Following the 1996 buyback, the number of guns in Australia fell from about 3.2 million to 2.5 million, research by The Australia Institute shows. However, the national gun count has since climbed above 4 million, driven in part by population growth (Australia’s population has risen from 18.3 million to 27.5 million since Port Arthur).
There are 1.13 million legally registered firearms in NSW and, as the Herald’s Ben Cubby and Craig Butt reported last week, gun ownership is widespread across suburban Sydney. The Camden postcode area in the city’s south-west is home to 2621 licensed gun owners – the highest number in Sydney – followed by Windsor with 2232 and Liverpool with 2010.
Sajid Akram, the alleged terrorist who was shot dead by police during the Bondi attack on Sunday, lived in suburban Sydney and was the legal owner of six guns.
The proposed four-weapon limit on each individual gun owner promises to deliver a welcome reduction in the number of firearms per person in NSW.
Western Australia, which already caps the number of firearms at five for recreational shooters and 10 for farmers and competition shooters, has the lowest number of guns per person of any state or territory.
Tighter gun control won’t eradicate hate crimes or banish the scourge of antisemitism. But it must be part of the response to the sickening bloodshed at Bondi on December 14.
The Herald urges all parties in the NSW parliament to ensure the strong firearms laws proposed by the Minns government be passed into law without delay.
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