New findings released in late January this year have revealed an alarming trend in firearm ownership across Australia, with over four million guns owned nationwide. The number of guns in private hands has grown significantly since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, with state and territory governments failing to keep regulations up to pace with community expectations.

The report titled 'Australia’s Gun Ownership Scorecard: A Growing Problem in Need of Reform' found gun ownership varies significantly across the country, with Western Australia the only state or territory with a cap on the number of firearms a licence-holder can own.

The report released by the Australia Institute – a public policy think tank based in Canberra – revealed that despite Australia’s significant gun reforms following the tragic Port Arthur massacre, there are now over four million guns owned by civilians nationwide... 25 per cent higher than in 1996.

The institute says this equates to one firearm for every seven Australians, with one in three firearms in NSW located in major cities.

Australian Gun Safety Alliance spokesperson Stephen Bendle told the Narromine Star the number of guns owned by people in metropolitan areas is not necessarily “concerning”, but may come as a shock to the community.

“I am not sure it is ‘concerning’, however, I think it is a big surprise to most people in the community,” Mr Bendle commented.

“Guns have usually been thought of as a tool of trade for farmers with some recreational shooters,” he added.

Gun Control in Australia

Just 12 days after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, where a man fired semi-automatic weapons killing 35 people and injuring 23 others, Australian states and territories agreed to the National Firearm Agreement (NFA).

The NFA established minimum requirements for regulating firearms across the country, and was reviewed in 2017 – with all jurisdictions recommitting to the requirements.

The institute says the implementation of the agreement is inconsistent across states and territories, however, with all jurisdictions failing to meet the minimum standards outlined by the NFA.

Data about firearm ownership is not readily available in most jurisdictions.

Mr Bendle told the Narromine Star he thinks more can be done to have cohesive laws across jurisdictions.

“We think states and territories have the police forces to manage firearms, however, they could do more to harmonise those laws,” he said.

Scale of gun ownership in Australia

According to the report, there are over four million registered, privately-owned firearms in Australia and nearly one million firearm licences.

NSW has the most guns with over 1.1 million registered firearms, followed by Queensland with over one million registered firearms.

Tasmania and the NT have the highest per capita firearm rates, with one firearm for every four people.

In every state and territory for which there is data, the average firearm licence holder owns four firearms.

The report also indicated there were approximately 3.2 million firearms in 1996, which means there are now more guns in Australia than before the introduction of the NFA.

While the proportion of licensed gun owners in the general population has decreased since the introduction of the NFA, people who do have gun licences now own a larger number of guns per-person.

In NSW, the figure has risen from 4.0 per licence in 2016 to 4.5 in 2024.

Gun ownership in rural and regional NSW

NSW Police regularly publish firearm data by postcode and police district. The data shows whether the licence-holder's postcode falls in a major city, inner-regional NSW, outer-regional NSW, remote NSW, and very remote NSW.

As of 2024, gun ownership is not concentrated in rural areas. Significant numbers of guns can be found in major cities in the state.

The institute suggests this data contradicts the general perception that guns in Australia are predominantly found in rural areas for farming and pest control.

Alarmingly, four in ten NSW firearms licensees live in major cities and 41 per cent live in inner-regional areas.

One-in-three firearms are registered to individuals living in inner-regional areas, and the two individual licensees who own the highest number of guns in NSW each live in inner Sydney. They own 386 and 304 firearms respectively.

The institute also reports that 41,595 individual firearm licenses are held in outer-regional areas, 4077 in remote areas and 805 in very remote areas.

While there are just over 41,500 individual firearm licenses held in outer-regional areas, there are 243,955 firearms registered.

In remote areas of the state, despite having just over 4000 firearm licenses, there are just under 23,000 firearms registered. In very remote areas, there are 12,400 firearms registered to the 805 individual firearm licenses.

That is an average of 15 firearms per licence in very remote NSW, compared to an average of three firearms per licence in major cities.

Mr Bendle said firearm use and possession is a privilege in Australia that is conditional on public safety, but he does not understand the rationale behind allowing firearm owners to have a large number of guns.

“We don’t understand the rationale that has allowed firearm owners to store a very large number of guns, each with an apparent genuine need and or reason,” he told the Narromine Star.

Sporting Shooters Association of Australia claims report “distorts reality”

The Sporting Shooters Association of Australia claims the report by the Australia Institute “distorts the reality” of legal firearms ownership in Australia.

Chief Executive of the association Tom Kenyon, said in a media statement that sport-shooting in Australia is safe and does not compromise public safety.

“Australian states are almost fully compliant with the National Firearms Agreement (NFA) with the obvious exception of the National Firearms Register which is underway,” he said.

According to Mr Kenyon, firearm deaths are lower than before the NFA was introduced regardless of the number of guns that are registered. The rate of gun deaths in Australia in 1996 was 2.9 per 100,000 people and in 2018 that figure was at just 0.88 per 100,000 people.

“The report, funded by Gun Control Australia and the Australian Gun Safety Alliance is in fact a bald-faced attempt to once again paint sporting shooters as a malign influence in the community when in fact the opposite is true,” Mr Kenyon said.

“The real problem is that not enough effort is being put into targeting illegal firearms in Australia, with over 95 per cent of crimes committed in the country using an illegal firearm. Yet, there is a constant focus on legal firearms,” he concluded.

The association is Australia’s largest shooting organisation, with over 218,000 members, and facilitates the shooting sports through the provision of firearms safety training, ranges, and other facilities, with the organisation of competitions and advocacy on behalf of sporting shooters.