NSW Australia firearm statistics

More firearms, more shooters: shooting’s increasing popularity revealed in latest NSW stats


The number of law-abiding shooters continues to grow monthly and more than quarter of a million firearms licences are now on issue in NSW, according to data released by the state government this week.

As of 9 July this year there are 250,046 gun licences in NSW, up from 247,531 in June 2022. 

NSW Australia firearm statistics

It is worth noting the figure covers licences rather than individuals; some people hold more than one licence (eg, a person with a dealer’s licence may also have a separate Category A/B licence).

The figures show 243,348 licences are endorsed for Category A and 231,175 are for Category B, while there are 16,253 Category C licences and 18,086 Cat H licences.

There are 524 Category D licences are on issue in NSW, 2836 collector’s licences and 633 dealer’s licences.

Pleasingly, new licence applications continue to increase – there were 18,470 in the reporting period, averaging 1420 new applications per month.

NSW Australia firearm statistics

The number of registered firearms as of 9 July stands at 1,098,917 – up from 1,063,652 in June 2022.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of registered guns in NSW are Category A, which at 545,691 account for almost exactly half the NSW firearms total. 

Category B firearms trail a distant second with 383,279. There are 45,808 Cat H firearms registered in NSW, but only 11,650 Category C guns and a mere 790 Category D firearms.

Those numbers do not include firearms held on collector’s licences (14,689) and dealer stock (97,996 guns).

The data shows 74,351 PTAs were applied for between June 2022 and June 2023; the greatest number being in August 2022 when there were 7020 applications. 

Processing times for PTAs averaged out at 11.66 days across the June 2022-June 2023 period.

The report also contains an update on amnesty numbers, showing that between its introduction in 2021 and July 2023, 7319 firearms had been surrendered to dealers.

NSW Australia firearm statistics

To no one’s surprise, the majority (4629) are Category A guns, with 2042 Category B guns also handed in. 

People surrendered 312 Category C and D firearms (there is no information on why the two categories were lumped together), while 258 handguns and 78 prohibited weapons have also come in as part of the amnesty.

NSW police received another 3236 guns (no details on what they were), and the report also notes 633 of the guns handed in to dealers were turned over to police for destruction or disposal.

The takeaway for shooters from this is positive news – there are more people with licences, safely using and enjoying firearms; there are significant numbers of new people joining our ranks, and more people are discovering the many benefits that being a law-abiding firearms user brings.

The full report is available here.

 

 

 


Like it? Share with your friends!

What's Your Reaction?

super super
17
super
fail fail
10
fail
fun fun
8
fun
bad bad
6
bad
hate hate
4
hate
lol lol
2
lol
love love
21
love
omg omg
16
omg
Royce Wilson

Royce is something rare in Australia: A journalist who really likes guns. He has been interested in firearms as long as he can remember, and is particularly interested in military and police firearms from the 19th Century to the present. In addition to historical and collectible firearms, he is also a keen video gamer and has written for several major newspapers and websites on that subject.

0 Comments