Share this @internewscast.com
There’s ongoing debate around potential changes to gun regulations, including enhancing background checks, implementing periodic reviews for license holders, and introducing a citizenship requirement for gun ownership.
As these proposals are considered, opinions vary on the necessary adjustments.
In 1996, under Howard’s National Firearms Agreement (NFA), the government aimed to establish a national registration system to track firearms throughout their lifecycle.
Ex-Prime Minister John Howard has accused Labor of using gun legislation as a diversion following the Bondi Beach incident, yet he remains open to reforms where “sensible tightening can occur.” Source: AAP / Dan Himbrechts
Nevertheless, the National Firearms Register (NFR) was not set in motion until 2024, a year after the National Cabinet’s decision to initiate a four-year trial, with full implementation planned for mid-2028.
Tom Kenyon, the CEO of the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia, which promotes shooting sports and advocates for firearms owners, believes the lack of intelligence information sharing among governments, firearms groups and police forces was “the biggest single issue now in the current (gun) laws”.
Amid questions over how Sajid Akram was granted a license, NSW police commissioner Mal Lanyon has said the registry would have done its best to make a fair and thorough assessment — and it’s far too early to determine if there has been any systemic failures in the lead-up to the terror attack.
Can limiting gun numbers stop firearm thefts?
Currently, Western Australia is the only jurisdiction that has a cap on the number of guns people can own — 10 for primary producers and competition shooters, and five for recreational hunters.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission estimated that in 2023, there were around 200,000 firearms in the domestic illicit market.
The Department of Home Affairs established a permanent national firearms amnesty in 2021, and by June 2024, over 40,930 firearms had been surrendered across the nation.
It says hunters should only control pests if they are “competent shooters and under the direct supervision of a government program”.
The risk of 3D-Printed guns
Bright, who’s also the author of a book on the illegal firearms market and its relationship with organised crime, said he would also like to see more discussions around 3D printed firearms .
All states and territories have made it illegal to possess the blueprints of firearms for 3D printing. Credit: Eric Gay/AP
Currently, it’s illegal across all states to own blueprints of 3D-printed weapons, but only some states have criminalised the behaviour.
On Tuesday, in the wake of the Bondi Beach massacre, Minns said he was “determined to bring in the toughest gun laws in Australia and they’ll be significantly tightened in New South Wales”.
