SSAA NSW

Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. 3 From Diana's Desk Given events over the past 12 months or so there appears to be a more intense focus on firearms ownership, legislation and the shooting sports. Despite the fact that this focus is the result of criminal activities and involved the use of illegal firearms, yet again it's the law abiding firearms owner that will bear the brunt of any further restrictive firearms laws – we all know that criminals, by their very nature do not abide by the law. In the interest of public safety is the favourite catch cry often used by those opposed to our sport and the legal ownership of firearms. Unfortunately it lends itself to decisions based on public outcry and emotion rather than a sensible evidence based approach. SSAA NSW in its representations on behalf of our members, the shooting sports and firearms industry constantly promotes the need for sensible and effective firearms laws that will not impose unnecessary and unfair restrictions on those that already abide by some of the strictest firearms laws in the world; but instead will ensure penalties for any illegal use of firearms are robust enough to deter (or at least reduce) gun crime. SSAA NSW has long been advocating for the allocation of increased resources to enable police and border authorities to address the issues of illegal firearms. More recently we're facing the review of the National Firearms Agreement, the temporary ban of the Adler lever action shotgun with a 7 round magazine and the proposed amendment to the NSW Firearms Act calling for the restriction of lever action shotguns to be aligned with those currently in place for pump action shotguns. SSAA NSW, along with SSAA National, the other States and Territories and our Branches has been actively addressing the NFA Review. At the NSW level we called for input from members and Branches which has been utilised in the development of a submission to address the impact of the NFA and resulting legislation on our sport at a NSW level. This is key to the representations we are making to those stakeholders that will ultimately have a role in determining how any recommendations from the NFA Review will impact on firearms legislation in NSW. SSAA NSW, along with Sydney Branch, recently met with the Deputy Premier to discuss the NFA Review, the Adler ban, suppressors and other issues. Our representations to politicians and decision makers continue to address these issues, however our key message remains the same: SSAA NSW continues to be opposed to any unnecessary and unfair restrictions on firearms licence holders and calls for continued constructive consultation with those of us that are impacted by these decisions. How can our members help make a difference? In the past we've promoted the importance of law abiding firearms owners contacting their local MPs to discuss the issues affecting our sport. Some question whether one letter, or even a handful of letters can really make a difference. It can and has – within the political realm it's a common belief that if one person takes the time to write a letter or contact their local MP, then there are most likely another 100 that feel the same way. In recent years there have been some great examples of what can happen when a large number of people make their views known. Following the suspension of hunting in State forests in 2013, SSAA NSW and a number of other organisations rallied their members to write and meet with their local politicians. This wide scale campaign played a significant role in the Government's decision to re-instate hunting in State forests which has now been successfully occurring since early 2014. In 2012, the Government introduced the Ammo Bill. Despite the fact that the Bill was eventually introduced, from the moment the proposed legislation was announced SSAA NSW was on the front foot and along with our members was very active in making their views known to local MPs; this was the first occasion for quite a while where MPs saw just how large a part of the demographic includes firearms licence holders. So, we strongly encourage all members to take the time to at least write to your local MP and express your views in a polite, constructive and factual way. If you haven't visited the SSAA NSW Action Centre, I encourage you to do so, as we have the contact details for all members of the NSW Legislative Assembly as well as the number of SSAA members and firearms licence holders in each electorate. If every one of our members wrote a letter, that would be almost 53,000 letters and you can bet your bottom dollar that the politicians would definitely sit up and take notice. Diana Melham Executive Director - SSAA (NSW) Inc. The NSW Shooter is published by the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc Disclaimer: Please note that the views expressed are not necessarily those of SSAA (NSW) Inc. Advertising and Contributions: Newsletter PO Box 1001 ST MARYS NSW 2760 or email nswshooter@nsw.ssaa.org.au Deadline: Attention Branch Secretaries/Publicity Officers, editorial deadline for the November 2015 issue of the NSW Shooter (online only) is Monday 26 October 2015. Cover: Photos from the 2015 Commonwealth Bank AgQuip field days held in Gunnedah in August. Editor: Jay Pandya Graphic Designer: Craig Rogers Representing our sport – everyone has a role to play...

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