News that Goulburn is the third best-armed city in NSW, with 11,875 registered guns in postcode 2580, caused a stir around town this week, and left Sporting Shooters Association of Australia's (SSAA) Goulburn branch president Bill Irvine scratching his head.
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"I don't really know why Goulburn sits higher than other towns," said Mr Irvine.
"It could be just the amount of space and population covered by the postcode.
"Or maybe it's the location close to Canberra and Sydney, with city people keeping firearms at their weekender."
Whatever the reason, he was quick to shoot down the stereotype of gun owners as rednecks.
"It annoys us a fair bit as a group, because the truth is, if someone has a licence then they have passed a pretty stringent police check, and that's ongoing, so if anything happens that gets revoked," he said.
"There's probably no other identifiable group in the community that is as clean as gun owners."
He pointed out that the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission lists gun owners in their system, something that grates on a lot of gun owners.
"We as the most non-criminal group gets listed with the criminals - that's really weird," said Mr Irvine.
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He compared the need for a number of firearms to golfers having more than one club.
"You need them for different purposes, so they have different weights and configurations - one weapon won't cover all purposes," he said.
"There can also be a bit of sentiment.
"I have a Belgian made shotgun from 1908 that used to be my father's. Not a super useful firearm these days, but it was my Dad's, so I'll keep it."
Mr Irvine classed most gun owners in rural areas into three groups: target shooters, recreational hunters (usually for vermin control), and primary producers who keep guns on their properties.
He said that hunting in the service of landholders was absolutely essential in the area.
"Foxes and feral cats are the very worst for native animals, while rabbits and pigs degrade the land," he said.
"Recreational hunters have a degree of satisfaction from helping farmers and native animals in that sense.
"Of course, you have to practice if you want to do it in a quick and humane way."
Some of that practice occurs at the Goulburn Rifle Range.
SSAA boasts 500 members altogether, and the range has only recently re-opened following the coronavirus shutdown.
"At the range, we're mostly outdoors so we can very easily meet the health requirements of social distancing," he said.
At Goulburn gun supply store Fish'N'Shoots Tackleworld, employee David Sasse agreed that shooters suffered from an unfair public perception.
"Gun owners have to be responsible as the licence is hard to get and even harder to keep," said Mr Sasse.
"But in the eyes of majority of people, we're rednecks.
"I work in a gun shop and I shoot, but never shot a feral animal in my life - I just shoot at targets.
"The guns hurting people aren't owned by licensed firearm owners."
"The guns hurting people aren't owned by licensed firearm owners."
- David Sasse
He pointed out that anyone can get a cross-bow without a licence, and they were also dangerous in the wrong hands.
"But then anyone can kill someone with a truck, so it's all about people doing the right thing with what they're using," he said.
Mr Sasse added that his wife had a licence too and target shooting was an activity they had enjoyed as a family, while others collected weapons out of interest in them as objects.
"With some gun collectors, the weapons have never been fired," said Mr Sasse.
"It's like collecting stamps but a little more expensive."
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