Editorial
| Published date | 01 September 1968 |
| Date | 01 September 1968 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486586800100301 |
EDIT'ORIAL
Firearm3
Control
THE ASSASSINATION
by
shooting
of
Senator
Robert
F.
Kennedy
was
a
tragedy
in
its
own
right
quite
apart
from
the
fact
that
it
followed
upon
the
shooting
and
killing
of
the
Senator's
brother,
President
Kennedy,
and
the
negro
civil
rights
leader,
Dr.
Martin
Luther
King.
The
real
irony
of
the
situation
is
that
following
the
death
of
President
Kennedy
his
younger
brother,
Robert,
publicly
inveighed
against
the
lack
of
control
of
firearms,
the
ease of
obtaining
them,
and
the
lack
of
registration
of possession. He
stated
before a
Congressional
SUb-committee,
when
fighting
for
gun
control:
"It
is
time
we
wiped
this
stain
of violence
from
our
land."
The
killing of
the
Senator
provoked
a
considerable
outcry
in
the
United
states
regarding
the
easy
availability
of
firearms,
especially by
mail
order,
and
the
debate
was
joined
between
those
wishing
to
restrict
and
licence
possession
and
those
wishing
to see
freedom
of possession preserved.
This
latter
group
is well
represented
by
the
National
Rifle Association (N.R.A.)
and
the
National
Shooting
sports
Foundation.
Such
groups
tend
to
rest
their
case
for
the
retention
of
the
status quo,
in
part,
on
the
basis of
the
2nd
Amendment
to
the
Constitution:
A well
regulated
militia,
being
necessary
to
the
security
of a free State.,
the
right
of
the
people to keep
and
bear
arms,
shall
not
be
infringed.
The
problem
of
firearms
control
in
Australia,
like
that
in
the
United
states,
appears
most
complex.
In
Victoria
the
major
portton
of
the
law
controlling
the
possession, use, etc., of
firearms
is to be
found
in
the
Fire-
arms
Act, 1958,
as
amended
by
the
Firearms
(Amendment)
Act, 1958,
the
Firearms
(Interstate
Transactions)
Act, 1964,
the
Firearms
(Amendment)
Act, 1966,
and
in
the
Firearms
Regulations
1959.
Other
references
to
the
use
of
firearms
are
contained
in
the
Crimes
Act, 1958,
and
in
the
Vagrancy
Act, 1966.
In
New
South
Wales
the
principal
statutory
controls
over
fire-
arms
are
exercised
by
the
Police
Offences
Act, 1901-1963,
the
Pistol
Licence
Act, 1927-1946,
and
the
Crimes
Act, 1900.
In
Victoria
afirearm. is
defined
(section
3(1),
Firearms
Act, 1958)
as:
Any
lethal
firearm
or
other
weapon
of
any
description
from
which
any
shot
bullet
or
other
missile
can
be
discharged
and
includes
a
pistol
and
also
includes
any
firearm
or
weapon
from
which
for
the
time
being
any
shot
bullet
or
other
missile
cannot
be
discharged
because
of
the
absence
or
defect
of some
part
or
parts
thereof
or
because
of
some
obstruction
therein
but
which,
if
such
part
or
parts
were
replaced
renewed
or
repaired
or
such
obstruction
removed,
would
be
capable
of
discharging
a
shot
bullet
or
other
missile
Provided
that
a
smooth
bore
shot-gun
which
is
not
less
than
30
inches
long
overall
and
the
barrel
of
which
is
not
less
than
16
inches
long
133
To continue reading
Request your trial