Read the bold bit, what a load!
Call for investigation into Police Minister Bill Byrne shooting rats at his suburban home
PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has been called on to stand down gun-toting Police Minister Bill Byrne for using a rifle to shoot rats in his suburban home.
The Opposition will today write to Police Commissioner Ian Stewart calling for an investigation into whether Mr Byrne has complied with Queensland’s Weapons Act, which he administers.
Shooters groups also warned he may have committed an offence and urged Queenslanders to use baits rather than the Minister’s method for urban rodent removal.
However, the Queensland Premier is standing by Mr Byrne, with her office insisting firing a weapon at home was legal and any offence would be outdated anyway.
The Weapons Act restricts recreational licence holders to shooting on rural land with the owner’s approval, while those with a club licence can only fire a weapon at a shooting range.
Mr Byrne told The Courier-Mail that on a number of occasions he’d taken aim at rats with his .22 calibre rifle inside the roof of his Rockhampton home.
The former army officer’s comments were aimed at shooting down malicious rumours that he was reprimanded by the army for firing a weapon during a domestic dispute in the 1990s.
“This rumour started out a long time ago when I was still in the military,” Mr Byrne said, adding he’d fired rat-shot bullets to “remove rats and the like” in his home.
Opposition police spokesman Jarrod Bleijie said Mr Byrne needed to come clean about what gun licence he held at the time.
“There are holes throughout the Minister’s story,” he said. “Annastacia Palaszczuk should immediately stand the Police Minister down until police assess the situation.”
Queensland Shooters Union president Graham Park said Mr Byrne may have “committed an offence under the Weapons Act”.
“This is why we are always trying to work with the government, so we can streamline legislation so police resources aren’t used on things like mouse shootings,” he said.
He recommended using baits rather than bullets.
Earlier, Ms Palaszczuk said Mr Byrne had appropriately dispelled the rumour.
Ms Palaszczuk’s spokesman last night said that the Opposition was entitled to make a complaint, however Mr Byrne was allowed to shoot a gun in his own home.
“As owner of the property, Bill didn’t require anyone’s consent,” the Premier’s spokesman said.
I bet you're all confident now that you can use your rifle in your house in the suburbs completely legally and not be charged with anything, right?