SSAA NSW

28 Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. An Interview with Robert Borsak MP As the largest shooting body in NSW, part of our role is to inform our members and other law-abiding firearms owners on relevant matters that impact upon their chosen sport; this is especially important when it comes to political parties and their representatives, given the influence they can have on firearms laws and regulations. In the last edition of the NSW Shooter we interviewed Senator David Leyonhjelm of the Liberal Democratic Party. Keeping in line with our commitment of communicating with pro-shooting parties, SSAA NSW President Lance Miller recently caught up with NSW Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party MP the Honourable Robert Borsak to get a clearer picture of the party's policies and views on firearms laws and regulations in our state. We thank the Honourable Robert Borsak for giving up his time to engage with SSAA NSW on important issues facing all law-abiding firearm owners across the state, the challenges and opportunities in the road ahead. 1. What measures can be taken to ensure consistent laws across Australia regarding the appearance of firearms, given each state and territory has a different standard? We don't support appearance laws. The only measure that can be taken is to remove these laws in their entirety. Just because something looks a certain way has no bearing on the capacity or function of the firearm. It is like saying red cars go faster. 2. There were calls recently to make firearms laws a Federal responsibility by altering the constitution. What impact would this have on hunters and sporting shooters as two separate groups? This would be a disaster for recreational hunters and sporting shooters. You would have a Federal bureaucracy and Members of Parliament making laws out of Canberra that would disadvantage and further victimise law-abiding firearms owners. Firearms laws must remain the purview of States and Territories where the Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party can closely scrutinise them and amend legislation. We have 6 MP's across 3 States – New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. 3. The SFF Party have recently changed some of their firearms platform. What changes were made and why? We reviewed all our policies as a part of our policy development committee. For a full view of our policies we encourage people to visit https://www. shootersfishersandfarmers.org.au/nsw_policies-new All of these firearms related positions were put forward in the 52 amendments we moved to the Firearms Act 2017 in some form. See the graphic below that indicates the nature of what we're seeking to amend and clearly illustrates that as we know shooters are on their own. 4. What measures can be taken at a Federal level to ensure sporting shooters are protected from the actions of those who would use illegal firearms? The Government needs to focus its collective but limited resources on targeting the black market and the importation of illegal firearms, not overregulating law- abiding firearms owners and dealers. We support safe storage as a fair and reasonable requirement of owning and operating a firearm. However, the best long-term protection is more SFF members of Parliament in all states and strong representation in Canberra, where we could also hold the balance of power. 5. What elements of NSW firearms laws do you agree with? Licensing and safe storage ensure that law-abiding people can still access firearms for vermin control, hunting, sporting shooting and collecting, and ensure community safety is upheld. The problem with the vast majority of our firearms laws and the bureaucracy that administers them is that they are targeted at the wrong people. Our laws need to focus on addressing illegal gun crime not victimising and over regulating law-abiding firearms owners. For example, the ammunition bill that requires the recording of each sale of ammunition in the vain hope that this will reduce gun crime is a joke. It does nothing of the sort. Equally, recreational hunters can and should be able to access certain National Parks for hunting and vermin control – it would be cost beneficial to the tax payer and benefit the ecology of the Australian bush. For a full list of our policies and positions, including the work we are trying to do for firearms owners follow https:// www.shootersfishersandfarmers.org.au/nsw_policies-new.

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