SSAA NSW

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS… Phase two of our project focusses on increasing awareness and acceptance within the community in order to effect reasonable firearms laws and policies. As a first step, we're gathering market research on the public perception of the shooting sports, recreational hunting and firearms ownership. The audiences encapsulated under the umbrella of 'community' includes the general (non-shooting) public, media, politicians and bureaucrats; these are inter-connected and influenced by each other. Step two will be an external public relations strategy which will have as its core aims: • Mainstream recognition To have shooting sports, recreational hunting and firearms ownership again recognised as mainstream activities, and • Positive and effective influence To positively and effectively influence public opinion and decisions affecting shooting sports, recreational hunting and firearms ownership. Member survey top/high priorities include managing media relations to ensure issues relating to legal firearms ownership are reported in a fair and balanced manner (97%) as well as running a public relations campaign among the general public about the positive aspects of the shooting sports, recreational hunting and firearms ownership (91%). Additional high/top priorities identified by members included working with the Police Commissioner and bureaucrats to develop responsible firearms policies (97%) as well as with the Firearms Registry to ensure the fair application of these laws and policies (97%). PROMOTING OUR SPORT… We've been quite busy over the past couple of months hosting a number of events and participating in media opportunities. In May we hosted a number of NSW Members of Parliament at our first 'Pollie Try Shooting' event. This provided a unique opportunity to not only showcase our sport, but also further build SSAA NSW's reputation as the State's leading body representing the shooting sports, recreational hunting and firearms ownership. You can read about this in a separate article on page 15. The 2018 SSAA SHOT Expo in Sydney was a resounding success with almost 17,000 visitors over the weekend of 23 & 24 June – 9,018 on Saturday and 7,834 on Sunday. For the many attendees, the SSAA NSW Mobile Air Rifle Range was a popular attraction as was the indoor air rifle and archery ranges, while there was a consistent flow towards both the jumping castle and face painting stalls at the main entrance. Thank you to all our volunteers who assisted over the two days, without your efforts the ranges, R Licence accreditations and Safe Shooting courses couldn't be offered at the Expo. A team of SSAA NSW staff and volunteers again headed down to Narooma for SSAA NSW HuntFest which was held over the June long weekend. More than 3,000 people attended, and the Mobile Air Rifle Range again proved popular with around 400 people testing their skills. Read more about these events in separate articles on pages 16 to 19. The story on our SBS Viceland Ladies Competition aired on The Feed at the end of May. It was refreshing to see a positive story on the shooting sports. Well done to Inga and Miranda who were fantastic ambassadors for our sport. Thank you to all the ladies who came along and played their part in the positive promotion of our sport. If you missed it, visit the SSAA NSW website at www.ssaansw.org.au where you can access the link to view the story. In May we hosted the crew of Watching the Hawks, an online television show published through the website RT America. The crew, headed by co-hosts Tabetha Wallace and Tyrel Ventura were interested in finding out about our firearm laws and culture. The story aired recently, and the link can be accessed from the RT America website at www.rt.com/shows/watching-the-hawks. We recently hosted student journalist Kamilia Hanna from Macleay College at the SSAA NSW Office. Kamilia interviewed Mitch and myself as one of her final assessment tasks before she graduates to become a fully-fledged journalist. Kamilia chose to interview SSAA NSW representatives as part of her assessment due to her interest in pursuing stories about minority groups and the under-reporting of shooting as a sport in the media. We're looking forward to seeing the final product and will publish her interview once available. SSAA NSW will continue to take advantage of every opportunity to positively promote the shooting sports, recreational hunting and firearms ownership. We all have an important role to play in promoting our sport whether that be by taking a mate or family member to the range to 'try shooting', or talking to family, friends and colleagues to educate them on the facts around legal ownership of firearms and the safe, fun and inclusiveness of our sport, or even representing our views to your local politicians or media. The more of us we have out there promoting a positive message, the better the chance we have of increasing the awareness and acceptance of our sport within the wider community. Diana Melham Executive Director - SSAA (NSW) Inc. Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. 5

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