“MORE than 100 five-shot Adler shotguns are registered in Tasmania, themercury.com.au reports. “And a simple ‘do it yourself’ kit available online can see the five-shot 12 gauge converted into an 11-round rapid fire shotgun. It follows concerns by anti-gun advocates about the number of firearms in Tasmania and the proliferation of small arsenals across the state.”
Props to themercury.com.au for not calling the anti-firearms freedom folks campaigning in The Land Down Under “gun safety” advocates. Brickbats for the anti-gun advocates for their anti-firearms freedom fixation on a lever-action shotgun, especially when Australian criminals are having plenty of “success” with regular shotguns.
Clearly, Australian antis consider a “rapid-fire” shotgun a weapon suitable only for mass murder. Hence their interminable fight to make it unavailable to average Aussie.
The emergence of the rapid-fire shotgun sparked fears about the impact on community safety and the potential undermining of the landmark National Firearms Agreement. In response the Commonwealth slapped an import ban on the seven-shot Adler. However, the five-shot Alder is currently legal in Tasmania and there are no Federal Government bans on its importation.
Gun Control Australia vice president Roland Browne urged the Government to ban the shotgun.
“Rapid fire shotguns should not be available and the Government is letting us down in failing to prohibit this firearm,” Mr Browne said.
Last month the Council of Australian Governments failed to agree on whether the Adler should be recategorised as a firearm for which it is is harder to get a licence.
The battle over the Adler continues, a squabble that shows what happens when you open the door to laws that discriminate between commonly available arms and those reserved for the police, military and other priviliged groups.