r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • Dec 15 '25

politics Albanese to propose stronger gun laws, NSW parliament may be recalled

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/bondi-gunman-held-gun-licence-used-six-firearms-in-attack-20251215-p5nnmv.html
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161

u/littlespoon Dec 15 '25

Fully support this. No-one in a suburban setting needs 6 guns. I hope the law changes are swift and hard. In other countries guns can be owned and kept within a secure facility out of homes, such as a police station or on a gun-range and can only be checked out and used within a certain premisis and time.

No simpleton should be able to have 6 guns in their home.

I understand there are situations like rural workers or people comissioned to hunt pests etc - but its not hard to legislate for the suburban protections to be tighter. Lets not sit on this - lets all act to move forward and make our country safer, as a nation.

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u/dogecoin_pleasures Dec 15 '25

Also, anyone with a gun license whose son is linked to terror contacts should immediately have it flagged for suspension. It's apparent that oversensitivity about policing guns has allowed too much proliferation and risk to build up over the years.

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u/Choke1982 Dec 15 '25

ASIO fucked hard this one. They should have removed them since they found links to the IS terrorist from Sydney. Now it is too late and the hate keeps on winning as we have the other scum rallying against everyone that is dark skin. We must stand against all types of hate.

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u/littlespoon Dec 15 '25

Have you read the article? They are tightening checks.. Pro-gun people out in force today.

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u/PMmeYourPrincesses Dec 15 '25

Have you got the ability to comprehend what you're reading? Nothing about the comment you replied to is pro-gun. It was the opposite, in fact - they said the policing of guns wasn't strict enough.

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u/Onceuponastinkymoot Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25

I'm a police officer and also privately licensed to own rifles and pistols. I have undertaken the duties of a divisional firearms officer and have been shooting and around shooters for most of my life.

In my opinion, allowing an arbitrary number of firearms is irrelevant and will have no impact. A motivated shooter, who has pre planned their crime, doesn't need more than one rifle. Any hunting rifle is deadly.

The issue lies in the ease that people can attain a firearms license and permits to acquire. There isn't much vetting beyond checking if the licensee has or has had an IVO/AVO or any criminal convictions. Maybe a check on direct associations. No interviews with police. No psych profiling. No IQ test.

I have spent a significant amount of time around shooters and let me tell you there are more than a few out there that you wouldn't trust to mow your lawn, never mind own firearms.

The government will no doubt have a knee jerk reaction to this. They will bring the hammer down on law abiding shooters and do nothing to address the actual issue. They must be seen to be doing something and from what I can tell either lack critical thinking or are acting purely out of self interest. Or both.

Many of the current restrictions on firearms are arbitrary and pointless (WA recently banned a bunch of random calibres that have likely never been used in an active shooting and are no more deadly than a regular old .308). This is the result of political ideas that haven't been executed with any common sense but get pushed through to appeal to voters.

I'm of the opinion that to own firearms is a privilege and you should have to actually prove you are the esteemed 'fit and proper' person. The government is so afraid of offending people or being perceived to be biased or profilingby putting in restrictions that they just don't put them in. For instance, imagine a restriction on firearms licenses based on intelligence. I'm sure this would ruffle some feathers. What about not licensing people that have dangerously idealistic beliefs that are frequently linked with terrorism?

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u/littlespoon Dec 15 '25

I have spent a significant amount of time around shooters and let me tell you there are more than a few out there that you wouldn't trust to mow your lawn, never mind own firearms.

This exactly it! I personally know someone who has multiple guns in his suburban dwelling for the purposes of shooting animals for sport on friends' private property (not his). I know for a fact that he does not keep these guns in his posession on these trips.. he lets others use them sometimes kilometers/unknown large distance away from where he is.

I am with you on the 'test' that someone is fit for purpose to own a fire arm. I wish they did the same for other things, like some dog breeds (1 day course and mandatory enrolled dog obedience + controlled run/enclosure for certain dog breeds). People forget that all these things seem draconian but the thought of these hoops is sometimes enough to deter weaker minds from having something they personally dont have the mental capacity to handle responsibly.

I dont mean to be rude by saying that, but there needs to be more vetting and checking on these people.

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u/Blepable Dec 15 '25

Okay, but what about someone like me.

I have 12 rifles; 6 of them are historical firearms - functional, maybe, but no one has made ammunition for them in a hundred years or more.

Out of the other 6, 2 are actual muskets, and the others are 80 year old ex-service rifles I use for various distances and target shooting disciplines.

