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Victorians with a gun licence will not be restricted on how many weapons they own after the Allan government rejected a key recommendation from a former police chief commissioner as part of a review into the state’s firearms laws.
The rapid review was ordered by the state government after the Bondi terrorist attack last year, and made 16 recommendations to toughen gun legislation.
While 15 have been accepted, the first – which sought a strict limit of four category A and B firearms per person – has been rejected by the government.
The Allan government’s outright rejection of gun caps puts Victoria directly at odds with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whose national gun buyback scheme supports limits on individual firearm ownership.
It also isolates Victoria from NSW, which legislated caps on ownership in December. However, South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory have also resisted key parts of Albanese’s scheme and rejected caps.
In his report released on Monday, former police commissioner Ken Lay said the review carried forward the lessons of the Port Arthur massacre and responded to the tragedy at Bondi by supporting firearms laws that were evidence-based and kept Victorians safe.
“The review proceeds from a consistent starting point: no recreational pursuit, however valued, can take precedence over the safety of the whole community,” it read.
The review found that the average Victorian firearm licence holder owned about four weapons. However, depending on the type of licence and need for different firearms, some recreational hunters own up to 68, while sports target shooters hold as many as 288.
Under Lay’s recommendation to limit guns to four per licence holder, there would have been exemptions for up to 10 firearms if applicants could demonstrate “compelling need”.
Further exemptions would be available if an applicant could demonstrate “exceptional need”.
However, the government’s response to the review, also made public on Monday, rejected the concept of an ownership cap.
A gun limit could have been politically difficult for the Allan government to implement in an election year. The concept has drawn opposition from recreational shooters groups and key regional electorates.
Lay’s report acknowledged a cap was the most prominent and contested issue addressed in the review.
“There is no clear evidence that numerical caps on individual ownership, by themselves, reduce firearms-related harm,” it read.
“Equally, there is no evidence that they are ineffective, or that they undermine broader public safety objectives when implemented as part of a wider regulatory framework.”
The government accepted the remaining 15 recommendations, which included considering limiting eligibility of firearms licences to Australian citizens, or New Zealand citizens with permanent residency; considering new laws to update firearms categories so that higher-risk guns are appropriately categorised; and introducing health assessments as part of the licensing application and renewal process, and mandatory screening for unlicensed people at shooting ranges.
“Our response to the rapid review builds on Victoria’s proud history of tough gun laws by making it harder for the wrong people to get guns,” the government’s response read.
“It does this by toughening sentences for a range of firearms offences, making licensing decisions stricter, and giving Victoria Police more powers. Victoria will be safer thanks to these reforms.”
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Daniella White is a state political reporter for The Age. Contact her at da.white@nine.com.auConnect via X or email.From our partners
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