Last night, SBS Viceland program The Feed aired a segment on the increased female participation in shooting sports.
You can view the program by clicking here.
The story was filmed during our SBS Viceland Ladies Competition. The competition, held on 5 May, attracted participants from as close as St Clair, as far afield as Cobar and everywhere in between.
Importantly, we feel the program showcased the diversity of our sport, not just in gender but in age and backgrounds, with our participants including a married mum who works in accounts, a high school student and an Australian national biathlete.
It is this kind of positive media coverage which can only grow our sport and we are looking forward to holding monthly ladies events and regular regional events as well.”
Thank you to all of the ladies that participated in the competition and contributed to the positive promotion of our sport.
Last week we were thrilled to host a group of NSW State MPs for our first Pollie Try Shooting event!
Stephen Bromhead (Myall Lakes – Nationals), Steph Cooke (Cootamundra – Nationals), Phil Donato (Orange – SFFP), Austin Evans (Murray - Nationals), Andrew Fraser (Coffs Harbour – Nationals), Michael Johnsen (Upper Hunter – Nationals) and Bronnie Taylor (MLC – Nationals) visited the St Marys Indoor Shooting Centre. To kick off our visitors were given a tour of the Centre, then over lunch we provided a run down on SSAA NSW; who we are and what we do as well as some interesting facts about the shooting sports, recreational hunting and firearms owners before trying a variety of different firearms and competing in a couple of good natured challenges.
Feedback was very positive with all MPs enjoying themselves, and most indicating they were keen to return again. We will be hosting more MPs at the Centre in the not too distant future, especially those who had hoped to attend but were called away at the last moment.
This event provided an excellent opportunity for us to showcase our sport, SSAA NSW and the Centre first-hand to decision makers that can impact upon our recreation, and given its success this is an initiative that SSAA NSW will continue.
The Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. “SSAA NSW” has welcomed the NSW Police Minister’s announcement of another firearm amnesty which will run from 1 July to 30 September.
SSAA NSW Executive Director Diana Melham said this amnesty is the result of extensive lobbying by SSAA NSW and other shooting bodies and a fitting response following last year’s amnesty.
“We have been calling on the NSW Government to implement a permanent amnesty for some time now and it is pleasing to see the Minister and NSW Police take action to again provide a mechanism for people within the community to legally register or surrender firearms that have come into their possession through innocuous circumstances, such as a death in the family.” Mrs Melham said.
“From our discussions with the Government it seems reasonable to expect that periodic amnesties will continue to be announced in the future and the prohibitive costs involved with a continuous amnesty is the only reason this initiative is not permanent.”
Mrs Melham said the amnesty was the result of a collaborative effort by the firearms community working together to achieve a common goal. SSAA NSW continues to publicly declare its commitment to working with all-pro-shooting organisations to achieve a united voice for the shooting sports.
“There are a number of shooting bodies that have played an important role in securing this amnesty.” Mrs Melham said.
Mrs Melham said SSAA NSW supports any measures that aid in the combat against illegal firearms and the reduction of gun-related crime in Australia, however a firearms amnesty will not resolve the real issue of career criminals and their use of illegal guns.
“We must focus on the criminals with illegal firearms as criminals by their very nature do not abide by the law, so it is unlikely that they will front up to their local dealership or Police station to hand in their ill-gotten firearms." Mrs Melham said.
"We must make it more difficult for them to get their hands on illegal firearms by dedicating more funding to frontline policing and border protection, and when criminals are caught with illegal guns we must make sure the punishment fits the crime.”
“No one wants illegal guns off the streets and out of our community more than licensed, law-abiding firearm owners."
SSAA NSW welcomes the NSW Government’s decision to continue the Supplementary Pest Control (SPC) program.
This decision is in line with the recommendations of the Natural Resources Commission (NRC). The NRC provided its final evaluation report to Government in 2017 in which it recommended that the SPC program continue and be expanded beyond the trial phase.
The final report concluded that volunteer ground shooting has the potential to be an effective supplementary pest control technique if used as part of an integrated pest management program under controlled conditions. The NRC’s recommendation for the continuation and expansion of the SPC program was based on the understanding that:
The NRC final evaluation concluded that NPWS capably and professionally planned and managed the program with the support of SSAA NSW and that both organisations worked well together, which contributed significantly to the overall success of the program.
In November 2013 SSAA NSW agreed to partner with NPWS for the three year trial which commenced in January 2014. During the trial SSAA NSW was responsible for the training and accreditation of volunteers to standards set by NPWS; the standards were equivalent to those required by NPWS staff involved in ground shooting activities and included firearms safety and accuracy, navigation, first aid and risk management components.
The success of the SPC program is evidence that Government and membership organisations can work together to achieve a common goal. SSAA NSW is looking forward to continuing its partnership with NPWS and to working collaboratively on the continuation and expansion of the SPC program.
To read the OEH response, click here.
To read the NRC final evaluation, click here.
Click here if you would like to view the December 2018 NSW Shooter Quarterly Review
To view previous editions
CLICK HERE
