WTF: SIFA supports national registry

In the midst of the anti-gun propaganda blitzkrieg of the previous week, you may have noticed this release from SIFA:

“Australian states and territories committed to enacting baseline firearms controls via the National Firearms Agreement 1996. The NFA was reaffirmed by all Australian jurisdictions in 2017.

Australian licenced firearms owners are among the most heavily vetted members of our communities – and are subject to ongoing obligations around personal behavior, safe storage and use, and genuine need.

Australian firearms laws are extremely strict and differ in scope and intent from those of all other nations. In recent times, Australia’s firearms controls have focused resources on how firearms look and how firearms are loaded. This focus contributes nothing to Australian community safety.

Australia’s focus must immediately turn to a national Firearms Management System so that law enforcement has access to real time, decision critical, quality data about who is licensed, what they are permitted to own and where those firearms are held. All Australian jurisdictions agreed to this in 1996 and reaffirmed their commitment in 2017. No Australian jurisdiction is positioned in 2019 to uphold this commitment to the Australian people.

All Australian jurisdictions must commit to a National Firearms Interface.

Any other focus would be a betrayal of Australian communities’ expectation that our elected representatives, regulators and law enforcement organisations will keep us safe.”

Supporting the NFA and committing to what essentially is a national firearms registry? No thanks.

We applaud the good work SIFA has done in recent times, particularly their involvement in both the Victorian and Queensland elections. It’s good to see the dealers and manufacturers getting involved politically and financially where other organisations refuse to.

However, a national registry is a joke and we will under no circumstances support this and continue to advocate for the abolition of firearms registration.

One only has to look at the recent NSWFAR audit to look at how much of a costly, ineffective failure that firearm registration has become. It serves no proven benefit and despite calls for the re-introduction of it in New Zealand, it is a waste of time and money that does not prevent or solve crime.

SIFA should come out and clarify their statements, not make vague insinuations about what almost certainly appears to be support for a national firearm registry. Gun owners are already on Crimtrac and if there is one thing the government does poorly, it is IT security.

A national honeypot for anyone who wants to know where, how and who to steal firearms from is a recipe for disaster.

Disagree completely on this one. Can the registries, put the money back into actual policing of illegal firearms and be done with it.