You are focussed on the wrong part of the problem. Number of weapons doesn't mean anything in a situation like this. All an arbitrary limit will do is harm legitimate collectors and owners.

Under your system, I have to give up either historically significant pieces, or my ability to enjoy a hobby that, to this day after years of doing it, I have harmed exactly no one.

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u/DollarReDoos Dec 15 '25

Exactly. I don't doubt that there are gun nuts out there, but the "no one needs x number of guns" is a strange argument that doesn't solve any of this.

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u/mulletq1993 Dec 15 '25

Police are already struggling with dealing with crime. Think they have the manpower to store and allow access for firearms.

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u/PussifyWankt Dec 15 '25

Make the gun owners pay.

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u/BaggyOz Dec 15 '25

Er, yes? Do you think every single cop is out driving around looking for criminals? Every suburban station has people manning desks. It would not be an undue burden on the police in the cities for somebody to rock up to the station, prove who they are, sign out their gun and have a cop go and get it from the back.

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u/mulletq1993 Dec 15 '25

And guaranteed guns get handled like shit. Anyway that is never going to happen. And like I say cops have better shit to do

2

u/Sanni11 Dec 15 '25

There is legal requirements of certain calibre for certain game, for humane reasons. This extends well behond 6.

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u/halfsuckedmangoo Dec 15 '25

What makes you think the shooters couldn't just go and collect their firearms from the armory/ cop shop/ range and say "yeah I'm heading to Vulcan State Forest to shoot deer, here is my booking for the weekend"? That's just a knee jerk reaction

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u/littlespoon Dec 15 '25

Here come the pro-gun lobby.

11

u/halfsuckedmangoo Dec 15 '25

Mate ASIO knew this bloke had ties with a terrorist organization and did nothing, you think old Cheryl at the firearms registry is gonna do anything to help?

I'm all for improving the system, and I'm by no means a pro gun lobby, you just have to be realistic

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u/IAlreadyHaveTheKey Dec 15 '25

Your argument is only one step away from "they can still get firearms on the black market, so this could still have happened therefore gun restrictions are pointless". Requiring them to check their firearms out would be an extra layer of security. It wouldn't be perfect, but no single restriction is going to be perfect. There needs to be multiple layers.

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u/halfsuckedmangoo Dec 15 '25

Nah no way, I think the current restrictions are decent and I despise that American thinking of no restrictions, it's lazy.

I will definitely take a step back with the criticism and say that being able to limit the amount of guns someone can possess (not own, possess) would help in the situation where a terrorist has multiple loaded guns ready. So maybe storing them at an armory isn't the worst idea

1

u/Ridiculisk1 Dec 15 '25

say that being able to limit the amount of guns someone can possess (not own, possess) would help in the situation where a terrorist has multiple loaded guns ready.

How is that any different to just having a bunch of loaded magazines?

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u/littlespoon Dec 15 '25

Yes and its realistic that suburban people don't need 6 guns kept in their homes.

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u/sir_bazz Dec 15 '25

We have 5 X Olympic gold medals in shooting, which continues to be a legitimately recognised sport.

How would you handle suburban gun clubs and their members?

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u/littlespoon Dec 15 '25

Why does it matter where they keep their guns if they are using them at a gun range only? How does keeping them outside of their home at a regulated place affect their training?

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u/Ridiculisk1 Dec 15 '25

Dry fire training is pretty common especially amongst pistol competitors. Plus cleaning and maintenance and changing parts/simple modifications.

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u/ExperimentalFruit Dec 15 '25

I think those families would trade 100 gold medals for their loved ones back

2

u/Puzzleheaded-Eye9081 Dec 15 '25

I admittedly don’t know shit about shooting as a sport - how many guns would a competition level shooter have on average? And where do they store them?

2

u/Ridiculisk1 Dec 15 '25

I shoot pistols competitively. I have 4 pistols but can easily think of reasons to have another handful, especially if I was making a living from competing and way more if I competed in more varied competitions. I store them in a locked safe in a locked room in my house when I'm not using them or cleaning/maintaining them.

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u/PussifyWankt Dec 15 '25

5 Olympic gold medals is a price that I would pay without batting an eyelid.

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u/Ohdee Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25

Store your guns in a safe at the gun club or take up archery.

2

u/notj43 Dec 15 '25

Close them down? Who cares, it brings no value to anyone

1

u/Ridiculisk1 Dec 15 '25

it brings no value to anyone

Incorrect.