Social media rumours that Queensland shooting club members renewing or applying for a firearms licence would need to provide a landowner letter to receive the hunting endorsement on their licence have been put to rest following swift action by several Queensland shooting representative organisations.
Unlike some other States, Queensland endorses Category A/B firearms licences for both range shooting and hunting use, regardless of whether the applicant used membership of a shooting club or a landowner letter as their Genuine Need for a firearms licence.
These endorsements are done via codes on licences; the code for shooting club use is SC1, while recreational shooting (which includes hunting and plinking on rural properties with landowner permission) is RE1.
Earlier this month, some Queensland shooting club members reported on social media that when they had gone to renew their licence, Weapons Licensing Branch (WLB) informed them they would not receive the RE1 endorsement unless they supplied a letter from a landowner giving them permission to shoot on a rural property.
The two largest shooting organisations in the state, Shooters Union and SSAA Queensland, wasted no time in sending strongly worded “please explain” requests to WLB, and earlier this week joined with representatives from AgForce and the Firearms Dealers Association of Queensland to meet with senior WLB representatives and discuss the issue.
WLB said the situation was the result of a miscommunication and there were no changes to the requirements for current licences, new applications or licence renewals in the foreseeable future.
They did confirm they were planning a review of the numerous licence codes used in Queensland, and further pledged that shooting organisations and the shooting industry would be involved with that review process.
Shooters Union president Graham Park said he appreciated WLB taking the time to meet with shooting organisations and genuinely listening to them, and the situation was an example of the importance of clear communication in the social media era.
“There were a lot of very anxious or unhappy shooters over that weekend between the first reports going online and us being able to meet with WLB, and you can imagine what our email inbox looked like,” he said.
“We greatly appreciate our members alerting us to the issue. Thanks to people directly affected contacting us with all the relevant information, we were able to meet with WLB in a fully-informed position and work with facts and written information rather than just repeating things we’d seen on social media.
“We are extremely pleased there are no changes to the SC1/RE1 situation in the works at present, and will continue to work to make sure it stays that way.
“Our stance has always been that any legally owned firearm should be able to be used for any lawful purpose.”
Queensland does not have crown land or state forest hunting, meaning shooters are left to their own devices to find land to hunt on — often via connections made at shooting clubs — while hunters frequently visit ranges to sight in firearms, sharpen their aim and test equipment.
More of us must support Shooters Union in Qld, by becoming a member if you aren’t already. These guys are tireless in staying on top of this insidious creep on firearms owners rights. As a member myself, thanks guys.