Premier Roger Cook has opened the door to further tightening WA’s gun laws – already touted as the toughest in the country – following the “senseless, chilling, and absolutely horrific” murder of a Floreat mother and daughter.
Jennifer and Gretl Petelczyc were shot in their own home by Mark Bombara after he turned up at the Berkley Crescent residence on Friday afternoon looking for his former partner.
It is understood Bombara’s ex-wife was good friends with Jennifer and had been staying with the Petelczyc family since leaving her husband a few weeks ago.
Speaking with 6PR radio, Mr Cook said the murders – which culminated in Bombara shooting himself – had left him in “shock and disbelief”.
“This is a circumstance in which a woman has sought refuge from a friend and it would appear that as a result of that, that friend and her daughter have come to harm,” Mr Cook said.
“We need to let the police establish the facts surrounding this incident but… by every measure it looks senseless, chilling, and absolutely horrific.”
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In February, the Cook Government announced sweeping new firearms laws that seek to cap the number of guns an individual can own and force anyone applying for a licence to undergo a mental health assessment.
That legislation is currently before Parliament but Mr Cook said he was open to tightening them even further.
“We need to obviously reflect on this incident and we will do whatever the police ask us,” the Premier said.
“If the police say certain laws will make us safer, well then we will obviously consider that very seriously.
“The (proposed firearm laws) been opposed in their current form by the Opposition.
“But we’ll continue to see what we can do either to expedite these laws, so that we can get them in place as quickly as possible, or indeed, consider further changes that might be necessary to keep the community safe.”
One proposal raised with Mr Cook was making family court proceedings an “automatic red flag” for police to remove any guns in the possession of a known licence holder.
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The firearm used by Bombara was legally registered and The West Australian understands he owned an extensive gun collection, with police seen removing some of those weapons from his Mosman Park mansion on Saturday.
Mr Cook said he would “take advice from the experts” but that he felt police – who oversee WA firearms register – were best positioned to exercise their own judgement.
“Not every family court proceeding is the subject of conflict in relation to the relationship,” Mr Cook said.
“I think ultimately what you would do is leave it up to the officials, and in particular the police, in relation to these matters.
“Obviously any situation where you have… heightened emotions in relation to a relationship breakdown really does lend weight to the idea that police could consider whether it is appropriate for them to intervene in a situation.
“And obviously, in the context of someone owning a firearm, that might feed into their thinking.”
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Mr Cook said a gun buyback scheme launched to support the introduction of the proposed new limits on firearm ownership had already resulted in the surrender of more than 11,000 weapons.
“What’s interesting to note about that is that over half of those are in the metropolitan area,” he said.
“So these are people who live in the city, work in the city and really probably don’t have a reason to hold firearms.
“Getting them off the streets, making sure that they’re stored much better under the new laws and made secure will obviously go some way to eliminating or reducing certain incidences.”