Labor; on the nose

MOST STATES & TERRITORIES have Labor governments.  That’s why it’s hardly a surprise to hear that most of our attention on bad gun laws and policies is focused on Labor. After all, Labor is the party that brought in the draconian new gun laws in WA.  They also brought in a new policy of banning guns because of “opportunity” in Victoria. They wanted to expand “disqualifying offences” for obtaining licences in Qld, until that was famously stopped by the Shooters Union Australia.

Then there’s the coalition

Of course, the Liberals and Nationals don’t exactly have a great record either.   Speak with any shooter old enough to remember ’96, and you’ll find out just how deeply that continues to burn in the backs of our minds. There’s no question about it: the Libs and the Nats sold us down the river, when we thought they held good conservative values. However that does not mean we should gravitate to Labor.  Labor has done more than its fair share of treachery, particularly in recent years. They show no signs of changing that. It means both sides are equally bad on guns – and the Nats have a lot of rebuilding to do if they want to earn our trust.

Liberals are getting worse …

EVEN putting 96 aside, the Libs of 2024 are an weak lot.   In WA, they even voted with Labor on the gun laws.  In Victoria, SA and NSW, we are yet to come up with any policies that help  shooters.  Nor in Queensland, where voters go to the polls in October. Some describe the Liberals a “Labor lite”. We agree, because it is hard to see how the modern Liberals are different.   Take James Newbury, for example.  Newbury is the Liberal member for the blue-ribbon Victorian seat of Brighton. He used his inaugural speech to call for a ban on duck hunting, before changing his tune, and then changing it back again.  He definitely has to go – but the good news is that his seat is marginal. Importantly, the Liberals in most states and territories seem to no longer hold traditional conservative values.  This denies the electorate the ability to choose between parties that offer different values. The Country Liberal Party in NT (a hybrid of the Libs & Nats) recently got elected with a good pro-gun policy, so we’ll give them space to put them into place.  However we’re struggling to find any other Liberal Party branch worth backing. The Nationals are a better option – but WA seems to be the only place where they are standing up for firearm owners (shooters & collectors). However even that seems to be limited: they curiously decided against stepping up to the national stage at the recent National Gun Conference.   We blame Shane Love for that.

Putting the majors last

Unfortunately – and as we all know – votes are only valid if the ballot papers are correctly filled out. For lower houses, that means numbering all the boxes sequentially.  This means that even if you have pro-gun parties to vote for, you still have to choose Labor over Liberal / National Party or vice versa on the  ballot ticket.  Putting the Greens last, of course.  Whatever you do, we strongly suggest you do NOT vote informal. That’s because every vote you abandon gives our enemies such as the Greens what they want. Simply put, failing to have your vote counted  (or “voting for neither”) gives our enemies another opportunity to have your guns taken off you. Besides, there are some major party candidates who will stand up for shooters and collectors. If you find someone who fits that bill, then keep them in mind when you vote.

It’s not about the party, but about politics

We could  go on about what happened in ’96 but ifwe really want to have change for the better,  then we need to talk about what we should be doing at the next election. To us, our fight isn’t about Labor v Coalition. It’s about applying political pressure to both sides.  That’s because neither side is there for us: they only care about winning seats because putting votes ahead of good policy is how they secure their employment on the public purse – and power.  Nothing else matters to them. For us, the issue is not who to vote for, but what to vote for.  That’s why we’re one issue voters.  We’ll recommend voting for any party that will do us good – and against any party that wants to take our guns off us. That’s regardless of whether we are talking about Labor or Liberal.