Open Letter To The Hon. Chris Minns MP, Premier of New South Wales.
Dear Premier,
I write this to you in my capacity as the Chairman of the Hunting Club of Australia.
Our heartfelt thoughts go to all those affected by the Bondi terrorist shooting, including those members of our club. There is absolutely no place for antisemitism in our wonderful country.
As a brief background - We are a hunting club with the majority of our membership in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney and surrounds. Members focus on the ethical hunting of introduced game species with the primary aim of providing healthy, wild sourced protein for ourselves and our families. The ethos of our club involves fostering an inclusive, mutually supportive environment to share experiences, skills and comradery.
The club provides Restricted Hunting and Safe Handling courses in coordination with the good people at both the Department of Primary Industries and NSW Firearms Registry.
We also work with numerous land owners across NSW to provide hunters with access to land on which to hunt. This provides a valuable source of supplemental income for farmers while simultaneously reducing feral animal numbers on their properties. In some cases this amounts to tens of thousands per year in additional income, a consequential amount for many farmers.
In light of the terrorist attack at Bondi there is a focus on firearms legislation, which if taken in good faith, is intended to limit the ability of terrorists being able to repeat any similar atrocity in the future.
While I share the view held by John Howard and others that this tragedy is fundamentally not a firearm problem, I do wish to offer some support, context and nuance that - from outward appearances - is missing from what is being proposed.
Firstly - I, like many Australians am broadly supportive of our strict gun laws. These are dangerous tools that require care and training and should not be available to all people. I also believe an evolving technology and threat landscape means these policies similarly need to evolve over time, with adequate stakeholder consultation. We are also a not-insignificant industry within NSW, with hunting and related industries contributing around $500M in annual revenue to the state.
The Bondi terrorists should not have had access to firearms. I believe the only intellectually honest prism through which to view this is: What policy change(s) could have prevented this or future attacks? With the exception of the points of consensus below, I don’t believe the majority of the proposed firearms legislation changes would support this objective.
This week I have heard numerous statements from both you and others who would ideally see firearms completely removed that would, respectfully, benefit from additional information which I hope to provide below.
Firstly, some areas of consensus:
Firearm licenses should not be made available to non-residents (overseas tourist permits not withinstanding).
Support for increased funding for the Firearms Registry.
Support for increased interdepartmental collaboration (for example with ASIO) to ensure people who shouldn’t be licensed don’t slip through.
Periodic review of license holders to ensure not only ongoing compliance but ongoing suitability to hold a license.
Misconception: Recreational hunting equates to killing animals for fun.
Reality: Recreational hunting is a source of healthy protein.
I have come to understand that the term ‘recreational’ has mislead some gun eradication advocates to believe that recreational hunting equates to some sick desire to simply kill animals for fun. This is of course far from correct but should be stated clearly - recreational (meaning non-professional, not as entertainment) hunting is principally about the harvest of wild animals for private consumption.
My family primarily eats wild sourced proteins as they are healthy and hormone free while reducing feed pressure on farmland - I believe that this is indicative of the motivations of recreational hunters across NSW.
Misconception: No one needs more than 1 firearm.
Reality: Ethical hunting of a variety of species requires multiple firearms.
While these are feral animals that we hunt, they are also living, breathing, beautiful creatures. While some may find that statement hard to believe coming from a hunter, I would suggest that hunters have an immeasurably closer relationship to the animals they consume than someone buying shrink wrapped meat from their local supermarket.
This means that we go to great lengths to humanely kill an animal while also maximising the useable meat. Importantly this requires different calibre firearms for different species of animals.
For example:
Killing a rabbit for consumption should be done with either a rimfire (category A) or small centrefire. A higher calibre would render the meat inedible.
Meanwhile, a mid sized deer such as a fallow - a species rapidly overrunning parts of NSW (see the Hunter Valley as an example) require mid sized centrefire calibres, whereas larger species such as red deer and samber require large calibres.
It is absolutely unethical to hunt species with under powered rifles as they are more likely to cause non-lethal injury, whereas it is wasteful (and therefore also unethical) to use overpowered calibres that reduce the ability to consume a harvested animal.
Misconception: No one in metropolitan areas needs a firearm (or by extension, to hunt).
Reality: City dwelling hunters are equally interested in wild proteins as our rural friends.
We are arguably Sydney’s most metropolitan hunting club and so feel somewhat uniquely qualified to speak about this point.
Many people, both male and female, feel that their urban, office dwelling existences are unnatural and need a counterbalance. Our club exemplifies a cross section of city dwellers, CEO’s, lawyers, small business owners and plumbers sharing values, enjoying our Australia’s nature and to support each other.
The growing popularity of hunting globally is in part due to this sense that they are not meant to spend their entire lives in cubicles, and those who find themselves exploring hunting quickly learn that it’s a challenging, rewarding pastime that requires both physical and mental strength.
It provides an abundant source of friendship, mentoring, and in a peripheral sense, an antidote to toxic masculinity in which exertion throughout the day hunting is bookended with meaningful conversation about life priorities, mental health, family, community and so on. It does so in a way that is different and unique amongst outdoor pursuits.
Misconception: Limiting ammunition purchases reduces a terrorists capacity to do harm.
Reality: No limit on ammunition purchasing would have the desired effect and would in fact lead to less skilled shooters.
A hunter may shoot tens of bullets a year (or less) to provide for their family year round. However many recreational hunters shoot hundreds of rounds per year practicing to ensure their shots are well placed and effective.
The reality is that any person meaning to do harm would be able to secure the ammunition to do so, if they have the license for it. Key to mitigate this risk is to ensure that our nations intelligence apparatus can identify these people, revoke their licenses and access to firearms.
Misconception: The firearms used by the terrorists are military style, or as you stated in the media “weapons of mass destruction”.
Reality: Straight pull rifles have not been widely used in a military context since World War 1.
The weapons used by the terrorists are simply not military style weapons as evidenced by the fact that no military in the world uses them. It’s my understanding that almost universally, both military and police precision shooters use bolt action rifles.
Thus restricting straight pull rifles because one happened to be used in the Bondi attack is akin to banning blue coloured cars because one was involved in a car accident - It’s simply not a relevant feature to focus on does nothing to add to the security of our nation.
‘Weapons of mass destruction’ is a defined term related to biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. I assume your use of this term in a press conference was accidental mis-speaking in an emotionally-charged moment and not a lack of understanding of the difference between these and firearms of any kind.
Premier, lastly I would invite you to join us on a trip to observe an authentic hunt first hand - no cameras, no media, but perhaps an experience to help you see that we are not deplorable red necks out to kill animals for our pleasure, but are in fact a thriving, inclusive community of men and women of all backgrounds.
We too care deeply about the safety of our fellow Australians. We are not “other” to your constituents. While Australian hunters lack the rich cultural heritage of many countries, hunters are within and a part of the community you represent. We understand the need for safe firearm laws more than most and hope that the upcoming debates will focus on effective policy changes, not headline grabbing or political point winning.
Respectfully,
Luke Watson