Gunnery Team upgrade allows you to attack twice from the same hull zone, however it says you cannot attack the same target (hull zone or squadrons) twice if you do so.

Advanced Gunnery objectives let's both players attack twice from the same hull zone. The first player must choose different targets. The second player can make both attacks against the same target.

The front page of the Rules Reference has a box labeled The Golden Rules. One of those says that if a card effect uses the word cannot, that effect is absolute.

Would this mean that being the second player in an Advanced Gunnery game and having Gunnery Team on your ship means that you still cannot attack the same target with both attacks from a single hull zone?

Your wording appears sound...

Aren't upgrade cards optional, however? I would imagine in rules-ese you could simply declare you aren't using the Gunnery Team (or vice-versa, fail to declare that you ARE using the Gunnery Team) for that attack, and are instead invoking your right to attack twice from the Advanced Gunnery objective instead.

Your wording appears sound...

Aren't upgrade cards optional, however? I would imagine in rules-ese you could simply declare you aren't using the Gunnery Team (or vice-versa, fail to declare that you ARE using the Gunnery Team) for that attack, and are instead invoking your right to attack twice from the Advanced Gunnery objective instead.

Ah, that is true, I would think. Resolving upgrade card effects is optional, and the objective alone allows my ship to attack twice from 1 hull zones (assuming it is the chosen ship, obviously). Thanks.