Bondi shooting: Police Commissioner Col Blanch vows to use WA gun laws to ‘hunt down the evil’ after massacre

The State’s top cop says he is confident the armoury of six legal firearms used by a father and son to wage terror at Bondi Beach would not have passed muster in WA. Col Blanch said the State’s new Firearms Act, which came into effect in March, offers the community better protection. “The law allows me to take guns off exactly that type of person, which we have already done on multiple occasions here in WA since the Firearms Act has come in place,” the Police Commissioner said. “I will stick to my community of Western Australia and enact those but I think Australia deserves those answers from those relevant agencies in the fullness of time when they understand those details.” But WA Police sources say past investigations have been frustrated, even inhibited, by a lack of information sharing from Commonwealth agencies. WA’s new gun laws restrict most individuals to five firearms under a standard hunting licence, and gun holders require a “genuine reason” for each one. Primary producers and competition shooters can apply for up to 10 firearms. However, 56 “very high-powered” firearms, including pump-action shotguns and large-calibre or long-range rifles, have been banned. Prohibition orders can be applied if a person is “not fit or proper” or a member of a “disqualifying organisation”. “We can also take those guns off people as a result of the association of others that live in their premises. That’s how strong these firearms laws are,” Mr Blanch said. But he wouldn’t say whether any guns have been seized due to a licence holder’s anti-Semitic views or associations. “What I can say is I’m aware of many people where we have removed guns from houses as a result of their associations. I’m not going to be specific,” Mr Blanch said. Mr Blanch vowed to “hunt down the evil”, and did not rule out taking WA’s new gun laws even further in the wake of Sunday’s mass shooting. Police Minister Reece Whitby called the overhaul of WA’s firearms laws as “nation leading”. “We can never relax, of course, and we should always be prepared for the absolute worst,” he said. “But I’m satisfied that we are in a good place compared to some other States . . . I’m sure if the Commissioner, on reflection in the future as we all learn more, if there’s any need for new legislation or new powers, will have a ready ear.” However, Mr Blanch admitted he was unable to stop the spread of some hate-filled messages, like a “White Australia” pamphlet in letter boxes in Sorrento last week — declaring that “white Australians must organise” and calling for an end to immigration. “It’s abhorrent,” Mr Blanch told 6PR. Mr Blanch said the leaflet in question did not meet the threshold of a criminal act. But police knew exactly who was behind it and were monitoring them. “That is disgusting behaviour from a policing perspective,” Mr Blanch said. “We are tracking those groups every day, every day, and if we get a sense that anyone is crossing that line . . . you cross that line, you are going to be arrested.”