The announcement of the formation of an Industry Reference Group to advise the government on the National Firearms Agreement (NFA) technical review is welcomed by the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia (SSAA National).
In late July, SSAA National wrote to Justice Minister Keenan outlining our immense disappointment with the lack of consultation with us and the firearms industry, regarding not just the temporary ban on the Adler A110 lever-action shotgun, but also the NFA technical review currently underway.
SSAA National had previously been assured that we, and other like-minded groups, will be consulted despite the abolition of the former Commonwealth Firearms Advisory Council and we have been actively working on a submission regarding the NFA.
While we welcome the opportunity to positively contribute to the NFA review and explain the various faults and unintended consequences parts of this legislation has on our members’ activities, we will be calling for the Industry Reference Group to be a permanent advisory panel, rather than just for the lifespan of the NFA review.
SSAA National would like to thank those like-minded groups and politicians who have lobbied for better consultation, and we applaud our members who have emailed, written and called their local politicians to defend the freedoms of sports shooters and hunters across Australia.
We will continue to work closely with other shooting organisations and industry representative groups, along with our state and territory SSAA branches going forward.