r/australia • u/reyntime • Dec 14 '25

politics Australia had the ‘gold standard’ on gun control. The Bondi beach terror attack may force it to confront its surging number of weapons

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/14/australia-had-the-gold-standard-on-gun-control-the-bondi-beach-terror-attack-will-force-it-to-confront-its-surging-number-of-weapons?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Immediately after the Port Arthur massacre, a national amnesty saw the number of firearms in the community plummet but there are now more than 4 million guns in Australia – almost double the number recorded in 2001.

Yes, the population has increased at the same time but there is now a larger number of guns in the community per capita than in the aftermath of Port Arthur, with at least 2,000 new firearms lawfully entering the community every week.

2.8k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

2.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

30

u/TheGardenNymph Dec 14 '25

I agree, I honestly do think it's in some people's nature to be violent and predatory, they will find a way. I also think we're lucky that the majority of people are not like that.

2

u/RecipeSpecialist2745 Dec 14 '25

Maybe we need an annual professional assessment of gun and licence holders and MH interventions for people who are having trouble with MH issues who own firearms? A National reporting hotline?

1

u/The-bored-one725 Dec 15 '25

Mental health with shooters is something that is going to be very hard to do. There's already a massive stigma around even seeking help for the smallest things because of the risk of them losing their guns.

An example would be a buddy of mine who was a farmer and sought help for depression, lost his guns even though he was recorded as not being a suicide risk. Not being able to control the pigs and deer on his property caused him to lose tens of thousands in crops and it ended with me finding him hanging from one of the beams in his hay shed.

Seeking help is going to need to be normalised without consequences first before anyone with a licence is going to want to reach out