A Firearm Roundtable was hosted on January 27 by the Junee Ex-Services Memorial Club in response to the NSW’s latest gun legislation rules and requirements.
Attending the meeting was Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke, the Ardlethan Beckon Sporting Clays, Boorowa Clay Target Club, Cootamundra Pistol Club, Cootamundra Rifle Club, Ganmain Gun Club, Grenfell Gun Club, Junee Clay Target Gun Club, Junee Ex-Service Memorial Rifle Club, Junee Pistol Club, SSAA West Wyalong Sporting Shooters, Temora Pistol Club, Ungarie Rifle Club, West Wyalong Clay Target, and the West Wyalong Smallbore and Rifle Club.Many of the clubs in attendance travelled for hours to participate in the Roundtable.
Held in response to Parliament’s latest changes to Australia’s gun laws (the most significant changes to the legislation since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre) in the wake of December’s Bondi Beach massacre, the new laws establish a national buy-back. Tighter rules will stop the importation of a range of firearms and will limit the importation of belt-fed ammunition, magazines of more than 30 rounds, silencers and speed loaders.
Open-ended import permits will be abolished.
Among other crackdowns, background checks for gun owners will become more rigorous and frequent, with better information sharing between governments and security agencies. While the NSW Government’s legislation may have passed, the regulations are yet to be drafted, which means there is still time to undertake consultation with farmers, hunters, competitive shooters and regional communities about the specifics of the laws.
Steph Cooke was a driving force behind the Roundtable as a critic of the legislation. She has previously said, “These are rushed laws with minimal to no consultation, and they will have substantial and detrimental impacts on law-abiding gun owners in rural areas, and ultimately on our way of life.
“The New South Wales government has attacked law-abiding citizens who own guns from a multitude of purposes. Whether it be our farmers and landholders, our sporting shooters, pest controllers, they are all now going to face significant impediments to using and owning firearms should these laws progress.
“This is not the way to go about dealing with the very serious issues our state is facing… I have come to the conclusion that I simply cannot support this legislation before the House today.”
Ms Cooke is calling on the NSW Labor Government to thoroughly consult stakeholders before drafting any regulations concerning firearms and licence holders. The laws have been heavily criticised by primary producers, hunters, competitive shooters and regional communities as poorly written and unworkable.
“This firearm legislation is completely impractical for effective pest management, and the future of sport shooting in the state of NSW,” Ms Cooke said.
“Without regulations that reflect the realities of our rural communities, our volunteer gun clubs will face an impossible administrative burden, our licence holders will be forced to pay more for less, and our state’s biosecurity will be jeopardised.”
Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, said the tragic events of the Bondi attack required a response that counters “both the motivation and method”. He said the implementation of the laws would have prevented licences for the two alleged gun-men.
“The father would have been ineligible because he was not a citizen. The firearms that they were using would not have been available to them. And the son who didn’t have a firearms licence in any event, had he tried any intelligence holdings with respect to him would have formed part of the licensing decisions,” he said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the gun reforms against criticism that they will capture everyday Australians.
“I do think it’s important to say what it is, but also what it is not. This legislation is not about targeting farmers. It’s not about competitive shooters. It’s not about those who are law-abiding firearm owners,” he told parliament on Tuesday morning. Despite this, the roundtable in Junee went ahead with many of the farmers in attendance expressing concern.
Representatives (many of whom require firearms for agricultural or hunting purposes, as well as those who shoot for sport) highlighted the unworkable nature of the legislation, and identified ways in which the regulations could be written to work with firearm owners, rather than against them.
Ms Cooke said, “These are the types of discussions that members of the NSW Government should be having to ensure the regulations are actually fit for purpose.
“No matter what your opinion is about firearms ownership, the new legislation will fail to work in practice unless the regulations address the glaring issues being raised by gun clubs and firearms owners.
“I want to thank the gun clubs of the Cootamundra electorate for their valuable insight and reaffirm my commitment to combating this poor legislation.”
Ms Cooke and members of the Roundtable argue that different animals, including pest animals, require a particular calibre of firearm for humane management. Farmers and hunters may use one firearm for close-range pests and another for long distances. Some own two of the same calibre in the instance of one becoming temporarily unusable and awaiting maintenance.
It was also observed that many competitive shooters compete in multiple disciplines, each requiring a specific firearm type that are subject to strict competition rules.
Ms Cooke continued, “While we have heard of a potential exemption to the rules for elite shooters, how can someone train to become an ‘elite’ athlete if they can’t access the equipment they need?
“At the very least, the regulations must not restrict firearms owners to a ten-gun cap if they have multiple, genuine reasons listed on their licence.”
She said primary producers who had not previously been members of a gun club may be required to join one under the new laws. This would involve paying an annual membership fee, acquiring new equipment to participate in competitions and competing in a minimum number of shoots each year, depending on the discipline, to meet their participation requirements.
“The laws fail to consider the tyranny of distance faced by primary producers who may live hours away from the nearest club, and the cost burden associated with participating in the sport, which they may have no interest in,” she said.
“On top of that, gun clubs are already experiencing an influx of membership inquiries, and they’re struggling to see how they can organise enough shoots to meet everyone’s participation requirements.”
Rural gun clubs are predominantly run by volunteers with what they say is little administrative or financial support from the NSW Government. With thousands of primary producers and hunters now required to join, the new laws have the potential to create a significant administrative burden for clubs, which lack the manpower and facilities to cater to an influx of new members.
Cooke argued that the pressure of endless paperwork for compliance and new memberships could ultimately cause committee members to leave, and clubs to collapse.
Across the Cootamundra electorate, many of the region’s gun clubs lack infrastructure that metropolitan clubs take for granted. The new laws specify that firearms owners will now need to reapply for their licence every two years, instead of every five, which is expected to increase financial burdens on the Government. This means that the NSW Firearms Registry will receive approximately 900 more licence applications each week, raising significant concerns regarding turnaround times and the Registry’s capacity to adequately assess each application.
Also discussed was the prospect of sentimental value or ceremonial purpose, such as Light Horse troop members. While most of these firearms are kept as collectors’ items and not fired, it is understood that these items will be subject to the NSW Government’s new firearms cap. While some argue the laws are a distraction from the Government’s inability to act on the known tendencies and associations of the Bondi shooting perpetrators, and others argue that recreational shooting and hunting shouldn’t come at the cost of public safety, the Roundtable have made a large sector of the NSW regional communities’ voices clear.
– Jack Murray
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.
