The battle to end an ideologically-driven closure of gun shops in regional Queensland may be about to claim victory, judging by the last-minute “conversion” of Labor’s Maryborough MP, Bruce Saunders.
Mr Saunders, who has previously expressed his hatred of guns, has come out saying gun shops should be allowed to open. Such a conversion would usually indicates the Labor Party is about to back down and the MP wants to get out on the front foot to convince his constituents he was working for them all along.
I circulated a petition to have restrictions lifted but this is the first sign of support he had seen from the Labor MP. I don’t recall seeing Mr Saunders taking a stand or petitioning against his own government’s knee-jerk regulations. I don’t recall him rushing in to sign the petition.
This last-minute conversion is either an indication of an imminent backflip or he is trying to pull the wool over regional Queenslanders’ eyes. Central Queenslanders know the Labor Party hates guns and they hate the people who use them. They also know that the Labor Party has no regard for the needs of farmers or anyone else living outside the south-east corner so they won’t be fooled as easily as Mr Saunders believes.