Australia’s most populous state, where the Bondi Beach shooting occurred a week ago, was preparing to pass new gun and hate speech laws.
New South Wales has called an emergency parliamentary session to pursue “the toughest gun reforms in the country”. Voting was expected to take place later Tuesday or early Wednesday.
The Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 was passed in the NSW Legislative Assembly, the lower house, on Monday and was also expected to be approved by the upper house.
The move comes after the Bondi mass shooting on December 14, which left 15 dead and more injured, in what authorities described as an anti-Semitic terrorist attack.
Responding to political pressure following the attack, state and federal governments have outlined proposals for gun law reform and comprehensive hate speech restrictions.
How is NSW tightening gun laws?
These are the most significant changes to gun ownership under the proposed law:
- Limit most individuals to four firearms, and a maximum of 10 for farmers and sport shooters.
- Reduce magazine capacity for high-powered weapons to five or 10 rounds, depending on the weapon.
- Reclassify straight-pull/pump-action and button/lever release firearms, limiting access primarily to farmers
- Completely ban firearms that use belt-fed magazines
- Reducing gun license terms from five years to two years to ensure more frequent background checks
- Limit gun licenses to Australian citizens (a change that would have excluded one of the alleged Bondi attackers)
Where does the public stand on new gun restrictions?
A majority of Australians across the political spectrum want reform of gun laws, according to a new poll published on Tuesday.
A Resolve Political Monitor poll found that three-quarters of people in the country want tighter regulation. Restricting gun access is one of the top priorities, along with combating crime and preventing terrorist attacks.
In almost all Australian states and territories, there is currently no limit on the number of guns a person can own. For example, according to NSW Police statistics, 75 people in NSW own more than 100 guns, and one license holder owns 298 weapons.
NSW is cracking down on protests and hate speech
In addition to firearms restrictions, the NSW government wants to limit public gatherings and protests in some areas following the terrorist attack.
Under the bill:
- The Commissioner of Police can suspend authorized protests in a specific area for 14 days if the gathering is likely to cause people to fear harassment, intimidation or violence.
- It also bans the display of ‘terrorist symbols’ including the ‘Islamic State’ flag.
Meanwhile, Australia’s federal government is pushing laws that criminalize hate propaganda, punish attempts to radicalize minors and ban membership in registered extremist groups. It is also planning a gun buyback, the largest since 1996, in which owners would be paid to surrender surplus, newly restricted and illegal firearms.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic