❓ Mr. Love questions the basis for the $64 million allocated to the firearms buyback program. The Minister's response outlines the calculation method based on predicted firearm surrenders due to new licensing regime changes, emphasizing public safety.
AnsweredQoN 19Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FIREARMS — BUYBACK PROGRAM
19. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Police:
I have a supplementary question.
Could the minister then please outline how he arrived at the figure of $64 million
as the appropriate amount of money for the buyback?
19. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Police:
I have a supplementary question.
Could the minister then please outline how he arrived at the figure of $64 million
as the appropriate amount of money for the buyback?
AnswerView source ↗
The amount of the buyback was
determined through assessing all the intended reforms, which are all focused on
providing legislation for a new licensing regime that would address unlawful
firearm activities and make explicit that possessing and using a firearm is not
a right but a privilege—that privilege being conditional on the paramount need to ensure public safety in the state.
That is what drove the range of measures proposed in the consultation paper and it will be in the bill. Through applying those measures and assuming a number
of implications or consequences of those measures, we can predict a range up to
the maximum number of firearms that might be removed from the community in the event that all those measures are
enacted and firearm licence holders who currently hold a firearm licence
either surrender or have their firearms taken from them. A number will not be
eligible for having a firearm anymore. There may currently be a lot of firearm
owners, under the lax legislation that the opposition failed to improve, who will not be able to have a firearm
under the new regime and may want to take advantage of the buyback . That
is how they determine it. It is hard to predict because it is voluntary; they
do not have to sell their firearm to the government. They might sell it
somewhere else. It will be between 90 000 and 100 000 if all the potential
predicted numbers are returned via the buyback.
determined through assessing all the intended reforms, which are all focused on
providing legislation for a new licensing regime that would address unlawful
firearm activities and make explicit that possessing and using a firearm is not
a right but a privilege—that privilege being conditional on the paramount need to ensure public safety in the state.
That is what drove the range of measures proposed in the consultation paper and it will be in the bill. Through applying those measures and assuming a number
of implications or consequences of those measures, we can predict a range up to
the maximum number of firearms that might be removed from the community in the event that all those measures are
enacted and firearm licence holders who currently hold a firearm licence
either surrender or have their firearms taken from them. A number will not be
eligible for having a firearm anymore. There may currently be a lot of firearm
owners, under the lax legislation that the opposition failed to improve, who will not be able to have a firearm
under the new regime and may want to take advantage of the buyback . That
is how they determine it. It is hard to predict because it is voluntary; they
do not have to sell their firearm to the government. They might sell it
somewhere else. It will be between 90 000 and 100 000 if all the potential
predicted numbers are returned via the buyback.
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