Uncovering Australia's Gun Law Loopholes: Are We Truly Protected?

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Australia’s gun laws have been described as among the world’s toughest — but they’re under scrutiny in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.

Fifteen people were killed on Sunday in an attack on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration which police allege was carried out by two gunmen — identified as father and son Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24. It was Australia’s worst mass shooting since the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre.

Police have said Sajid Akram — who was shot dead by officers — was a licensed owner of six firearms.

National Cabinet has since agreed to accelerate gun law reform in the wake of Sunday’s tragedy, with “immediate priorities” including a crackdown on 3D-printed weapons, tighter limits on the number of firearms a person can own, gun imports, and equipment that can hold large amounts of ammunition.

Among the proposed measures under consideration are more thorough background checks, periodic reviews of permits, and a requirement for gun owners to hold citizenship.

As these proposals are evaluated, opinions vary on the potential changes that should be implemented.

Back in 1996, under Howard’s National Firearms Agreement (NFA), there was an expectation for the establishment of a national registration system to track the lifecycle of firearms.

Former prime minister John Howard launched the National Firearms Agreement (NFA) in 1996, following a mass shooting in Tasmania’s Port Arthur that killed 35 people.

It included a ban on certain categories of firearms such as semiautomatic assault rifles, a 28-day waiting period for firearm purchases, stricter licensing rules, and a temporary gun buyback scheme for those affected by the agreement.

Former Prime Minister John Howard has criticized Labor for using gun legislation as a “distraction” in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach shooting. However, he expressed support for reforms where “sensible tightening” of the laws is possible.

John Howard in a suit and tie speaking from behind microphones

Former prime minister John Howard has criticised Labor for using gun laws as a “distraction” following the Bondi Beach shooting, but said he supported reform “where sensible tightening can occur”. Source: AAP / Dan Himbrechts

But the National Firearms Register (NFR) was never implemented until 2024, one year after National Cabinet agreed to roll out a four-year trial before it comes into full effect in mid-2028.

According to the Department of Home Affairs, the registry would allow frontline police officers to access “near real-time information” on firearms, their owners and licences. It’s also expected to link relevant information with police and government systems.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said National Cabinet has agreed to fast-track the NFR and gun record digitalisation.

But some believe a national register isn’t enough.

Professor David Bright, a criminologist at Deakin University, said there’s a lack of connecting intelligence and security data to information about gun licences.

“So that goes to issues around whether someone has emerged as a potential risk amongst our national intelligence community, and whether that relates to their being the kind of person we would want having a firearm licence and firearms,” he said.

Tom Kenyon, the CEO of the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia, which promotes shooting sports and advocates for firearms owners, believes the lack of intelligence information sharing among governments, firearms groups and police forces was “the biggest single issue now in the current (gun) laws”.

While Kenyon acknowledged that the NFR could be “an intelligence sharing or information sharing system”, he’s concerned about the security of information storage.

He said if the database was leaked or hacked, the information could be misused by criminals for firearms theft, and work needed to be done “to make sure that it is secure”.

Howard on Tuesday said “sensible tightening” of his landmark reforms can occur, but also said the discussion in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack was an “attempted diversion” from tackling antisemitism.

Amid questions over how Sajid Akram was granted a license, NSW police commissioner Mal Lanyon has said the registry would have done its best to make a fair and thorough assessment — and it’s far too early to determine if there has been any systemic failures in the lead-up to the terror attack.

Can limiting gun numbers stop firearm thefts?

Speaking to media on Tuesday, Albanese also confirmed the federal and state governments will consider limiting the number of firearms a person can own.

The governments will also include Australian citizenship as a prerequisite to hold a firearms licence.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed on Monday Sajid Akram was a permanent resident of Australia.

Currently, Western Australia is the only jurisdiction that has a cap on the number of guns people can own — 10 for primary producers and competition shooters, and five for recreational hunters.

A report by the Australia Institute in January showed there were over four million guns owned by civilians in Australia, a 25 per cent increase compared to 1996, before the Port Arthur massacre happened.

A report from the same organisation in September also found at least 8,287 firearms have been stolen in Australia since 2020.

Rod Campbell, research director at the Australia Institute and co-author of the report, said each year there are legally-owned guns that are stolen and end up “in the hands of criminals” — and sometimes, police don’t get them back.

“And that’s obviously a big issue for community safety.”

His report also found that while the grey market remains the single most common origin of illicit firearms, theft has become “the most significant source of new illicit weapons”.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission estimated that in 2023, there were around 200,000 firearms in the domestic illicit market.

A graphic on registered firearms in Australia

The Department of Home Affairs established a permanent national firearms amnesty in 2021, and by June 2024, over 40,930 firearms had been surrendered across the nation.

To combat gun theft, Campbell advocates setting up gun limits per individual nationwide: “The fewer guns there are to steal, the fewer guns that will be stolen.”

Kenyon from the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia is concerned further restrictions could impact recreational hunting, which he said was “valuable” to regional communities and helps remove “a huge number of feral, introduced species from our environment”.

The RSPCA argues most recreational hunting is done on an “ad-hoc basis” and is not an effective form of pest management.

It says hunters should only control pests if they are “competent shooters and under the direct supervision of a government program”.

The risk of 3D-Printed guns

Bright, who’s also the author of a book on the illegal firearms market and its relationship with organised crime, said he would also like to see more discussions around 3D printed firearms .

A person holding up a black and white plastic gun that has been produced buy a 3D printer

All states and territories have made it illegal to possess the blueprints of firearms for 3D printing. Credit: Eric Gay/AP

Currently, it’s illegal across all states to own blueprints of 3D-printed weapons, but only some states have criminalised the behaviour.

Bright said with recent technological advances, people could make “very effective, very reliable” firearms built by parts of 3D-printed components combined with real firearm parts.

Campbell from the Australia Institute said the lack of consistency among different states’ approach to gun control could create “different blind spots” for Australia to tackle the issue.

“You can see the Western Australian government has recently moved to cap the number of guns that an individual can have, and have moved to strengthen health and mental health assessments of gun licencees,” he said.

“While at the other extreme, the New South Wales Government has been looking at state legislation that would give people a right to hunt, and so sort of undermining the idea that having a gun in Australia is a privilege, not a right.”

In June, NSW Premier Chris Minns backed proposed legislation from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party that would promote hunting in state forests and on Crown lands in NSW.

On Tuesday, in the wake of the Bondi Beach massacre, Minns said he was “determined to bring in the toughest gun laws in Australia and they’ll be significantly tightened in New South Wales”.

Both Bright and Campbell said the recent discussion on gun control could be an “opportunity”.

“I think we need to determine exactly what has happened in respect to the Bondi shooting first,” said Bright.

“But the second thing is that this is an opportunity to examine carefully our current firearms legislation and firearms landscape and work out whether there are gaps, whether there are opportunities to improve and strengthen things.”