Gun control debate heats up over proposed NSW firearm cap in wake of Bondi Beach shooting
The debate about gun control is ramping up in the wake of the NSW parliament being recalled to discuss emergency reforms. (AAP: Joel Carrett)
In short:
The New South Wales government will sit next week to discuss urgent changes to the state's firearm legislation, which could include a cap on the number of guns residents can hold.
The move has been met with mixed reaction, with gun control experts saying firearm caps would go far to reduce harm.
Firearm owners are concerned about a lack of stakeholder consultation, saying none of the proposed changes would have prevented the Bondi Beach terror attack.
Firearm restrictions proposed by the NSW government in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack would go far to reduce the growing number of guns across the state and prevent further harm, a gun control researcher says.
Premier Chris Minns on Wednesday said New South Wales parliament would be recalled next week to discuss urgent firearm law reforms in the wake of the Bondi Beach shootings.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured in Sunday's attack, which occurred during a community gathering celebrating the Jewish festival Hanukkah beside the iconic beach.
Chris Minns on Wednesday said he would recall state parliament to discuss urgent gun reform. (ABC News: Jack Fisher)
Mr Minns said the proposed legislation was being drafted but would include caps on the number of firearms a licensed shooter could own, reclassify shotguns, and ban belt-fed ammunition magazines for those weapons.
Firearm licence holders may also lose their ability to appeal to the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal when their licence is revoked.
Western Australia is currently the only jurisdiction in Australia that restricts the number of firearms an individual can own, with most allowed up to five guns while farmers can have 10.
Mr Minns would not be drawn on how many firearms the proposed legislation would allow NSW residents to carry, but said WA's cap was "still too many".
Residents with hundreds of firearms
Across NSW, there are individual firearm owners registered to hold between two and 298 guns, according to NSW Police data as of June this year.
The data excludes firearms owned by dealers and collectors.
There were more than 50 people who had more than 100 firearms registered to them, with at least five of those owning up to 200 guns.
The owner of the near-300 firearms was within the 2580 postcode, which includes suburbs in regional cities including Goulburn, in NSW's southern tablelands.
A person registered to hold 295 firearms was within the 2036 postcode, which includes the suburbs of Chifley, Eastgardens and Hillside in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
The postcode with the highest number of total firearms was 2340, where more than 18,000 firearms were registered across suburbs and regional cities, including Tamworth in the state's north-east.
Research by the Australia Institute think tank in January found there were more than 1.1 million firearms registered in NSW, the most of all Australian jurisdictions.
Research director Rod Campbell said the number of registered firearms had increased by about 20 per cent in NSW over the past decade.
"The wider trends that we see Australia-wide and in New South Wales as well is that numbers of people getting a firearms licence is reasonably steady, in some places even declining, but the number of guns per licensed firearm owner is increasing," he said.
Mr Campbell said reducing the number of firearms in the state would go a long way to reducing the risk of harm, including by preventing gun theft.
"The Australia Institute's published research on this [is] that legally owned guns get stolen and become guns in the hands of criminals," he said.
"In Australia, around 2,000 guns get stolen each year. That's about one every four hours.
"So limiting the number of guns one person can have not only limits the damage that that person can potentially do, but it limits the ability of criminals to steal that person's guns and commit crimes with them."
NSW Police continue to guard the scene at Bondi Beach. (ABC News: Jack Fisher)
There were six firearms registered to Bondi gunman Sajid Akram's licence, all of which were seized by authorities after the weekend's attack.
The 50-year-old — who was shot dead by police on Sunday — had been a licensed firearms holder since 2023.
His son, Naveed Akram, 24, has been charged with 15 counts of murder and committing a terrorist act over the incident.
He remains under police guard in a Sydney hospital, where he awoke from a coma on Tuesday.
Firearm caps 'irrelevant'
Mourners congregated at Bondi Pavilion to honour the 15 people killed. (ABC News: Jack Fisher)
Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia chief executive Tom Kenyon said reducing the number of guns in NSW would not have prevented the terror attack at Bondi Beach.
"[Firearm] limits are irrelevant," he said.
"Everything [the state government is] proposing would have had no effect on what happened on Sunday afternoon.
"They should be focusing their energy on the prevention of radicalisation and on better information sharing between the Commonwealth and the states."
State parliament is due to sit on December 22 and 23 to discuss the reforms, with Mr Minns saying the legislation would be pushed through parliament "in a short space of time".
Tom Kenyon says firearms owners were concerned about not being consulted on the proposed gun reforms. (ABC News: Adam Shirley)
Mr Kenyon said firearms holders were concerned time for community consultation on the proposed legislation would be limited.
"We are not unaware of the urgency of the situation. We know that [Mr Minns] is keen to act quickly, that he's keen to protect New South Wales citizens and we are keen to work with him," he said.
"But he has come out and announced proposals without having talked to us, without having consulted any firearms associations, as far as we're aware.
"That makes it very difficult to accept that he's prepared to negotiate in good faith."