New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, is expected to pass sweeping new gun laws and give police power to temporarily ban protests in the wake of the mass shooting at Bondi.
Australia’s most populous state, where the Bondi Beach shooting took place just over a week ago, was preparing to pass new gun and hate speech laws.
New South Wales has convened an emergency parliamentary session to push through what it calls the “toughest firearm reforms in the country.” The vote was expected later Tuesday or in the early hours of Wednesday.
The Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 passed the NSW Legislative Assembly, the lower house, on Monday and was expected to also get approval from the upper house.
The move comes after the Bondi mass shooting on December 14, in which 15 people were killed and more were wounded in what authorities described as an antisemitic terrorist attack.
Responding to political pressure following the attack, state and federal governments have outlined proposals for gun law reforms and a comprehensive hate speech ban.
How Is NSW tightening gun laws?
These are the most significant changes to gun ownership under the proposed law:
Limit most individuals to owning four firearms, and up to 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
Cut 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)
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Where does the public stand on the new gun restrictions?
The vast majority of Australians across the political spectrum want a reform of gun laws, according to a new poll published Tuesday.
The Resolve Political Monitor poll found three-quarters of people in the country want tougher regulation. Restricting gun access ranked among the top priorities, alongside tackling crime and preventing terrorist attacks.
In nearly all Australian states and territories, there is currently no limit on the number of guns an individual can own. In NSW, for example, 75 people own more than 100 guns each, according to NSW police data, and one license holder has 298 weapons.
NSW introducing curbs on protests and hate speech
In addition to firearm restrictions, the NSW government wants to limit public assemblies and protests in certain areas following a terrorist attack.
Under the bill:
The police commissioner can suspend an authorized protest in a specific area for 14 days if the assembly is likely to cause people to fear harassment, intimidation, or violence
It also bans the display of ‘terrorist symbols,’ including the flag of the ‘Islamic State’
Australia’s federal government, meanwhile, is pushing for laws that criminalize hate preaching, penalize attempts to radicalize minors, and ban membership in registered extremist groups. It also plans a gun buyback, the largest since 1996, paying owners to surrender surplus, newly banned, and illegal firearms.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic
DW News
