It’s become a ritual: every other weekend, some struggling newspaper rolls out another anti-gun screed aimed at scaring what’s left of their shrinking readership. This time it’s The Sydney Morning Herald giving space to perennial prohibitionist Stephen Bendle – writing under the Allanah and Madeline Foundation’s astroturf front, the so-called “Gun Safety Alliance.”
Let’s be clear: Stephen Bendle has no qualifications in firearm safety or policy. His only real credential is that he doesn’t like guns. And while it’s tempting to ignore this kind of drivel, unfortunately, some policymakers – MPs and public servants are naive or negligent enough to take it seriously. So, we’re obliged to respond.
This week’s target is the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party’s Conservation Hunting Bill before the NSW Parliament. Here’s a quick tour of the more absurd claims:
Recognising a “right to hunt” would “strike at the heart of Australia’s firearm safety network”
Absolute nonsense. The Bill merely acknowledges the role of hunting in public life; it doesn’t create new legal rights. Even its fiercest opponent, Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst, admits it is purely symbolic, saying:
“It is not a legal right to hunt that can be enforced in any court… There are no consequences if it is violated.”
So, either Mr Bendle doesn’t understand the Bill, which begs the question why any media outlet is giving him a platform, or he does understand it and is being deliberately misleading. Either way, his opinion has no place in serious policy discussion.
A Minister for Hunting and Shooting would cause “significant social harms”
This is just lazy fearmongering. Bendle compares it to having a “Minister for Gambling and Alcohol.” Well, guess what? New South Wales already has a Minister for Liquor and Gaming. So does every other state.
Victoria, where Mr Bendle lives, has a Minister for Outdoor Recreation, which includes hunting and fishing. It’s such a significant portfolio that there’s even an Assistant Minister assigned to it. Bendle knows this: he sits on a committee chaired by that very Assistant Minister.
“NSW has more guns than any other state”
And it also has more people. That’s how population works. The number of legally owned firearms is irrelevant to any serious conversation about public safety, a point well understood by actual experts. Even if you bought the flawed premise that licensed firearms are a problem (they’re not), NSW ranks lower than many states on a per-capita basis.
The real danger here isn’t the bill, it’s that prohibitionists like Bendle keep getting uncritical airtime. Media outlets need to stop giving these ideologues space to push baseless fear campaigns. And if politicians or bureaucrats are engaging with them, it should be for one reason only: to politely show them the door.