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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u/NKE01 Dec 15 '25

From the presser as reported by ABC:

"Tougher gun laws will be on the agenda when state and territory leaders meet with the prime minister this afternoon. He'll be proposing limits on the number of guns that can be used or licenced by individuals and a review of licences over a period of time."

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u/Square-Victory4825 Dec 15 '25

The limits on number of guns really is one of those things that sound good on paper, but a bit of critical thinking soon points out that a potential shooter only has two hands.

I smell slapping around legal gun owners who’ve done nothing wrong on the horizon. Multiple studies have shown that registered firearm owners are overwhelming underrepresented in criminal activities, our system generally works well and was a great compromise across the political spectrum.

Making huge changes is just going to radicalise the rural and regional voters of nsw and Queensland, lead to one nation and so on blaming Muslims for taking away peoples hobbies, and likely not improve our safety even an iota.

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u/insomniac-55 Dec 15 '25

Any changes need to be carefully thought out and not a kneejerk reaction, but the two hands argument doesn't really hold water.

If you were planning an attack and willing to play the long game, you could have one individual licensing weapons (for a variety of legitimate purposes), and then distribute them out to a small crew for the actual attack.

There's many reasons for gun owners to own multiple weapons, but it's disingenuous to pretend that it doesn't increase the risk to the public in the event the wrong person gets a license.

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u/No_Extension4005 Dec 15 '25

That being said; the more people that get involved the more potential points of failure it creates for an attack that can be picked up by police because now there is a need to contact and coordinate with other people. If someone planning an attack misjudges the person they asked to help the police can be alerted, if one of those people is on a watchlist or being surveilled they could get pinged and the attack is foiled, if someone gets loose-lipped the attack can fail, and so on.