The SSAA has criticised Cricket Australia and the Richmond Football Club’s decision to sign a highly emotive petition regarding Australia’s firearm laws. Writing on behalf of more than 177,000 sporting shooters and one million licensed firearm owners, SSAA National President Geoff Jones conveyed our “immense disappointment” to the two sporting groups, pointing out that “like all sports, ours brings with it economic, social and environmental benefits.”
“While we understand your good intentions to support the survivors of the Port Arthur tragedy, you may not be aware that the NFA has had many unintended consequences for the sport of shooting,” Geoff writes. “As you know, there are many regulations in sport. As our sporting equipment includes firearms, this adds a secondary layer of regulation that has severely restricted the competitiveness of Australia as a proud shooting nation.”
As Geoff points out, the decision by Cricket Australia to sign the petition is made even more disappointing by the fact that some of their elite past and present players are proud licensed firearm owners, shooters and hunters.