Dear Editor,

The Northern Territory Firearms Council is the peak representative body in the NT, which advocates on behalf of the interests of all firearms owners, users and related businesses which use firearms in their day-to-day activities across the NT.

The NTFC executive make up the majority of the Firearms Advisory Committee members, which is a body established under Section 55 the NT Firearms Act (1997) to advise the Police Minister and the Police Commissioner on regulatory issues affecting firearm owners and users.

Since Brent Potter was appointed as the Police Minister in October 2023, the NTFC has been seeking a meeting with him to discuss relevant issues, and, more importantly, recent amendments to the NT Firearms Act and regulations which have become a burden on firearms users, businesses, sporting groups and visiting interstate shooters.

These changes have been introduced without adequate consultation or input from either the NTFC, or the FAC, which has clear statutory roles in making recommendations on firearm licensing and use under the act.

Despite multiple requests since October 2023, both in writing and through verbal contact with the Police Minister’s office, a meeting is yet to occur.

Two recent scheduled meetings were cancelled by government at the last minute with no proper explanation, nor any proposed rescheduling to allow the council to raise its concerns.

Council is now of the opinion government is content to ignore or dismiss council’s approaches.

The interests of 17,000 plus legally licensed firearm owners in the NT are being largely ignored and Territory licence holders are being treated with contempt by the minister and current government.

The concerns of the NTFC are that Territory licence holders are being disadvantaged and treated with indifference compared to licence holders in other jurisdictions.

Government appears content to ignore the concerns of its peak advisory body which represents 17,000 plus licence holders across the Northern Territory.

This number would extrapolate to around 20 to 25 per cent of Territory households owning a firearm.

One would think, six months out from an election, government would be concerned their actions are likely to lead to significant loss of votes from disaffected and disenfranchised law abiding Territorians and their family members, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Andy Armstrong, NTFC president

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