By Preventable Tragedies and Knee-jerk Gun Laws
On the first of February, findings from an internal West Australian Police investigation into the tragic Floreat murders in 2024 were released.
The investigation found that this event was not the result of inadequate firearm laws, as decreed by WA Police Minister Paul Papalia, but rather, police failing to enforce the laws already in place.
As we have seen with similar events in the past, the WA Government then used this tragedy as the primary reason to introduce a series of knee- jerk, unreasonable and unfair firearm laws in Western Australia, despite the fact that existing legislation was more than sufficient to prevent this crime if properly enforced.
The Floreat Case: A Preventable Tragedy
It is now reported that Mark Bombara legally possessed firearms despite numerous red flags. His family raised concerns about his deteriorating mental state and WA police were aware of his history of abuse, his access to and incorrect storage of firearms as well as him having suffered a stroke.
Under WA Police Minister Paul Papalia’s leadership, WA Police failed to act on these clear red flags and literal pleas from his family that he was a threat to them and others.
Rather than intervening and enforcing the legislation and regulation already at their disposal, WA Police’s lack of action resulted in the preventable deaths of two people.
Once again, licensed and law-abiding shooters are the scapegoat.
Instead of awaiting the results of internal investigations and the coronial inquest, the WA Government has rushed to pass a rewrite of the Firearms Act which places some of the heaviest restrictions on firearms licence holders and businesses in the world.
WA’s tactics follow an all-too-common chain of events: politicians and police hurriedly call for amendments to or rewrites of firearms legislation and regulations before the facts are laid bare and before the public are made aware it was a failure to administer the laws already on the books.
The Edwards murders in NSW (2018) are another recent example, which saw premature calls from some lawmakers for legislative change before all the facts were known.
John Edwards, a known domestic violence offender, was approved for a firearms licence despite multiple red flags that should have been found by police. NSW Police and the Firearms Registry failed to cross-check his history of AVOs and ignored reports from gun clubs that questioned his fitness to own firearms.
Like the Floreat case, had existing laws been enforced, Edwards never would have had access to firearms.
This all too common occurrence leaves many questions unanswered, but none more important than: Why didn’t the police act?
Enforce the Laws We Already Have
The laws needed to prevent the Floreat and Edwards murders already existed, they simply weren’t enforced, and by the time a tragic event happens, it is already too late.
The fact remains that in these circumstances, the knee-jerk approach to policy is so politicians can be seen to be “doing something” and to cover up their own (and the department’s) failures.
Rather than attacking licensed and law-abiding shooters and industry, politicians like Paul Papalia should ensure police use their existing powers to deny, suspend or revoke firearm licences when real red flags are raised. It is also imperative that politicians wait for investigations to be completed, and the causal effect of the event becomes known before proposing legislative changes. This would ensure policy is based on evidence, not political pressure. Another non-negotiable is that politicians must demand accountability for institutional failures, rather than punishing lawful firearm owners.
A Smarter Approach to Firearm Policy
Instead of exploiting tragedy to score political points, politicians should prioritise evidence-based policymaking. Paul Papalia’s approach, is anything but evidence-based. It is a pure ideological approach to confuse the public into believing his laws will stop the situation occurring again, yet as this was due to WA Police failings, no amount of new legislation will have any effect.
This is an example of short-sighted policymaking, rather than prioritising accountability and evidence-based solutions, Papalia’s actions appear aimed at creating a lasting political legacy.
A responsible and accountable approach would see him accept the failings and now focus reform on the police processes and lack of enforcement that allowed this event to happen.
It is now very clear that this process isn’t about facts and never has been. It is simply an inept Minister who is using any excuse to restrict licensed gun ownership and is aiming his reform at the easy target: the licensed and law-abiding shooters, all the while refusing to take ownership of the failures by WA Police that led to this horrific event.
Now the dust has settled, and the facts have been laid bare, the focus should be on police processes and ensuring enforcement of the very strict laws already in place to prevent avoidable tragedies rather than introducing further unnecessary restrictions.
As we have been unfortunate to witness, laws are only as good as their enforcement, so before any new firearm law is introduced, coronial inquests and police investigations must be completed to ensure decisions are based on evidence, not politics.
Read more:
Inquest into the deaths of John, Jack and Jennifer Edwards
Date announced for WA’s firearm laws amid ‘largest gun buyback since the Port Arthur massacre
