00:00Brendan Barrows has a problem with foxes.
00:06I'm losing lambs by the hundreds with foxes and the quickest humane way to eradicate them,
00:14which is the problem, is with a shotgun.
00:17He bought a shotgun last year after checking with police
00:20it would be permitted for fox control under the new regulations.
00:25Just before Christmas he received a letter saying it was now banned.
00:29It has to be handed in for no compensation or anything, so it's an $1800 take away.
00:35The controversial gun control laws bans the use of rapid reload guns or semi-automatics.
00:42Once you pass a law that says public safety is the number one consideration,
00:46above all other considerations, you cannot justify semi-automatic shotguns and rifles.
00:52But in rural WA farmers say they are an essential tool.
00:56Unless you're a gun ho shot and you can shoot them with a single bullet on the run,
01:01then you should be shooting in the Olympics for Australia, but we ain't all like that.
01:06I think government has thrown a blanket over a problem and captured everyone in that net.
01:12When they're trying to manage illegal gun management or firearm crime,
01:18as a former police commissioner I don't know that we've ever had problems
01:21with people who belong to those organisations.
01:23It's not the sort of people we're trying to control.
01:25We have done everything we can to communicate with our community
01:28about the consequences and impact of those laws
01:31and we have consulted widely as part of that process, as has government.
01:35As Police Minister Paul Papalia oversaw the legislation,
01:39but he's now been replaced by Rhys Whitby.
01:42Labor Party insiders believe the firearms issue drove voters away from Labor
01:48in the seats of Albany, Warren Blackwood and Geraldton.
01:52In a statement the government says it's unapologetic about banning rapid release
01:57or push-button firearms, insisting the changes are here to stay.
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