Labor announces $40 million boost to address firearms registry failings
Updated ,first published
The government will pour nearly $40 million into the state’s firearms register in a bid to overhaul the troubled system and improve community safety following the terror attack on Bondi in December last year.
On Saturday, Police Minister Yasmin Catley announced a $39.3 million investment that will fund additional staffing and systems upgrades, in addition to tougher restrictions on gun owners.
The new restrictions reduce the license period from five to two years, strengthen checks on those who want to own firearms, and limit the number of firearms a person can own. A comprehensive audit of all existing firearms licenses will also be carried out.
It follows a report below which revealed that during a meeting at police headquarters on December 8, 2020, psychologist and gun club official Daniel Gregg warned NSW Police Firearms Registry officials that little was being done to encourage club members to identify and report any signs of excess among fellow shooters.
This was the same police unit that issued a gun license to hitman club member Sajid Akram, who later became the Bondi terrorist.
Catley had previously revealed that the registry was “in disarray” between 2020 and 2023. There were significant backlogs in the registry during this period, and applications often took two to three years to process. It will not be fully digitized until 2023.
While police issue relatively few firearms licenses and police large numbers of gun owners, multiple Victorian and NSW sources claim police are “overwhelmed” in gun licensing teams.
NSW Police sources have expressed growing concern that “sovereign citizens” with firearms licences could turn to extremism. Previous reporting by this imprint had revealed efforts by Australia’s largest neo-Nazi group to obtain firearms through associates who held a gun licence.
Premier Chris Minns said the advice from psychologist and gun club official Daniel Gregg was a “common sense call” but believed most law-abiding firearms owners would be happy to report problem gun club members to the police.
Asked if he would implement Gregg’s recommendation as an official communication channel, Minns said he would “consider it.”
Part of the Minns government’s new funding includes 22 additional registration staff to process license renewals and “bona fide cause” checks as part of each renewal, extend membership and attendance reporting obligations for clubs and licensees and review new license application requirements, including Australian citizenship.
“This $39.3 million investment will provide 22 extra staff to the Firearms Registry so these reforms can be implemented – strengthening controls, improving oversight and supporting the practical work needed to reduce risk across the state,” Catley said in his announcement.
“In the wake of the worst terrorist attack our country has ever seen, we implemented the toughest gun law reforms in a generation, and today we are making sure the system has the people and capacity to deliver them.”
The NSW Firearms Registry will begin recruiting for these positions shortly.
Kayla Olaya is a culture reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
Max Maddison is the state political correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald.
