Connor Whittle – Liberal Democrats (Senate)

Can’t agree more on the power of the pollie. Indeed, Federal politicians have a huge influence on licensing, regulation, and as the Adler saga shows – prohibition.
Thankfully that works both ways, with the hard work of David Leyonhjelm in the Senate successfully fighting against and overturning the ban – success we want to emulate and grow with this election!

• Lawful firearm ownership and use in Australia
  It is my opinion that lawful firearm ownership, in all its good and honest forms is something that is good and right and aught to be encouraged – as it is enjoyable, teaches skills for life, brings people together, and is one of the safest sports by a long shot.
  And it is for these reasons that the barriers to entry need to be lessened, and the constant vilification of good people need to be stopped.
• Unlawful possession of firearms in Australia
  I’ve seen first hand completely illegal firearms in Australia, no law stopped those from getting in. And with the likes of the Luty SMG able to be constructed in large part by items bought from hardware stores, it goes to show that those who do not fear the courts or gaols are able to be as armed only as well as their wallet allows.
  This is of course ignoring the million-something number of firearms not handed in during the buy-backs, owned still by otherwise law abiding and peaceful persons.
• What risks exist in regards to lawful or unlawful ownership/possession of firearms
  Perhaps the greatest legal risk is that lawful ownership could turn into unlawful ownership with a pen-stroke! Whether this is achieved by gun grabbers in Canberra, or increasingly by the actions of unelected bureaucrats.
• The Western Australia Firearms Act (1973), Regulations (1974), and their effectiveness in regulating firearm licenses and firearm ownership
  I’m not fully versed in the acts other than some of their more recent additions such as the military appearance nonsense.As for the regulations more generally, I can only comment from what I see personally through the news or with my own eyes, and that is hundreds of thousands of semi-autos not handed in, and shipping containers full of automatics coming in from Asia.But the regulations mean that it is difficult and expensive to add an old .303 to your collection if you’ve not got the land, of course.
• Firearm use in Western Australia for hunting pest animals
  This is something that should be encouraged when done so in a safe manner – to the extent that the Liberal Democrats want to open up the national parks to allow the hunting of pests where safe to do so – and with our countless miles of uninhabited land, there’s plenty of safe space to go around!
• Firearm use in Western Australia for target/competition shooting
  I love it and fully support this style of shooting, a few years ago I was introduced to prac pistol shooting at Jarrahdale and I can’t get enough. More Western Australians would love competition and recreational shooting if they were only introduced to it.

Thanks for asking these question Zaine.
Firearms are what got me into Libertarianism and the Liberal Democrats in the first place, so anything I can do to help support this activity is something I’ll jump at the chance to do.

Best regards,

Connor Whittle