The billboard put up in Townsville this week by a recently formed gun lobby group.

The billboard put up in Townsville this week by a recently formed gun lobby group. Sue Monk

GUNS laws could hold greater political sway at the next state election, given the rising popularity of shooting sports. One Mackay club has signed up an extra 200 members in less than two years.

That's what the recently formed Law Abiding Firearm Owners Inc is hoping, after installing a billboard reading "Labor is anti guns” at Townsville.

It follows the State Government's response to the recently updated National Firearms Agreement, which will place greater restrictions around firearms ownership , and call to ban the Adler A110 shotgun.

The billboard came after newspaper advertising in Mackay, and another billboard at Rockhampton will follow.

The group's spokesperson, Chris Howard, believes with 200,000 gun owners in the state, the issue could easily cost Labor three Townsville seats and "contribute to a state-wide swing” against the current government.

But a Right to Information request from the Queensland Police Service shows there were 3629 adult firearms licences in the Mackay postcode area between July 1, 2015 and April 30, 2016.

This far exceeds the number of licences owned in each of the three marginal seats around Townsville the Law Abiding Firearm Owners hoped to sway with its campaign.

Despite the large number of firearms licences in the region, Labor Member for Mackay Julieanne Gilbert wasn't worried about backlash.

"At every election every group who has an issue to push will be out campaigning,” Ms Gilbert said. "When you look at the number of people who use firearms it's only in certain sectors. I don't own one and not many of my friends do.

"Our main aim is to keep people safe.”

Police Minister Mark Ryan agreed, stating "the safety of Queenslanders is our number one priority”.

The National Firearms Agreement was first introduced following the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. An updated version of the agreement was recently posted on the Attorney-General's website, and now it falls to the State Government to bring in laws that comply with it.

Shooters Union Australia vice president David Brown said the agreement "had achieved nothing positive”, and recent updates to it had been made without consultation with the industry.

He believed these changes would only exacerbate the ignorance about "the country's safest sport”, which he claimed stemmed from the inherently low risk of physical injury.

Sporting Shooters Association of Australia Mackay branch president Tony Watson said his club now had 1400 members, up from 1200 members two years ago.

He is also frustrated by the idea further restrictions could be placed on firearms owners.