The Greens have called for the state and federal governments to ‘put community safety before the political demands of the gun lobby’ and ban two rapid-fire guns that they say have an ‘unequalled rate of fire’.
The rapid-fire Verney Carron Speedline Rifle has already snuck through importation controls as a readily available Category B firearm while the Verney-Carron Veloce Shotgun is currently tied up in court.
Greens gun control spokesperson David Shoebridge said the two weapons were ‘even more dangerous than the controversial Adler A110’, adding they ‘present a serious threat to public safety’.
‘No weapon designed for an extremely rapid cycling through of shot after shot should have a Category B classification.
‘Category B weapons are available to hundreds of thousands of recreational shooters across Australia.
The party is calling for the state governments to reclassify both weapons as Category D, effectively banning them from sale and for the federal government to refuse importation licences for both guns.
‘We have written to the (NSW) Police Minister urging for the immediate reclassification of the rifle that has already been imported and for a clear statement in support of banning the shotgun,’ Mr Shoebridge said.
‘When you have a manufacturer bragging about a weapon’s ‘unequalled rate of fire’ it would be dangerously irresponsible for any government not to act.
‘There is no doubt that these firearms are a new threat to public safety and must be banned.
‘It is simply unacceptable that these weapons may be available to hundreds of thousands of recreational shooters across the country as a category B weapons.
‘The great strength of the National Firearm Agreement was the restrictions it placed on all rapid fire or semi-automatic weapons, we can not allow this historic agreement to be watered down.
‘These are a new style of weapons best described as ‘semi-semi-automatic’ and they must be classified as Category D which would effectively ban them.
‘State and Commonwealth governments have done too many deals with the gun lobby, it’s time that community safety is put before the interests of those who want to make money from importing and selling these lethal weapons.’ Mr Shoebridge said
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