19/02/2026
MEDIA RELEASE - Shooters Union Australia accuses Federal Labor Government of disinformation on fi****ms policy
Shooters Union Australia has accused the Federal Labor Government of spreading disinformation by claiming that a national fi****ms buyback would remove “dangerous guns from the streets,” saying the claim is both factually incorrect and deliberately misleading.
Shooters Union Australia President Graham Park said buyback schemes did not target illegal fi****ms used in criminal activity, but instead focused on fi****ms already lawfully owned, securely stored, and held by licensed members of the community.
“Licensed fi****ms are not ‘on the streets’,” Mr Park said.
“They are stored in approved safes, subject to strict regulatory controls, and owned by people who have undergone extensive background checks. Suggesting otherwise is disinformation.”
Mr Park said the Government’s narrative ignored the existence and effectiveness of state and territory fi****ms amnesty programs, which already provide lawful pathways for the surrender of unregistered or unwanted fi****ms.
“These amnesty programs are supported by the shooting community and operate at little to no cost to taxpayers,” he said. “They are specifically designed to deal with unregistered fi****ms - the category of fi****ms that actually presents a risk to public safety.”
Mr Park said Shooters Union Australia was of the view a national buyback would simply transfer fi****ms from secure private storage into government custody, without addressing criminal fi****ms use, trafficking, or enforcement failures.
“A buyback doesn’t take guns off the streets because those guns were never on the streets to begin with,” he said.
“It is a taxpayer-funded headline, not a serious public safety measure.”
Mr Park warned that conflating licensed fi****ms ownership with criminal violence undermines evidence-based policy and damages trust between government and responsible fi****ms owners.
“Responsible fi****ms owners are not responsible for criminal acts committed by others,” he said.
“Spreading disinformation may create appealing headlines, but it does nothing to improve community safety.”
Shooters Union Australia is calling on the Government to correct the public record and to engage in genuine, evidence-based consultation with stakeholders who have direct experience in fi****ms regulation, compliance, and public safety outcomes.
ENDS