedge legislation, lumping everything together, to say we voted against addressing youth crime," he said. "They could have easily broken this into two bills."
Mr Dametto said the legislation was making lawful firearms owners a threatened species.
"Among the troubling provisions of the bill is the introduction of a firearms prohibition order scheme, a verification process for purchasing small arms ammunition, and reforms to the 'Fit and Proper Person' test. These changes, if implemented, would have far-reaching consequences for Queenslanders," he said.
"What the Labor government is not explaining is how, if these changes were already in place, would they have worked to prevent any of Queensland's most recent firearm tragedies? They aren't going to prevent firearms falling into the wrong hands of bad people or those with extremist views."
Owner of Pagan Firearms in Townsville, Mr Anthony Pagan said that the proposed bill would not only affect his business and the firearm industry it was also everyday Queenslander's that stand to be affected by the draconian changes.
"We see this legislation as targeted towards licensed firearm owners and reducing the number of legal firearms in the community and attacking the dealers," Mr Pagan said.
"It contains nothing about reducing the number of illegal firearms out in the community.
"We are very worried about what this legislation is proposing, and the general public should certainly take the time to read it because it impacts on others aside from just licensed firearm holders."