SSAA NSW

Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. 11 INFLUENCING NSW FIREARMS LAWS Support for fi rearms laws in general The introduction and management of fi rearms laws by the NSW Government and Police Force have a major impact on the lives of every member and strongly infl uence their involvement in shooting activities. When asked to consider current fi rearms laws overall, members were split 60:40 over how restrictive they are. A total of 60% believed they are too restrictive (22% much too restrictive and 38% too restrictive), 37% believed they are about right. Only 1% thought they should be more restrictive. SUPPORT FOR SPECIFIC FIREARMS LAWS Members discriminated between specifi c laws which they felt were about right and the ones they felt were too restrictive. The two laws that were seen as most restrictive were the 'Ammo Bill' requiring records to be kept for all ammunition purchases (72% too restrictive) and restrictions on suppressors / moderators (68% too restrictive). Another three laws were considered too restrictive by more than half the members: restrictions on semi- automatic rifl es (56%); minimum attendance requirements (53%); and appearance laws (51%). On the other hand, there was strong support for three laws which were seen as about right or in need of additional restrictions. Three quarters of members (75%) thought that mandatory police background checks for licence applicants were about right and a further 20% thought they should be more restrictive. Similarly, compulsory fi rearms safety training for new licence holders was about right for 83% and not restrictive enough for 20%. There was also support for safe storage requirements at home which 84% felt were about right and only 2% wanted to see more restrictive. There was also majority support among members for: waiting (cooling off) periods for buying fi rearms; removal of fi rearms from owners in the event of an AVO; transport requirements; probationary periods for pistol licences; use of P650 for unlicensed people to try shooting; and maintaining the minimum age to hold a fi rearms licence. Administration of fi rearms laws Members in general thought that the NSW authorities were taking a reasonable approach to administering the fi rearms laws. Eight out of 10 members thought the Firearms Registry were reasonable and only 15% unreasonable. The local Police were considered reasonable by 71%, unreasonable by 12% and 18% couldn't say. 8% 30% 27% 14% Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party Very positive image Positive image Neutral image Negative image Very negative image Don't really 22% 38% 37% 1% 1% Much too restrictive Too restrictive About right Should be more restrictive Don't know General views on firearms laws

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