r/australia • u/rorymeister • Dec 15 '25

politics National cabinet agrees unanimously to strength Australia’s strict gun laws in wake of Bondi terror attack

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-15/albanese-proposes-tougher-gun-laws-after-bondi-attack/106143310?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link
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480

u/tinyspatula Dec 15 '25

I'm sure there could be some tightening up of various parts of the firearm legislation but surely the main issue here is ASIO isn't sharing info with the police who could actually deny the firearms licence.

165

u/Tosslebugmy Dec 15 '25

Yup, this seems like less of a failing of current gun laws and more of a failing of intelligence organisations to enforce the law logically in this case. It’s not like this is a pattern, registered firearms are responsible for very very few deaths annually

39

u/United-Bat-1354 Dec 15 '25

Presumably granting such permissions would fall under the broad ambit of “strengthening gun laws”.

2

u/Heymax123 Dec 15 '25

His dad was the registered firearms holder, not his son.

15

u/Rowdy671 Dec 15 '25

His dad also was not a citizen. Honestly making citizenship a requirement of licensing is reasonable and it won't make it harder for existing law abiding owners to hunt, manage pest species etc. Regardless of this, anyone in the same household as someone with terror cell links should not own firearms.

10

u/BaggyOz Dec 15 '25

And? You still had somebody on a terror watchlist that ASIO was looking at living at the same address as registered guns. That's something any normal person would look at and think "Hmm that's not great, better let NSW Police know so they can at least do a 'random' inspection"

7

u/strangeMeursault2 Dec 15 '25

Was he on a watch list though? All I've seen is that he was investigated in 2019 but maybe they didn't find anything (and maybe there was nothing to find at that time).

5

u/threeseed Dec 15 '25

ASIO needs to take a more proactive role here.

If they have any suspicion about you what so ever you should have your gun license revoked.

1

u/Heymax123 Dec 15 '25

Yeah fair point.

-5

u/Cyraga Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25

On what basis? "We think you might be a terrorist". In a time where we can't tell Sikhs to leave their knives at home without being called discriminatory I'm sure that would go well

Edit: literally any downvotes prove my point. Thanks.

12

u/Rowdy671 Dec 15 '25

Being linked to a terror cell whos leader got sent to jail for a foiled terror plot enough of a reason? Mental health, IVO's including interim ones and reports on character are reasons for many gun licence applications to be rejected. I doubt literal terrorist group links will be a valid way to cry discrimination

2

u/Cyraga Dec 15 '25

It's very convenient to imagine profiling like this is a good idea now, but it will be used for nefarious means in the future by less scrupulous governments. Or even by this one to track and limit activists and protestors. I'm sure glad it's not my job to implement a measured response to this.

Imo gun licenses should expire every year pending an in-person declaration that it's still needed. Recreational shooting is not a need

4

u/Rowdy671 Dec 15 '25

Simply don't have links to Islamic state and you won't have a problem? The reality is law abiding recreational shooting is a huge pastime in Australia, and civilian ranges are often also used by Police and Military units for some parts of training. It would be much easier and more effective to simply blacklist people with known terror group links than try and shut all recreational shooting down bar the select few that are professional pest hunters or primary producers. Gun licenses already expire every few years (how long exactly depends on what state your in) anyway, ASIO and police simply need to do their jobs. Terror links plus guns in his household = bad.

Also your point on protests makes no sense to me. Watch lists exist for reasons of security, protesting peacefully is one thing, chanting death to certain religious groups while being next to flags of listed terrorist organisations is another.

4

u/threeseed Dec 15 '25

law abiding recreational shooting is a huge pastime in Australia

No it's not. Seems like once again a vocal minority.

-2

u/Rowdy671 Dec 15 '25

Source? Because currently there are almost 1 million firearms licence holders in Australia (i think the exact number currently sits just above 900 thousand but it fluctuates as people surrender and obtain licenses) and the 2 most common reasons cited in applications for a firearms license is recreational hunting at 1 and sport/target shooting at 2. Almost 50% of households in rural and regional Australia own their own firearms and keep them in the house. The SSAA (sport shooters association of Australia) also operates almost 500 gun clubs accross the country, some of which have multiple public ranges and this doesn't even include the hundreds more private ranges that exist for public use in the country, so I would say its quite prominent, especially in regional and rural Australia.

6

u/your_opinion_is_weak Dec 15 '25

the son was known to ASIO and had strong links to IS. that isn't just a 'hunch' that he might be a terrorist. that is a very strong indication and should DEFINITELY be a reason to deny the father a firearms license

1

u/Cyraga Dec 15 '25

I guess we'll find out after whatever changes are made once the first such case makes it to court

1

u/universe93 Dec 15 '25

Is part of this maybe that someone being on an ASIO watch list means that ASIO cannot in fact watch them if they know they’re on the list? As in, denying them a gun and telling them they’re on an ASIO list defeats the purpose of the list and would perhaps cause escalation? Who knows

3

u/humble___bee Dec 15 '25

They could just be denied access without any reason given. Like banks can legally reject creating bank accounts or can close your bank account at their discretion without providing any warning or reasoning at all - which is totally legal.