Rushed legislation that NSW Premier Chris Minns calls “the toughest gun laws in the country” has been passed by NSW Legislative Council after a debate that went until 3am on Christmas Eve, and will be signed off by the Legislative Assembly later today.
The Labor legislation, known as the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, was passed with support from the Liberals, Greens and some independents.
It split the Coalition, with the Nationals voting against it in the final votes, and although on Monday the Nationals had refused to support an amendment that would have split the Bill and sent the firearms legislation to an inquiry.
The Shooters, Farmers and Fishers Party put up a strong and well-prepared argument against the laws but ultimately did not have the numbers to succeed.
The legislation will limit gun owners to a maximum of four firearms, with scope for primary producers, competitors and professionals to have up to 10; and it will remove the right of appeal in the Civil and Administrative Tribunal against police decisions in many cases.
It will also effectively ban straight-pull and lever/button release firearms, all pump-actions and anything with a magazine capacity greater than 10 rounds (five in some cases). Lever-actions appear to be unaffected, magazine capacity notwithstanding.
The passage of the legislation was inevitable, particularly as the Minns Government appeared to have bundled together the firearms, protest and hate speech/symbols laws into one Bill to wedge the opposition parties.
THE NEXT BATTLE FOR SHOOTERS
Victoria has announced an inquiry into its gun laws, led by Ken Lay, a former police commissioner. Shooting organisations have cautiously welcomed it, and this approach is at least preferable to the knee-jerk reaction by NSW Premier Chris Minns.
But similar laws are now likely for most Australian state and territories.
The gun lobby will be strengthened by what has happened in NSW. There was not really anything you could call a formal gun lobby anyway, and even the Greens acknowledged it was not a particularly strong or cohesive thing, but that looks like changing.
How it changes remains to be seen, and will depend more upon which individuals rise to the top than anything else. We have seen a resurgence of SSAA as a national body under new CEO Tom Kenyon, a former politician.
The Shooters Union, under president Graham Park, has also been effective in this fight while also undertaking a strong Queensland-based campaign, and its membership has increased significantly in the past fortnight.
The firearms industry association, SIFA, sprang into action, not only providing direct assistance to the public campaign against the Minns laws but ensuring evidence-based information was placed in front of those lawmakers who would listen.
Anecdotally, and according to informal polling on social media, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation appears to have gained a lot of extra support from shooters who feel disenfranchised by their treatment at the hands of the Labor and Liberal Parties.
The Shooters, Farmers and Fishers Party, too, can expect a big boost in membership and support at the polls.
The next NSW election is just over a year away. Most movers and shakers in the shooting community that I’ve spoken to are keyed up for a year’s worth of campaigning to put firearms at the forefront of election issues.
We can learn lessons from what is currently happening in New Zealand, where there is a strong push back against the gun laws introduced there a few years ago.
So be ready for it in the new year. Meanwhile, I suspect those who’ve been working hard over the past few days are going to go home for Christmas, nursing a few bruises, and come back in 2026 with clear heads, ready for the next round.
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