NSW Premier Chris Minns said he would introduce the strongest gun laws in the country, recalling parliament to quickly cap the number of guns individuals could own and reclassify some weapons, such as pump-action shotguns.
Prime Minister Athony Albanese, through National Cabinet, is also accelerating the creation of a central firearms register to increase intelligence-sharing between jurisdictions.
There is also a suggestion that firearm ownership be restricted for non-Australian citizens.
The suite of reforms are in response to the Sunday, December 14 Bondi massacre, which left 15 people dead.
One of the two gunmen who carried out the attack legally owned six firearms.
NSW is proposing ownership be capped of four firearms per person, with exemptions allowing up to 10 for primary producers and approved sports shooters.
Straight-pull, pump-action, and lever-release firearms will be reclassified to Category C, which is generally restricted to primary producers.
Licence terms will be reduced from five years to two years, and all licence holders must have a valid gun club membership.
Mr Albanese said “hundreds of thousands” of guns would be collected and destroyed through a buyback scheme. A timeline for this process has not yet been announced.
It will be similar to the one introduced by then-prime minister John Howard following the Port Arthur mass shooting in Tasmania, which killed 35 people.
“There are now more than four million firearms in Australia, more than at the time of the Port Arthur massacre nearly 30 years ago,” Mr Albanese said.
Southern Riverina Hunting Club member Jim Muirhead said while he is still trying to understand the full impacts of the government decision, his initial reaction is that the changes “unduly affect law-abiding people who use firearms”.
“We’e still getting a handle on it (the new legislation), but it is going to affect people in this region,” he said.
“The main thing is that the laws are going against law-abiding firearm owners and not against criminals. To me, it is really ridiculous.
“99 per cent of law-abiding firearm owners are the ones that are being affected.
“These laws won’t stop extreme people.”
Mr Muirhead said he did support proposals to tighten controls on non-citizens, but expressed concern that legislation was being rushed due to politics.
He said the realities of firearm ownership in rural and regional Australia were being largely ignored.
“Most people would have more than four guns due to the different disciplines - for example, clay shooting, bird, field and game, hunting for foxes and pigs, which each may require a different gun.
“They haven’t thought it through, and it is definitely a knee-jerk reaction.
“If you talk to farmers, in our region, nearly every one will have firearms that they use for hunting or may need to put down an animal that is sick or is injured. They’ve been made the scapegoat.”
NSW Member for Murray Helen Dalton agrees, and has asked Mr Minns to reconsider his proposals.
She said there are more than 10,000 licensed firearm owners in the Murray electorate, including farmers, pest controllers, stockmen and rural workers who rely on firearms as everyday tools.
“In rural NSW, guns are like shovels. They are tools we use to get things done,” she said.
“We are overrun by feral animals. Only a city-centric politician could ignore this problem.
“My own property is inundated with feral pigs and other pests. How are we supposed to manage biosecurity, animal welfare and food production if lawful access to appropriate firearms is restricted?”
28°C