As Tasmania considers adopting gun laws similar to NSW, imposing ownership limits and effectively banning lever-release and straight-pull firearms, the government has opened the proposals for public consultation.
Changes planned under the Firearms Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2026 include:
- Introducing caps of four guns for hunters and 10 for competition shooters and primary producers
- Reclassifying straight-pull and lever-release centre rifles and shotguns, regardless of magazine capacity, to Category C (effectively banning them for overwhelming majority of shooters)
- Requiring licence holders to be Australian citizens, NZ citizens engaged in primary production or pest control work, or obtain an exemption from the Police Commissioner (either individually, or be covered by a blanket exemption under Regulations)
- Limiting rifles (both rimfire and centrefire) with detachablemagazines to 10 rounds. Fixed-magazine rifles (such as tube-fed guns) are not affected by this
- Connecting Tasmania to the National Firearms Registry (NFR).
There are a number of other administrative changes in the Bill too, such as requiring people moving house to notify TasPol a week before they move; requiring interstate shooters who permanently move to Tasmania to apply for a Tasmanian licence within a week instead of three months; and clarifying the definitions of “firearm” and “firearm part”.
The public consultation concludes on 7 August.
The Tasmanian Government is trying to justify the Bill – particularly the NFR related elements – as being a community safety move, claiming: “From a community safety perspective, the NFR is expected to strengthen both public and police safety. It will assist in preventing firearms from being diverted into illicit markets, improve the identification of firearms linked to criminal activity, enhance intelligence sharing between jurisdictions, and provide frontline police with better information when responding to incidents involving firearms.”
The caps, reclassification and buyback elements have been widely criticised by shooting industry representatives in Tasmania, with Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Tasmania (SHOT, the peak body representing the major shooting entities in the state including SSAA Tasmania, SIFA, Shooters Union, Field & Game, the Australian Deer Association, and many others) saying the changes were not coming from genuine local concerns, but were being driven by Canberra – with licensed, law-abiding Tasmanian firearm owners being being made to pay the price.
“We all agree that firearms must be kept out of the hands of criminals, terrorists and dangerous people. That is not the issue,” the organisation said.
“The issue is that these proposed changes go well beyond that. Reclassifications, restrictions and added red tape will not target criminals. They will target farmers, hunters, sporting shooters, collectors and ordinary licence holders who already follow the law.
“Tasmanians deserve laws that are evidence-based, practical and focused on real community safety, not political overreach dressed up as reform.”
Anyone interested in making a submission on the proposed laws can do so until 5pm on Friday, 7 August.
More information, including copies of the Bill, an FAQ, and explanatory information for submission-makers, is available at https://www.police.tas.gov.au/consultation/consultation-on-the-firearms-amendment-miscellaneous-bill-2026/.
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