RELATED: Farmers vent strong views on all sides of shotgun debate

Farmers are not as strongly opposed to tougher rules on lever-action shotgun ownership as the gun lobby suggests, according to a national farm sector survey.

Just under half of the 750 respondents interviewed by Fairfax Agricultural Research and Marketing (FARM) supported the recent decision by state and territory leaders to restrict ownership of lever action shotguns, particularly those with more than five rounds capacity.

The FARM survey, conducted last week, also found more than half did not believe it was necessary for farmers to use lever-action shotguns with more than five shot capacity to control feral pests.

South Australian farmers had the strongest view on that front, with 60pc saying it was unnecessary as a feral pest management tool. Victorian and Tasmanian producers’ views were similar.

But 56pc of Queensland respondents believed a five-plus round lever-action shotgun was required for pest control.

While guns are considered necessary “tools of the trade” on most Australian farms, the vast majority of farmers polled (94pc) did not own any lever-action shotguns.

However, the need for multi-round shotguns for feral pest control has been a key argument voiced by many wanting a ban on the contentious Adler seven-round lever-action shotgun lifted, including the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party and the Liberal Democrats’ Senator David Leyonhjelm.

Months of intense political debate over the Adler eventually culminated two weeks ago with the Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) voting to reclassify the weapon so it will only be available to Category D licensed gun owners - a limited group of professional shooters.

Critics say reclassification has effectively made future imports of the Turkish-made firearm commercially unviable, although many FARM poll respondents were not fazed.

“There’s no real need to have a multi-shot gun unless you’re a professional shooter,” said one NSW respondent, echoing the views of many.

Others, who disagreed with the new rules, feared they would deny access to farmers who genuinely did need access to more vermin control options, with a Queensland respondent arguing “professional shooters don’t use shotguns”.

COAG also modified the classification for lever-action shotguns capable of holding five rounds or fewer from Category A to Category B, potentially making availability more restricted, although farmers commonly have A and B gun ownership licences.

Just 8pc of respondents to the FARM survey said changing this classification would make a difference to them.

Although some recent unregulated online opinion polls suggested a tide of opposition to restricting seven-round shotguns to Category D, the FARM survey of genuine beef, sheep, grain and dairy producers in all states and territories found only 51pc opposed the COAG crackdown.

Responses were an even 50-50 each way on the Category D decision in Queensland, Northern Territory, Victoria and Tasmania.

Opposition was strongest in Western Australia, and NSW where the shotgun debate was in the spotlight during the shooter’s party’s by-election campaign to snatch the state seat of Orange from The Nationals.

The poll found Queensland and Western Australia had the highest level of lever-action shotgun ownership at 10pc and 9pc respectively, while SA had just 2pc.

FARM’s managing analyst, Scott Carpenter, said the random sampling study attracted high participation willingness among respondents.

“There’s clearly strong interest in this topic in the bush, but also a remarkably even mix of views about tighter rules on shotgun ownership,” Mr Carpenter said.

Unlike internet polling where results may end up warped towards reflecting the views of vested interest groups, or those respondents who may be alerted to the poll or motivated to respond, the FARM telephone survey relied on a broad agricultural sector database with respondents chosen at random Australia-wide.