On Friday Federal, State and Territory Ministers met in Melbourne to determine the future of Australia’s gun laws. It is disappointing and concerning that they failed to reach any agreement. In particular, they were unable to come to a consensus on the classification of the Adler A110 lever-action firearm. While the importation ban on the Adler A110 remains in place, this shows the need for national leadership at the next Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting. The majority of Australians want to keep our gun laws strong, and the Alannah & Madeline Foundation will continue to give them a voice in this debate. We don't want to see any watering down of our strong gun laws, in fact we want to make sure they keep up with technology and deal with incremental weakening at the state level. We don't want to be America where gun ownership is normalised and gun control is a political plaything. Community safety should not be used as a bargaining chip. After Port Arthur we decided to be a country that kept our community safe from rapid fire weapons. And it worked. In the decade before Port Arthur there were 11 mass shootings. In the decade after, there were none. We saw a decline in the number of homicides by gun, and a dramatic drop in the number of suicides by gun. Our community has been safer because of the courage and decisiveness of our leaders. We need to see that kind of leadership again now, to keep our gun laws strong across all states and territories.