Dear Editor,

I am writing as a resident of the Northern Territory, an Australian born citizen, a former resident of Bondi Beach (where I lived with Jewish housemates), and as a survivor of the Dunblane Primary School massacre in Scotland in 1996, where 16 five-year-olds and their teacher were murdered, with another 15 critically wounded.

Several of the children who lost their lives were from my street. I survived purely by the luck of being in a different classroom.

Due to this latest act of terrorism, two places where I have lived, and hold dear, are now tainted by horrific acts of violence.

After living in Bondi Beach for four years, I moved to the NT a decade ago. Since then, I have fully embraced the Territory’s unique way of life, most notably through several years of working alongside Aboriginal ranger groups in remote desert communities.

During that time I have forged a lifelong bond with one Indigenous family, grounded in shared time on country, and in particular, hunting. I am proud to call my hunting partner’s daughter my own daughter, and I contribute financially to her upbringing. That relationship, built with family on country over the last seven years, is the defining chapter of my life.

For Christmas I again travelled to their outstation for several weeks. As has been the case for many Christmases, Christmas lunch is procured with a rifle, not as a symbol of violence or hatred, but of a continuation of Aboriginal culture on country, providing for loved ones.

In the aftermath of Dunblane, handguns were banned outright in the United Kingdom. I supported that decision then, and I still support it.

Yet my life in the NT has profoundly reshaped my understanding of firearms more broadly. I never imagined I would one day write a letter opposing changes to firearms legislation. In the passing of years since the horrors of my childhood, my understanding of life, violence, responsibility and morality has matured.

Those driven by moral failings, who seek to destroy life, will do so by any means. This is well established.

Australia already has strict firearm laws, with no access to handguns or semi automatic weapons, both of which were used in the Dunblane and Port Author massacres.

Notably, the banning of these types of weapons failed to prevent the terrorist attack on Bondi Beach, and new firearms laws will also fail to prevent the next terrorist attack. Legislative changes to lawful firearm ownership do not change what resides in a man’s heart.

What they do risk is undermining legitimate, culturally embedded, practical, and legal uses of firearms in the Territory. Particularly in remote and Aboriginal contexts where hunting remains integral to daily life.

My own story stands as a powerful contradiction to simplistic narratives around guns.

I am both a survivor of a mass shooting, and a firearms advocate, shaped by the realities of the NT. These two truths are not in conflict. Rather, they demonstrate why blunt legislative responses imported from urban contexts fail to reflect the lived reality of Territorians.

Additionally, poorly conceived and misguided policy emanating from the federal government has always had a disproportionately negative impact on the most marginalised Territorians.

I am also deeply concerned that the current push for firearms law changes represents a grave distraction from the federal Labor Government’s ongoing failure to meaningfully address the rise of Islamic extremism in Australia.

While I stand opposed to any changes which threaten our unique way of life here in the Territory, I do support changes to firearms legislation which will require someone to be an Australian citizen, as well as increased cooperation with with law enforcement to identify risks to the community by those who threaten human life, i.e a family member who has been investigated by ASIO.

John Phillip, Alice Spring

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