COMING SOON: The second National Gun Conference
MISSED the first conference that was held on 4 August 2024?
Here’s the replay. You’ll hear from former federal senators David Leyonhjelm and Nigel Scullion, current federal senator Bridget McKenzie and the Qld Member for Hinchinbrook, Nick Dametto.
PLUS we heard from the CEO of SSAA National, Tom Kenyon, the National Vice President of the Shooters Union Australia, David Brown and the Libertarian Party WA’s Jake McCoull.
The conference went better than hoped. There was unanimous view of need to really clean up the policy and political environment that we are trapped in.
Bad laws, bad policy and bad dialogue are the product of years of the politicisation of who we are by politicians who simply don’t understand who we are.
The conference was reported widely within shooting circles and helps paves the way for a unified message to work it’s way through our community so that we end up with the right responses at the ballot box to ensure we get heard.
The next National Gun Conference – Sunday, 3 August 2025
THE SECOND NATIONAL GUN CONFERENCE is on its way.
It will shooting industry leaders together to share their thoughts and strengths together, to create a ‘whole-of-industry’ approach to the broader problems that shooters face.
That’s because there are over 90 shooting organisations and hundreds of shooting related businesses in Australia. There are nearly 900,000 licenced shooters, thousands of clubs and ranges – and we inject over $2 billion into the Australian economy every year.
Shooting & gun collecting also provides important social benefits – from supporting local towns to the Olympics. That’s why it has not been possible for any one entity to represent that broader picture.
This conference will span those divides.
In order to do this, the conference will not belong to any one entity, but be owned across the wide range of interests. It will give every organisation, club, range, business and shooter an equal voice that they have not had before.
The conference is a unified approach spanning our entire industry
It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.
Ronald Reagan, former President USA
What the conferences will do
The conferences target key issues affecting the shooting sports across the nation. This means we’ll cover the political challenges being faced in our states and territories, and look at ways we can deal with them.
They will not only help shooting organisations, businesses, and individual shooters see and understand what is happening across the industry, but help everyone know what they can do.
They will also send an important message to political parties in ALL states, territories and federally, that we’re quite ready to work across our boundaries, and will fight against bad policies, and bad laws for however long it will take.
We’ll focus on the political
challenges facing shooters
It’s worked before …
This approach has worked in Australia before – and we want to emulate that.
It’s modelled on a similar ‘whole of industry’ approach that was formed in Victoria in the 2000s which resulted in all major political parties coming up with pro-shooting policies for two successive state elections.
However it didn’t last, and there’s a simple reason for that. As is the case with other states and territories, elections only come up every four years which limited our opportunities.
The national approach takes advantage of the fact that in any one year, there will be more than one state, territory or federal election.
That makes holding annual national conferences not only easier to do, but necessary in our current climate.
… and it starts with Western Australia, where the problems are significant and could spill over our borders.
What the conference will contain
The conferences include presentations and panel discussions covering a wide range of matters.
We’re also providing the major political parties with the opportunity to present their positions ahead of their elections, coming up over the following months.
While their focus will be on their state / territory elections, what they say will help set the pace for the conferences to follow.
In other words, they won’t just be talking to shooters in their own states / territories, but shooters nationally.
That’s why we’ll give fair recognition to the good things that they say, and challenge the bad things they come up with.
Want to get involved?
The next conference will be held at 12 noon (WA time) / 2pm (Eastern time) on Sunday 3 August 2025.
We’ll be sending out updates as that date nears, so if you’re keen to get involved, make sure you join our email list by clicking here.
There will be no charge for participation.
Why now?
The idea of holding NGCs wasn’t going to be rolled out until around 2028.
However, the deplorable state of the rewrite of firearm laws in Western Australia ahead of the WA state election in early 2025, meant we have brought the rollout forward – with the first one being held in August 2024.
It started as a ‘concept’
We’re aiming to build the conference into something big.
That’s why the conferences will build on the preceding ones and demonstrate the concept across our industry.
It’s also why invitations will be limited – so we can work on them as they take shape.
Click here to email us
Email us – at admin@nationalgunconference.com.au
Who will run it?
While Politics Reloaded is behind the conferences, our aim is for the NGC to be a partnership with organisations and interests who share the need for this initiative. They will NOT belong to any one organisation.
That’s why we’ll run the first couple of years – where we can show it’s value to the rest of our industry – but then step back to let others run it.
The aim is to hand the running of the conference over to a board that will run it independently of any particular shooting organisation. For the conference to be truly national and representative of our various interests, its governance needs to reflect that.
Who will support it?
Obviously there are conversations that are yet to be had, but we envisage that key supporters will be relevant shooting industry advocacy groups, shooting organisations, and other shooting interests such as dealers and suppliers.
