'It's home': Victim of alleged gun theft, arson wants to go back to Coles Bay

The victim of an alleged violent home invasion and gun theft on Tasmania's east coast says he still considers the area home and plans to spend his "last days" there.Grant Whelan was found by police injured and tied up outside his Coles Bay property after the alleged attack on July 11, in which 15 firearms were stolen, and he was left to watch his home burn down.Grant Whelan's house in Coles Bay was reduced to wreckage after the fire. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough)The 76-year-old was left not only homeless but with essentially no possessions to his name, and with a "tough road" of physical and psychological recovery ahead of him.Last week, Tasmania Police charged three men with aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, arson and theft of a motor vehicle over Mr Whelan's home invasion and they were remanded in custody.Speaking to 936 ABC Hobart, Mr Whelan thanked the "wonderful" staff at the Royal Hobart Hospital."I'm recovering okay," he said."Just slowly. Every day is a little bit better than the one before."He said he was having nightmares and was receiving psychological support, and thanked his family and the wider community for the support he had received.Grant Whelan has said he has been overwhelmed by the generosity of the wider community. (Supplied)As well as significant financial donations being made to fundraisers online and at his grandsons' football club, Mr Whelan said people had also donated building materials."I've seen the very worst in people and I've seen the very, very best in people," he said."She's been a tough road, and it's going to get a lot tougher."But he wants to return to Coles Bay."It's home. Once you establish where the last of your days are going to be, it really doesn't matter much what happens; you'll still go back there," he said.Government data shows uptick in crimes involving gunsThe Coles Bay incident has renewed focus on Tasmania's proposed new gun laws, an uptick in some gun-related crimes and calls for the government to impose caps on the number of firearms a person can own.It also sparked a heated exchange with the state's police minister, Felix Ellis, after a journalist asked him at a press conference last week if gun robberies were more likely to occur if more people owned more guns.That was "victim blaming", the minister said, but advocates believe if there were fewer guns legally owned in the community, fewer could be stolen and used by criminals.In recently published data, Tasmania Police said there was 50 per cent more robbery incidents involving firearms in Tasmania in the year to May, with a jump from eight incidents to 12.There was also a 19 per cent jump in assault incidents involving a firearm being used as a weapon to 64, while aggravated burglaries were down 13 per cent to seven on the year prior.The Tasmanian government has declined to impose a limit on how many firearms a person can own. (ABC News: Morgan Timms)During the same period, there were 40 firearm theft incidents with a total of 155 firearms stolen, only 29 of which have so far been recovered, which were similar figures to the year before.There were more than 150,000 licensed firearms in the state, while more than 4,000 firearms were seized by or surrendered to Tasmania Police in the 12 months to May.Gun control advocate blames government, not victimSpeaking to 936 ABC Hobart, gun control advocate Roland Browne said he believed Mr Ellis was "hiding from" the issue of stolen guns in the community."It's not victim blaming; if anything, it's government blaming," Mr Browne said."This is not banning guns; this is just limiting the number of guns in one place to prevent theft of large numbers of guns."He said it was an issue of public safety, and highlighted the murder of Constable Keith Smith, who was killed in June last year with a rifle illegally owned by Leigh Geoffrey Sushames, who did not have a gun licence.Tasmania Police Commissioner Donna Adams also highlighted Constable Smith's death when she wrote to Mr Ellis in February, urging the government to adopt ownership limits."The murder of Constable Keith Smith … was a confronting reminder that the presence of a firearm can change the outcome of even the most routine policing task," she wrote in February."You stood with us in the aftermath of the tragic murder of Constable Smith, and we now seek your support as we confront the growing risks posed by firearms in our community."Tasmania has recorded a sharp rise in gun crime. (AAP: Dean Lewins)Ellis again defends no gun capSpeaking on Friday, Mr Ellis said while he welcomed the advice from Commissioner Adams, other states and territories had followed Tasmania's "lead" on not introducing limits to the number of firearms licence holders could own.He also reiterated that licensed gun owners "were not the problem" and that caps "don't apply to criminals". Labor's police spokesperson, Jen Butler, criticised Mr Ellis for going against Commissioner Adams's advice."It absolutely beggars' belief that we have a police minister that is ignoring the concerns of a police commissioner when it comes to firearms," she said."We believe in reducing firearms in our community because we will always prioritise public safety.""We look forward to working with the parliament to deliver practical reforms that improve community safety while respecting the legitimate needs of primary producers, sports shooters and recreational hunters."When asked, Ms Butler did not say whether Labor had the support of the crossbench to pass legislative amendments in the minority parliament.