On Sunday, a 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son allegedly opened fire on a gathering at a Jewish community event in Bondi, killing 15 innocent people.
NSW Police said the older suspect was a licensed gun owner with six legally-obtained firearms in his possession.
Federal, state, and territory leaders met yesterday to discuss stricter gun laws.
What are the laws around gun ownership in Australia?
Background
Two men are alleged to have opened fire on a Jewish community event at Bondi Beach in Sydney’s east on Sunday night.
Hundreds had gathered to celebrate the start of the Jewish festival of Chanukah.
Police have declared the mass shooting a terrorist attack.
The death toll is 16, including 15 innocent people and the older suspect.
1996 changes
In 1996, a single gunman killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania.
Within 12 days, Australian leaders developed the National Firearms Agreement (NFA).
As part of the NFA, the Federal Government bought 650,000 guns from the population at a cost of around $300 million, covered by a one-off 0.2% Medicare levy increase.
Gun laws
State and territory governmentsregulate guns in line with the NFA.
The NFA sets out “genuine reasons” for gun ownership, such as sport, recreational hunting, primary production(e.g. farmers), or working for the police or the army.
Each category of gun ownership has its own set of rules, such asmembership of a registered club, or proof of employment.
Types of firearms are also restricted, including by gun owner category.
Categories A and B cover long guns, including non semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.
Category C includes semi-automatic guns with limited capacity, while category H covers all handguns.
All guns must be stored securely, separately to ammunition in a “not easily penetrable” container.
A new permit is needed for each gun acquired.
When applying for a permit for the first time, applicants must complete safety training.
While licences are restricted to over 18s, states and territories have differing laws allowing some gun access for 12 to 17 year-olds.
For example, in NSW, a minor’s permit can be granted for those aged over 12, allowing them to use guns under supervision from a person with a licence.
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In the Northern Territory, children can have a junior club licence from 10-years-old.
Criticism
Research by the Australia Institute published in May 2025 found Australia now has more registered firearms than before the 1996 NFA.
The number of firearms decreased from 3.2 million in 1996 to 2.5 million in 1997. In 2024, the number was 4 million.
The Institute found laws were “inconsistent” across jurisdictions, “pos[ing] a risk to community safety.”
Researchers said a National Firearms Register (NFR) proposed under the NFA “still does not exist.”
WA changes
Earlier this year, new gun legislation came into effect in Western Australia.
Changes include restricting competitive shooters to owning 10 guns, and five for hunting.
The law strengthened penalties for offences such as pointing a gun at someone, and using or giving someone a gun while intoxicated.
A voluntary buyback scheme providing gun owners with up to $1,000 per firearm runs until 14 January 2026.
What’s next?
Yesterday, National Cabinet (the PM and state and territory leaders) met to discuss gun laws after the Bondi terror attack, considering options such as:
- advancing the implementation of an NFR,
- making Australian citizenship a condition for holding a gun licence,
- limiting the number of firearms a person can own,
- limiting the types of guns that are legal, and
- using criminal intelligence to determine eligibility (information about someone’s associations or behaviour, even if they haven’t been charged with anything).
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Federal Government will begin work on firearms customs restrictions “as an immediate priority”.
Albanese said the leaders “reiterated their commitment to the Permanent National Firearms Amnesty,” which allows people to surrender unregistered firearmswithout penalty.
WA Premier Roger Cook and NSW Premier Chris Minns will assist Albanese in leading the work. Minns said on Tuesday he is working to get MPs back to State Parliament as soon as possible.
Comments
The Greens said they want to see changes such as implementing anNFR, limiting the number of guns a person can own, and removing recreational hunting as a reason for gun ownership.
Australian Greens Leader Larissa Waters said the party will work with Federal, state, and territory governments “to tighten the rules” .
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley told the ABC on Tuesday that the Coalition “will look at what comes out of the discussions... and take a sensible proportionate approach”.
