The Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. “SSAA NSW” has congratulated Justice Peter Johnson of the NSW Supreme Court for his strong stance against illegal firearms.
SSAA NSW Executive Director Diana Melham said Justice Johnson’s strong sentence handed down to Talal Alameddine was the best way to reinforce the serious repercussions of illegal firearm use in NSW.
“When people are caught with illegal guns, we must make sure the punishment fits the crime, just as Justice Johnson has done through his tough stance against illegal firearms in our community,” Mrs Melham said.
“Nobody wants criminals and their illegal guns off the street more than law-abiding firearm owners and the 13 ½ year non-parole period handed to the perpetrator of this crime serves as a clear message to those who use illegal guns.”
“We must make it harder for criminals to get their hands on illegal guns by protecting our porous borders.”
“The best way to do this is for the Australian Border Force to increase the number of inspections of containers coming into the country from the current rate of less than one percent.”
Mrs Melham also urged the Federal Government to improve border screening procedures as illegal guns used by criminals accounted for 90 percent of firearm-related homicides.
“We must focus on the criminals with illegal guns,” Mrs Melham said.
“We know that the existing firearms black market in Australia is mostly divided into criminal gangs, whose main focus are crimes rather than dealing with firearms, or small networks of individuals who buy or sell by word of mouth, both of which play a significant role in supplying illegal guns to criminals.” Media Release
