More licensed shooters means more political clout, says MP

The more licensed shooters we recruit, the more we will influence politicians because they are swayed by numbers, not necessarily by doing the right thing.

That’s the message given at the recent National Gun Conference by Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto, who is the deputy leader of Katter’s Australia Party.

Mr Dametto said based on his two terms in Parliament to date, he’d realised that most politicians are primarily interested in holding their seat and keeping their constituents happy.

“I’ve found over the years the best way to communicate with Ministers is to demonstrate strength in numbers,” he said.

“That’s one of the reasons why I push very heavily for people to become licensed firearm owners here in Queensland, because most Queensland politicians, and I think politicians in general, are  always looking at the numbers and they’re looking at those marginal seats and making sure that they’ve got the numbers to hold those marginal seats.

“As shooters, it doesn’t matter what organisation you’re involved with as long as you can demonstrate to those politicians that the numbers are there and there are enough numbers to sway votes on a point that actually matters to those voters; you’ll actually get those politicians’ ears to prick up.”

He said that he’d never seen a Minister or MP do something, generally speaking, purely because it was the ‘right thing to do’.

“Usually, they have to be either invested in it personally, or their party has to have invested in it,” he said.

“The other time I’ve seen politicians move is when they can feel the heat in the kitchen, if that makes sense.

“There’s a number of ways to apply that heat or political pain to a member of parliament or a Minister.

“Showing that there’s a large block of voters who are willing to shift their vote if that politician isn’t willing to conform or work with that group is a very good way to demonstrate there’s a reason for them to shift their way of thinking.”

Mr Dametto said it was important to have pro-gun MPs in parliament, not just from a legislative perspective but from a getting the pro-firearm message out in the media.

He added it was important to get politicians to actually commit to pro-gun actions before agreeing to give apparent endorsement to them, such as by posing for social media pics with them.