By Bill Mason

BRISBANE -- The Queensland government's support for gun control could split the National Party, police minister Russell Cooper said on May 13. The warning came as Coalition MPs, including Cooper and Liberal leader Joan Sheldon, faced death threats from irate gun supporters.

Premier Rob Borbidge moved on May 17 to crack down on dissension within the National Party, banning MPs from publicly criticising the proposed new gun laws, which will ban automatic and semi-automatic weapons.

Rallies of hundreds of gun supporters have been held across the state. At a meeting in Gympie on May 15, Firearm Owners Association national vice-president Ian McNiven attacked "Jackboot Johnny Howard" and warned that the freedom of gun ownership can be restored only "with blood".

The series of pro-gun rallies will culminate in a car cavalcade down the Queensland coast, ending with a rally outside state parliament on May 31.

Opposition has been expressed to the plan to finance a buy-back of banned weapons with a one-off increase in the Medicare levy.

Former deputy premier Tom Burns on May 14 opposed a compulsory levy to compensate gun owners, saying it would hit struggling families. The money should come for the budgets of federal and state law-enforcement agencies, Burns said.

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