The Northern Territory Firearms Council is pushing back against calls for urgent changes to gun laws, saying there should be no limit on the number of weapons a person can own.
Following Sunday’s terror attack at Bondi Beach that killed 15 people, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a national cabinet meeting where state and territory leaders unanimously agreed to bolster gun ownership rules.
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One of the options premiers and chief ministers — including NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro — agreed to explore was limiting the number of guns an individual can own.
Lia Finocchiaro agreed to explore changes to NT gun laws at national cabinet. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)
NSW Premier Chris Minns has recalled his state’s parliament next Monday to consider gun reforms.
Mr Minns said, among the reforms to be discussed, were proposed limits on the number of firearms a licensed shooter could own.
Earlier this year, Western Australia passed legislation limiting the number of firearms a person could own to five, or 10 for farmers.
Chris Minns is proposing stricter gun laws in NSW. (ABC News: Nick Dole)
The NT Firearms Council represents gun owners and is warning against a gun limit in the territory.
President Grant Hatcher said the NT’s current laws were effective, and argued the lack of restrictions on how many guns Territorians can own was not an issue.
“The Firearms Council is appalled at what happened at Bondi Beach — it was a horrible thing that should never have occurred,”
he said.
“We just feel that a very emotional time is not the time to make decisions that perhaps aren’t going to be to the best benefit of everybody involved.”
Grant Hatcher is president of the NT Firearms Council. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)
Other options national cabinet agreed to consider were making only Australian citizens eligible to hold a firearms licence and restricting the types of legal weapons.
Mr Hatcher said there was merit in making gun licences available to only citizens, but warned against other changes.
“We’ve got to get all the facts first,” he said.
Following national cabinet on Monday, Ms Finocchiaro said the NT already had “strong” gun laws and Territorians used firearms for “legitimate and responsible purposes”.
“I will continue to take a territory-first approach at national cabinet,”
she said.Australia’s gun licence laws
In November, the NT government loosened the territory’s gun laws, removing the mandatory 28-day waiting period for existing Category A and B licence holders purchasing another gun of the same category.
At the time, Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley said the change “struck the right balance between public safety and fairness for responsible firearm owners”.
He also said the Country Liberal Party was acting on its commitment to “restore the territory lifestyle”.
On Thursday, Mr Maley — a keen hunter — shared a Facebook post urging governments to target terrorists, not gun owners.
Deputy NT Chief Minister Gerard Maley is a keen hunter. (Supplied: Facebook)
Around one gun for every five people in NT
Northern Territory Police Force data shows there are 14,268 issued gun licences in the NT, with individuals able to hold more than one type of licence.
There are 55,678 registered firearms in the territory, which has a population of around 260,000.
Earlier this year, a firearms dealer in Kakadu National Park had his licence suspended and more than 240 guns seized by NT Police.
Police seized more than 240 guns in Kakadu earlier this year. (Supplied: Northern Territory Police Force)
Research from the Australia Institute shows that in 2024, 4 million guns were owned by 943,000 people with licences across the country.
The Australia Institute’s research director Rod Campbell said there were too many guns in the NT and across the nation.
“Australia overall has seen the number of guns increase pretty substantially since the Port Arthur massacre and, since then, there are more guns in Australia now than ever before,” he said.
“Substantial numbers of legally-owned firearms get stolen and end up in the hands of criminals — about 2,000 per year, which is about one every four hours.
“The more legally-owned firearms there are, the more firearms get stolen.”
Rod Campbell is calling for stricter gun laws. (ABC News: Barrie Pullen)
Mr Campbell said the number of guns in Australia needed to be reduced to improve community safety.
“A good way of doing that is by looking at gun licences, what licences are available, how many guns individuals are allowed to own,” he said.