Western Australia’s opposition leader Basil Zempilas has come under fire for not taking a position in relation to the government’s gun regulations following a motion that was tabled to scrap them.

The motion in question was raised by Legalise Cannabis MLC Brian Walker last week in an effort to force Labor to abandon the regulations which came into effect in March that have been described as “the strictest in the country”.

The regulations limits most to ten firearms, which goes down to five for hunting licences, with the laws introduced to make it harder to attain licences (with stronger evidence for necessity required).

The motion was defeated in parliament last Thursday afternoon (14 August) after the Greens critically chose not to support it.

Over 1000 protestors stood outside parliament house against the regulations, with gun owners stating their view the rules constitute an overreach on law-abiding firearm holders.

When asked about the motion by media last Saturday in Bunbury, Zempilas declined to take a clear position on the subject despite previously supporting the motion in the lower house.

“I stand in support of strong modern firearms laws that keep our community safe,” Zempilas told the ABC.

“I also stand in support of law-abiding responsible firearms owners.”

Zempilas did not state whether he supported the motion, which was supported by his upper house colleagues, saying:

“I note that what has happened, has happened, those laws are in place, and they have remained in place, and we support strong sensible modern firearms laws that protect our community.

“Our colleagues in the upper house voted on a disallowance motion because many of them are from the regions and many of them, from having chatted to their constituents, responsible firearms owners, felt that the firearms legislation and the regulations around it was making things particularly difficult for them,” he added.

“These are responsible firearms owners, and it shouldn’t be difficult for them to operate within the rules.”

WA Labor labelled Zempilas a coward on their social media, claiming he “couldn’t care less about community safety”.