The Adler Matter in the Senate

Yes the Adler Shotgun issue rolls on & it's very bizarre. To the point where the actual gun will be overshadowed by other issues including the actual ban having done more to promote & sell the firearm than anything else.

Last night the issue was voted on, to drop the ban, with several Nationals MPs crossing the floor to vote with Senator David Leyonhjelm. In short it was defeated and the Import Ban remains in place. The promised sunset clause has been reneged upon, the ban remains in place.

So the status quo remains, the status quo is this. Currently...

1. It is possible to legally buy, own, possess and use a 5 shot lever action shotgun in Australia.
2. There's now a growing number of similar firearms available to choose from. Made by Emerald, IAC, Pardus, Winchester and several others. All 5 shot lever action unless they were 6 or 8 shot and been around for a decade or more.
3. The Import of the 7 shot Adler (and any other brand) is impossible. The temporary ban remains in place until the states agree on its classification. They've been legal and available since, well since ever, that remains, its just that now only a 5 shot can be imported.
4. It is perfectly legal to buy a 5 shot Adler (or other brand) and legally buy a magazine extension that turns it into a legal 7 or 10 round Shotgun.
5. The Ban, the ongoing angst over it has heightened sales greater than any advertising ever could. The local gun shop here has 7 sold ones on the shelf awaiting collection and the man behind the counter said "We can't get them in quick enough, we get them in and they're sold"

The fact also remains that there's been no recorded use of a lever action shotgun being used in a crime or mass shooting. The Lindt Café shooting involved a shotgun, but it was an illegal sawn off pump action, bought on the black market by a person who did not and never has possessed a firearms permit.

Outcome -

Its logic is stalled, its a political football that is being maintained in a bizarre circling pattern.

If there is indeed a threat to the public from this firearm, the hazard has increased through heightened sales and legal modifications. To date, nothing.

Politically its achieved the exact opposite of what it was meant to achieve. Its sold far more of the "Perfectly OK, safe & approved 5 shot". Many of which are being legally converted to 7 or 10 shot magazines. Which are the somehow unsafe and a heightened threat.

And all the while one other factor gets missed...this is a blatant act of Sovereign Over Reach by the federal government into State legislation. The Federal Government could not ban this fire arm, it could only ban its import. The states couldn't agree, status quo remains.

And still I cannot get anyone from the Government, any government to say WHY it requires banning, why 5 is ok but 7 shot isn't.

It still remains that there are 4 broad types of firearms.

1. Single shot - One cartridge goes into it, its fired, you open the breach, remove the spent cartridge, put in another, take aim and fire again. Muskets also fall into this area
   
2. Repeaters - These have a magazine that holds additional round. Bolt action, straight pull, pump action and lever actions fall into this grouping. Repeaters actually repeat. Still need manual loading of a single round, manual firing, manual ejection, manual reloading, manual firing. When the lever action first appeared over 150 years ago, what was it called? "Lever action repeater"
   
3. Semi Automatic - Still needs a pull of the trigger. Each pull only fires ONE round. The recoil and/or gas ejects the spent load & reloads the next round for you, but you still have to pull the trigger for each bullet. In fact you have to release the trigger and actually pull it again to fire subsequent rounds.
   
4. Fully Automatic - These are "machine guns" or "sub machine guns". If there's a group that is truly encapsulated by the bogus term "assault rifle" this is it. It ejects & reloads same as a semi automatic, but in this case it can fire as long as the trigger is held on. It can fire faster bursts. It was effective in battle to a point, but turns to stink because a soldier runs out of ammunition very quickly, most of it is wasted and it heats up the barrel and action. To be fair you would & should include "SELECT FIRE" firearms in this group. These are the semi automatics that have a switch that allows you to select from semi auto to full auto.

Its turned into a fight without reasoning, its turned into an embarrassing stuff up by Tony Abbott's government, latched onto by many MPs with no idea what's right or wrong nor why. Are they thinking they're placating irate voters? It will continue to simmer. The problem still exists, its been made worse by the import ban yet the problem unsurprisingly hasn't created any increased threat at all.

Bizarre to the point of embarrassing to watch.

Net outcome is, if it lasts any longer and gets any bigger, the people keen on dumping the Political Duopoly ala Trump style will probably grow and they'll head for the minor parties

The Nationals, Shooters Fishers & Farmers Party & One Nation will gather traction on this and several other 2nd & 3rd Tier Issues. One Nation less so in WA as the possible negative "Rodney Culleton Effect" increases.

SFFP are gathering steam & traction but so too are Nats WA with their fight for GST fairness and the Lease Rental Fee. SFFP are unlikely to run Lower House candidates so the battleground will be the rural & regional Upper House seats.

So many people with far more experience in political matters have gotten things wrong in this last 12 months so my thinking could easily be Seriously wrong.

Pretty sure though, your vote is now worth far more than ever, don't waste it and don't waste the opportunity to discuss it with family & friends.

Seriously Think About Your Vote