SSAA Queensland E-newsletter May 2024

Welcome to the first of our e-newsletters to SSAA Queensland members. We will email you from time to time with updates on your Association and our work to keep you enjoying your sport and pastime be it on the firing range or hunting field.

A lot has happened in the growth of SSAA Queensland in the past 12 months and we intend to keep that momentum moving forward. We continue to develop ranges and are constantly looking at improving ranges and facilities. In the state office we have employed dedicated administrative staff to process membership and enquiries to ensure work is done in house and under strict security. At both state and national levels, our freedom to own and use firearms is constantly under attack and we have added experienced media manager and lobbyist Tim Bannister to the team to help push back on unworkable legislation and unnecessary red tape.

Through Deporte Mutual Limited, Queensland is now responsible for handling our own public liability coverage in addition to the firearms protection offering up to $25,000 firearms protection to Queensland members. Deporte Mutual Limited is solely owned by SSAA Queensland members. This means any profit stays within Queensland and as an investment it is there for future development of the shooting sports.

The association is guided by a dedicated committee that communicate with the office staff on a daily basis. These members are volunteers and give up their time to ensure the Association runs smoothly, continues to grow and overcomes hurdles when they arise.

As we approach 80,000 members, we have enlisted Bob Green as General Manager to guide us through the day-to-day operations of the association. Today we are the largest shooting organisation in Australia, but we strive to be even bigger and better for the sake of our members and the future of the shooting sports.

Hellen Gill

SSAA Queensland President

Majority of local handed in firearms get registered or sold

 About 70 per cent of firearms handed in by Queenslanders during the past year of the Permanent National Firearms Amnesty were subsequently registered or sold through a firearms dealer. The Federal Government’s statistics show that 1264 firearms were handed in last financial year in the state, making up about 10 per cent of the 12,190 handed in nation-wide.

Despite Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus suggesting all the surrendered firearms would be destroyed the reality is the motivation to legally register or sell what for some may be an unwanted but valuable heirloom has proven successful.

Modelled on previous Queensland amnesties, this is the second year of the amnesty that in total has seen about 30,000 ‘grey’ firearms handed over. Many of the participants were unlicensed and did not know what to do with the firearms and feared being prosecuted. Previously the Federal Government has said it believed there were 250,000 illegal firearms in the country. If they are being true to their own figures, they can now reduce that by 30,000.

The amnesty is permanent and anyone wishing to register, sell or dispose of unwanted firearms can do so at most police stations or via licensed gun dealers anonymously.