Shooters and firearm dealers across the Australian Capital Territory have voiced significant concerns following the national cabinet's agreement to tighten gun laws, warning the proposed changes could unravel the sporting community without improving public safety.
National Cabinet's Five-Point Plan
The national cabinet, which includes the Prime Minister, state premiers, and territory chief ministers, met on the afternoon of Monday, December 15, 2025. The meeting resulted in an agreement to strengthen firearms regulations nationwide through five key measures.
The proposed changes include accelerating the development of a National Firearms Register, allowing more criminal intelligence to inform firearm licensing decisions, ensuring gun licence holders are Australian citizens, and introducing potential limits on the number of firearms a single person can own.
Industry and Community Backlash
While acknowledging that a government review of gun laws is reasonable, members of Canberra's shooting community argue that strict limits on individual firearm ownership would be deeply damaging.
"Single gun ownership will just never work. It will just ruin the gun industry in Australia," said Jack Keogh, manager of Monaro Arms in Fyshwick.
Mr Keogh explained that more than half of his clientele are farmers from the NSW South Coast and Snowy Mountains regions, who require different types of firearms for effective pest control. "If no one could do their own pest control, it would get way out of hand," he stated.
The Impact on Sport and Oversight
Competitive target shooter David McIntosh of the Canberra Rifle Club highlighted the practical needs of sport shooters. He noted that most competitors require ownership of more than one firearm. Mr McIntosh, who uses two firearms for his discipline, considers himself fairly unusual.
"You have your favourite that you use in that discipline. It's always good to have a spare because if something goes wrong, you want to be able to bring out the other one and continue to compete," Mr McIntosh said.
He emphasised the existing high standards within the sport, which costs participants around $5000 annually, and the continuous vigilance of club members to comply with rigid rules. Over his 50 years of shooting, he has witnessed very little misuse of firearms.
Both men pointed to the existing stringent licensing regime in the ACT, where licences must be fully reapplied for every five years. Any criminal charge or suspicion can lead to a licence not being renewed.
However, Mr Keogh raised concerns about enforcement capacity, suggesting the Australian Federal Police were "pretty understaffed" and could not conduct firearm checks as frequently as might be possible. He argued that greater effort should be placed on vetting backgrounds and affiliations before a licence is initially issued.
While supportive of the citizenship requirement, Mr Keogh criticised other proposals as "kind of garbage and band-aid problems" that fail to address broader societal issues. The local shooting community now waits to see how the national cabinet's proposals will be translated into legislation and what the final impact will be on farmers, sport shooters, and the industry in the ACT and beyond.
