Seats targeted in the ARU’s planned campaigning at the NSW election include those of police minister Yasmin Catley and premier Chris Minns. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAPView image in fullscreenSeats targeted in the ARU’s planned campaigning at the NSW election include those of police minister Yasmin Catley and premier Chris Minns. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP‘Not a personal attack’: gun lobby targets marginal Labor seats at NSW election over post-Bondi reformsExclusive: Australian Recreation Union says it plans to support candidates and parties that oppose gun control laws brought in after terror attack
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A gun users’ group targeting marginal Labor seats in next year’s New South Wales election plans to campaign for candidates who oppose the government’s firearm laws enacted after the Bondi terror attack.
In an email sent to the electorate offices of 15 Labor backbenchers last week, the Australian Recreation Union (ARU) said it had recruited campaign managers across 17 “vulnerable” electorates, including Kogarah, the seat of the premier, Chris Minns, and Swansea, held by the police minister, Yasmin Catley.
“This is not a personal attack on you,” the email from the ARU’s director, Tracy Gavan, states.
“We understand that as a backbencher, you are not in a position to vote contrary to the party line. However, unfortunately, NSW Labor has taken an unjustified and evidence-free position against firearm owners.
“We are happy to discuss why we are targeting all of Labor’s vulnerable seats in the 2027 election. To meet or have a conversation about these issues, please let me know a suitable date and time.”
The NSW Liberal and National parties were unaware of the email sent to Labor MPs. Both Coalition parties confirmed they had had introductory calls with the ARU following changes to gun laws after the antisemitic attack in Bondi in December, but said they had not accepted any campaign support.
After the attack on 14 December, gun control legislation was rushed through parliament on 24 December as part of an omnibus bill including changes to hate speech and laws restricting protests.
The anti-protest laws have since been ruled unconstitutional. The gun laws limited recreational firearms to four per person and 10 for commercial uses such as farming, as well as sport and target shooting.
The Liberals, under their newly elected leader, Kellie Sloane, supported the December legislation, stressing the need for bipartisanship in the aftermath of the attack; but the Nationals opposed the changes, arguing they imposed arbitrary limits on farmers and regional businesses.
The ARU announced in late December its intention to support candidates and parties that opposed the laws in an email to the Nationals leader, Gurmesh Singh, and the party’s deputy leader, Kevin Anderson.
“In alignment with our shared values, we would be pleased to extend our formal support to the Nationals party,” Gavan wrote at the time.
“Conversely, we are committed to actively campaigning against those parties that have endorsed the aforementioned firearm restrictions.”
In February, Sloane said there was a need to “revisit” the changes, which she characterised as rushed, after a spike in the number of licence holders who applied to add sport and target shooting as a reason to hold a licence.
Sloane, in March, was forced to clarify the opposition’s position after the Liberal MP for Goulburn, Wendy Tuckerman, reportedly sent an email to Liberal electorate offices criticising the reforms.
In response to questions, a spokesperson for Sloane sent Guardian Australia the same statement: “When this legislation passed in December, the Liberals committed to ensuring it was implemented properly. Our MPs have been engaging with stakeholders as part of that work, which will continue.”
Singh said this week that the changes were “rushed through the parliament with limited consultation and insufficient stakeholder engagement”.
“Chris Minns is holding farmers, sporting shooters, and law-abiding firearms owners responsible for the actions of extremist terrorists.”
Read moreAsked about the message sent by the ARU to Labor MPs, Catley said Labor “won’t back down to threats”.
“The government introduced these laws following the deadliest terrorist attack Australia has seen,” the police minister said.
“The aim of our tough reforms is to protect the community, and we make no apologies for that.”
On its website, the ARU says it is “committed to protecting responsible access to hunting, fishing, 4WDing, shooting sports and other activities”. It is an approved hunting club registered on the Central Coast of NSW, allowing it to issue restricted game licences.
In its email last week, the ARU said its campaigning would “fully comply with electoral laws in NSW”.
The group does not appear in the register of third-party campaigners for the 2027 election, which currently only includes one organisation, the NSW Minerals Council.
Neither the ARU nor its directors appear in the list of disclosed political donors in NSW since 2018.
Prior to the Bondi attack, the Minns government supported a private member’s bill put forward by the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, which holds two crucial votes in the upper house.
The Conservation Hunting bill would have legislated a right to hunt, including on public land, and relaxed the use of night vision goggles and silencers.
After public backlash and criticism from gun control groups, the Minns government withdrew the use of government time for the bill to be debated, leaving it to languish in private members’ business.
Asked about its position on the bill, a spokesperson for the premier referred Guardian Australia to comments Minns made during budget estimates last month, in which he said “the approach to that bill and other measures in relation to firearms in NSW have changed since 14 December”.
The ARU did not respond to questions from Guardian Australia.
