Figures released by the NSW Firearms Registry paint a grim picture of the damage done to the shooting community since the Minns Government rushed to enact sweeping changes to firearms laws without consultation or evidence of benefits after the Bondi terror attack.
One graph stands out to illustrate the extent of the harm done to the gun industry: firearms sales by dealers, denoted primarily by the term “disposals”, fell from around 5000 per month up until December 2025 to just 2000 a month by February and March 2026.
Firearms dealers have been pleading for support after business fell off a cliff as soon as the new laws were pushed through parliament, but almost six months later the government is silent in response, despite the massive losses incurred.
Meanwhile, processing times for Permits to Acquire a firearm have skyrocketed from an average of less than 9 days (including 28-day cooling off periods for first-time applications) to more than 46 days by March.
This huge rise is despite the fact that the Registry is received a vastly reduced number of PTA applications, from typically around 7000 a month prior to December to only about 3000 in February and March.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley announced the week a $39.3 funding boost for the Registry, including employing an additional 22 people, and this may go some way to reigning in the ballooning processing times, but it will not help dealerships.
Firearms sales have fallen in a heap because of the ongoing uncertainty over the new laws, which may include a buyback of newly restricted firearms as well as those currently held above the capped ownership limits now imposed.
However, the regulations allowing implementation of the new laws are not expected before September and may not be fully in place before next year, leaving gun owners and businesses in limbo.
Applications for new firearms licences have risen from about 1500 a month to almost 2500 a month in 2026, a factor generally attributed to partners and other family members getting their licences so that families may keep firearms that would otherwise have been over-limit for the individuals they were registered to.
Processing times for new licences have gone up from about 37 days before December to 53 days in March, including 28-day the cooling off period — or in other words, from 9 days after the compulsory cooling off period to 25 days.
Premier Chris Minns recalled parliament for enact what was said to be emergency legislation to combat terrorism and “get guns off our streets” yet despite the apparent urgency of the situation, the number of registered firearms in NSW had resin, albeit it very slightly.
At the end of 2025, the number stood at 1,147,988 and by 5 April 2026 it was 1,160,186.
The government has stood by its claim that the new laws will increase public safety but has not provided any evidence to back it.
Meanwhile, the interim report of the Royal Commission into the Bondi attack has found no problems with the pre-existing gun laws.
The full report by the NSW Firearms Registry is available at this link.
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