Gun laws of Australia

Gun laws in Australia are mainly handled by the Australian states and territories. Any guns that are imported into the country are limited by the federal government. In the 1980s several mass shootings caused the government to pass tighter gun laws within all states.

Gun laws were largely made the same across the states and territories in 1996. This was done through two government sponsored gun buybacks and people willingly giving up their guns following the Port Arthur Massacre in Tasmania. These actions were largely a success, as more than a million guns were collected and destroyed, almost a third of the nation's guns.^[1]

Anyone that wants to have a gun in Australia must have a reason to do so which does not include self-defense.^[2] They must also have a firearms license and must not be a "prohibited person". All guns have to be registered by a serial number to the owner.

In late 2023, the National Cabinet of Australia decided to implement a national firearms registry within four years.^[3]

1. ↑ "Gun control: Change is possible – and fast | CNN". web.archive.org. 2024-04-07. Archived from the original on 2024-04-07. Retrieved 2024-09-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
2. ↑ "Australia has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, but how do they differ from state to state?". ABC News. 2024-06-21. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
3. ↑ "The four things you need to know about Wednesday's national cabinet meeting". ABC News. 2023-12-06. Retrieved 2024-09-19.