Gun control and protest laws pass following terror attack
Updated ,first published
Laws cracking down on gun ownership and imposing restrictions on protests will come into force in NSW following the Bondi terror attack, following a long and heated debate in parliament stretching into the early hours of Christmas Eve.
The state government’s Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 passed the NSW upper house early on Wednesday morning with an amendment from the Greens that would ban someone being investigated for terrorism-related offenses or living with someone being investigated for such offenses from owning a gun.
The bill will now return to the lower house to be sealed and signed into law.
NSW Premier Chris Minns this week called on parliament to pass an omnibus bill with three key pillars: criminalizing the display of terrorist symbols such as the ISIS flag; significant restrictions on firearm possession; and allowing the police commissioner to prevent protests for up to three months after a terrorist incident.
Under the new laws, most license holders will be able to own a maximum of four guns. Farmers and recreational shooters can own up to 10 guns.
The bill was opposed by the National Party and faced filibuster threats from Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MPs Robert Borsak and Mark Banasiak.
The Legislative Council opened Tuesday with a weary admission that the debate would drag on until the early hours of Christmas Eve. The list of amendments – changes that various parties or MPs want to be included in the omnibus bill – reached hundreds by Tuesday afternoon.
The bill faced opposition from Minns’ own ranks; Labor MP Anthony D’Adam said the link between words and actions was “weak” and “difficult to establish”.
The government’s changes to the laws in protest have faced a constitutional challenge from activists demanding changes, saying the laws would take away the right of “everyone in NSW to come together as a community”.
Minns said Tuesday he was confident the legislation would withstand any legal challenge.
Many MPs abstained from voting on the omnibus bill. It eventually passed by 18 votes to 8, with an amendment from the Greens.
Policing and Counter-Terrorism Minister Yasmin Catley said the legislation was about using lessons learned from the Bondi terror attack to prevent mass violence before more lives were lost.
“There are over 1.1 million guns in NSW and it is well known that [fewer] “If you have guns, the safer your community is,” Catley told 2GB on Wednesday.
“This is a response to an incident that occurred here, a tragedy in our community. And I think the response is exactly what the community has been waiting for.”
Catley said the government would increase funding for the NSW firearms registry to enable the crackdown. NSW will also work 50-50 with the Commonwealth to fund the buyback of firearms in the state.
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