Does Labor want to loosen guns laws in NSW? No.

Has Labor told voters in the seats of Barwon and Upper Hunter to place the Shooters Fishers and Farmers (SFF) party second on the ballot at this Saturday's election? Yes.

The Liberals have also done deals with the SFF in the past to get legislation through Parliament.

And, like Labor, they don't want to loosen gun laws in NSW.

So, what's the difference?

That depends on which politicians you believe.

The Liberals claim Labor is backing a party that supports relaxing gun laws.

But according to Labor, the Government can't talk — it's done plenty of deals with the SFF in the past.

In the wake of the tragic Christchurch shootings, neither party wants to be labelled "pro-gun".

Yesterday, the Premier and former prime minister John Howard were on the hustings, selling the safeguards Mr Howard brought in after the Port Arthur massacre and warning the public that the SFF wants to repeal them.

The Coalition has also released TV ads featuring Mr Howard spruiking the same line.

The underlying message of the ad is: Don't vote for Labor because they'll support anything the SFF wants — including relaxing gun laws.

In response, the SFF accused the Premier of politicising the New Zealand terrorist attack.

The party denied wanting to repeal gun laws, but admitted it had been an old policy that it changed in 2017.

Now, the party says it does not support "American-style gun laws".

John Howard appeared in Liberal ads attacking Labor's preference deal. ( Supplied )

Labor's response was equally swift.

Labor leader Michael Daley said he put the SFF on the ticket because he wanted to win the election, but there was no way he'd repeal gun laws and if they were ever changed he would quit parliament.

But the Liberals know Mr Howard's gun laws are popular, so the ads will keep coming.

The Government claims Labor's principles are unethical as it is willing to accept support from both the greens and shooters — two different parties on the opposite sides of politics.

Greens MP David Shoebridge, who has long fought for changes to gun laws, said both Labor and the Liberals had "come to the table with very dirty hands".

"Both major parties have been willing to cut deals with the Shooters when they thought no one was looking," he said.

He's right.

For the past eight years the Government has needed the Shooters to pass legislation in the Upper House.

And it has had to do deals with them to secure their vote on key legislation.

Under then-Premier Barry O'Farrell, the Coalition struck a deal with the SFF in 2014 to allow shooting in national parks and legislated to allow hunting in state forests.

However, the Coalition later reneged on the deal, making the Shooters Party furious.

Former Nationals leader and then-Police Minister Troy Grant in 2016 voted against tougher laws for the Adler shotgun.

He wanted to retain lax laws for the high-capacity lever-action shotgun — while all other police ministers around Australia wanted to toughen them — but was eventually voted down.

The NSW Government has also poured millions of dollars into new shooting facilities across the state.

Given all this, with only five days until people head to the polls, the Government is counting on voters having a very short memory.