A group of Australian gun enthusiasts, who filmed a violent video of what appears to be an effigy of the Grand Mufti being shot and incinerated, and a Greens party logo being fired at, face calls to have their gun licences revoked.
A series of videos from the Shooting Stuff Australia Facebook and YouTube pages have sparked concerns about increasingly violent rhetoric being used by some gun owners in Australia.
Greens MP David Shoebridge has written to NSW police commissioner Andrew Scipione asking him to investigate a number of individuals who he says have posted material that appears to advocate political and ethnic violence.
Gun control is likely to be a highly charged political issue in coming months, with a review of the National Firearms Agreement and key crossbenchers such as independent MP Bob Katter advocating for approval of the controversial Adler 110 shotgun.
The Shooting Stuff Australia online group, run by two Queensland men who identify themselves as Aaron and Marty, have gathered increasing traction in Australia’s gun community and regularly review a wide arsenal of weaponry on their online pages.
They claim their videos are supported with ammunition and loans of weapons by several gun clubs in Queensland, a major Australian gun distributor as well as a local distributor of major US gun brand Vortex Optics.
One video depicts a plush toy effigy of “the grand muffin” which appears to be a caricature of the Grand Mufti laden with an explosives belt decapitating Santa Claus. “We’re trying to work out with the negotiator what his problem is but he doesn’t speak a word of English so it’s kind of hard,” says one of the men, before firing several rounds at the figure, causing it to explode.
Under Queensland’s gun licencing laws, gun holders must meet a “fit and proper” test that includes whether there is any information available that would indicate the person is a public safety risk or that possession of their weapons would be contrary to the public interest.
Another video, where the men review an Adler A110 shotgun, shows a small character with a towel taped to its head – believed to be a crude reference to the offensive term ‘towelhead’ – saying “Allah Allah Allah”, which is then shot.
The video then shows a female wearing a hijab. One of the men in the video says “shit there’s another one, a breeder.” The character is once again shot. The video also draws on common racial slurs of Muslims, suggesting they have sex with goats.
In a separate video, a Greens political slogan described as the “target of the week” is shot several times, as a steady stream of fake blood oozes from the bullet holes. Most videos published by the group – more than 20 in the past 10 months – depict shooting a Greens slogan at the end of the video.
One of the men behind Shooting Stuff Australia, Martin Phillips, defended the videos to Guardian Australia and denied they encouraged violence in any way or that the videos referred to Muslims.
“At no point in any of our videos do we use the word Muslim or Islam. We use the word Taliban,” he said. “Last I checked everyone was saying Islam has nothing to do with the Taliban. Our goal is not to incite any form of hatred or violence against ethnicity or religion.”
Shoebridge wrote in his letter to Scipione: “The use of violence in relation to religion or racial intolerance is unacceptable. Political violence is also of serious concern.
“These videos show clear violence against characters imputed to represent Muslims and Middle Eastern people generally. That this is done with an actual firearm, sometimes in combination with explosive material creating a bomb-like effect, contributes to the overall threat imputed by this material.
“Given the nature of the conduct there are questions as to whether the firearms licence holders involved could be considered to be of good character as per the firearms licensing requirements. There should be consideration in all relevant jurisdictions of the withdrawal of licenses of those involved.”
He also requested a “comprehensive audit” of other firearms licence holders in NSW to examine whether others had posted any similar material, and asked Scipione to refer the men to his Queensland counterpart.
Gun Control Australia chair Samantha Lee said she was “gravely concerned” about the erosion of gun laws in Australia and the emerging gun culture.
“A worrisome gun culture has started to emerge here in Australia. A culture reflecting the American right to bear arms and self protectionism,” she said.
“It’s important to acknowledge these are fringe groups and they would not represent the majority of licensed gun owners. However, their exploits raise significant public safety concerns as gun laws have allowed general access to rapid fire guns such as the Adler. It is obvious from these clips these guns are falling into all sorts of hands.”
Guardian Australia put questions to the Queensland Police about whether they thought the use of the firearms was appropriate. A spokesman said: “The Queensland Police Service will investigate any complaint or report regarding the misuse of firearms in Queensland.
“For privacy reasons, the QPS cannot disclose whether investigations are being carried out in relation to individuals.”
Some of the gun groups listed in the videos are popular gun distributors in Australia. Pro-Tactical Australia bills itself as one of the largest gun wholesalers in Australia, with more than 260 retailers across the country.
Extravision Australia is a major gun scope supplier, including for Vortex Optics, a US gun scoping manufacturer and supplier.
Oakhurst Gun Works says it is one of Queensland’s leading gun shops.
Oakhurst Gun Works and Vortex Optics did not respond to Guardian Australia’s questions about what support they provided for Shooting Stuff Australia or whether they agreed with some of the posts made by the group.
Extravision Australia distanced itself from the videos. Director Klaus Misins said: “I have had a look at the YouTube page and that is not something that we would agree to be part of if we knew the content.
“I doubt that we are sponsoring them. Initially they probably asked for a discount in return for putting the Vortex brand on their web site. They were probably given a discount on one or two riflescopes and that was it.”
David Auger, who is a director of Pro-Tactical Australia, said: “As far as my support I just give them a bit of ammo now and again. They’re customers.”
“The Muslim thing I wouldn’t think that was quite the right thing to do. I agree with you on that one.
“But the Greens thing, who gives a fuck about them. Take it tongue in cheek, you’re being too serious.”