August President’s Message
Setting ambitious goals for you
For the past few years, we have been setting ambitious goals for us to achieve. As a member-based organisation, our time and energy have always been spent on finding the best ways to provide services and resources like buying ranges for our near 81,000 members.
As we have grown it became apparent that the best way to champion our membership base was to stop using an external services provider based in other states and to build our own membership team here in Queensland. That team not only processes your membership but can assist you with the answers to the firearms licensing requirements and branch activities you have.
Media is an important communication tool for us to reach you and there are now multiple ways we can talk to you, and you can contact us. Our website has been rebuilt, this e-newsletter provides a cheap and effective way to let you know of Association events and of course The Report magazine has quickly established itself as the premier hunting and shooting sports magazine in the country. For those who are in to social media we have an Instagram feed, too.
We have always lobbied state governments to seek opportunities for members and our branches and often to push back on bad legislation, but we now have extended that to federal politics and beyond. Under our Australian Shooters Alliance organisation, we are working in federal politics to ensure the best outcomes for all shooters with a team of lobbyists with an intimate understanding of firearms. Whether that is on the National Firearms Register or appearance laws or anything else we are there for shooters. We are not relying on others to do our work for us nor are we working in the shadows or behind closed doors! And now through our media we can let you know what we are achieving.
It’s been a pleasure as the SSAA Queensland president to oversee these goals being fulfilled and I am excited for the future plans of your Association.
On the international sports front, some Queenslanders have been representing us very well in the USA. For the first time, an Australian shooter and our very own Michael Angel earned a place in the President’s Hundred. This is a much-celebrated honour in US pistol shooting and is reserved for the top 100 competitors in the Civilian Marksmanship Program President’s Pistol Match.
On the same trip, Susan Summers, our Target Pistol Discipline Chairman, won her grade at an NRA National Championship in Ohio. It goes to show our shooters are up to a high standard and we congratulate them both on their amazing personal results.
Safe shooting.
Hellen Gill
SSAA Queensland President
