New South Wales Police Minister Yasmin Catley has defended the state's gun buyback scheme after 150 applications were lodged in its first hours. Bookings opened on Monday, and the government plans to remove up to 274,000 firearms from the community. Catley said fewer guns in circulation would make the community safer, pointing to firearms stolen across the state. Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane has criticised the scheme, arguing it focuses too heavily on licensed owners rather than illegal guns used by organised criminals.
Tasmania Police joined law enforcement agencies across Australia and New Zealand in a week of coordinated action that seized hundreds of illegal firearms. Nationally, 603 whole firearms were seized, along with 61 privately manufactured or 3D printed firearms and 808 gel blasters or imitation firearms. In West Launceston, Taskforce Raven seized a sawn-off .22 calibre rifle and a privately manufactured firearm. A 31-year-old man was charged with firearms and minor drugs offences and is due to appear in the Launceston Magistrates Court on 23 December 2026.
Six NSW police stations, including Penrith, will accept surrendered firearms from November 2 under a new national gun buyback scheme. Eligible licence holders will receive compensation at a fixed price schedule. More stations will join in December, and the scheme will run for 12 months. Participants must book through the Gun Safe portal, as walk-in surrenders will not be accepted. Police and Counter-terrorism Minister Yasmin Catley said fewer guns in the community would make it safer.
AU Now app
Your suburb’s news, alerts and Shorts — in one app
Alerts, Shorts and your saved stories — free on Google Play.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has said he will absolutely not take part in the national gun buyback, arguing good people should keep their weapons. NSW police stations in six locations will accept surrendered guns from November 2, with 34 more sites opening from December 1. NSW is the only state so far to sign up, and the scheme will compensate people for firearms they can no longer legally own. NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said fewer guns in the community means a safer community.
Firearms licence holders in NSW can now book through the Gun Safe portal to surrender eligible guns and ammunition for compensation. The scheme officially starts on 2 November and is expected to see up to 274,000 firearms returned in the state. It follows the Bondi Beach terror attack earlier this year, in which 15 people were killed. Only Sutherland and Penrith police stations take bookings in the first phase, with more stations opening later in November and in 2027. Police Minister Yasmin Catley said fewer guns in the community mean a safer community.
Eligible NSW firearms licence holders can surrender surplus and reclassified guns for compensation under a national buyback scheme. Bookings must be made through the Gun Safe portal, as walk-in surrenders at police stations will not be accepted. Holders with recreational hunting or vermin control reasons are limited to four guns each, while other eligible reasons allow up to 10. Metro stations, Grafton, Griffith and Dubbo accept surrenders first, with more stations joining from December 1 and January onwards. Bookings for later stages open on November 24.
A 38-year-old man has been charged with 10 offences after police allegedly seized knives, knuckle dusters, a stolen caravan and replica pistols in raids at Bundook and Tuncurry. The raids were carried out by a police strike force set up in May 2026 to investigate the sale of unauthorised firearms in the Manning Great Lakes area. Officers searched a rural property at Bundook on Thursday, 22 October. Police arrested the man at a home on Margina Close, Tuncurry, that evening, and allegedly found six replica gel blaster pistols and ammunition there.
Police have arrested 29 people after uncovering two illegal casinos in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, as part of an investigation into alleged drug manufacturing. Officers seized firearms, weapons, $600,000 in cash, illegal tobacco and vapes, and drugs including methylamphetamine and ketamine during search warrants. Police allege a 40-year-old South Melbourne woman was charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine. Detective Inspector Carlie Kohler said the arrests would help dismantle drug syndicates and get drugs and weapons off the streets.
Police allege they seized a credit card-sized firearm, three crossbows and a range of other weapons from a home in Evatt, Canberra, during a kidnapping investigation. Jeremy Ross Brown, 46, faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday, 22 October, charged with 11 counts of possessing a prohibited weapon, plus charges for a prohibited firearm and trafficking cannabis. He has not been charged over the alleged kidnapping. Brown was granted bail on conditions. The matter was adjourned to 17 November, and no pleas were entered.
Four men have been charged by police over alleged livestock crimes in Mullin Creek. Officers began investigating in December after two cross-bred ewes were killed and three lambs stolen from a property. Five search warrants were executed across Sydney and Little Hartley, with police seizing firearms, ammunition, phones and electronic devices. All four men were bailed and are due to appear in court in late November or early December.
NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane has told gun owners who do not want to surrender their firearms to hold on to them. She vowed to scrap key elements of the state's gun buyback scheme if the Liberals win government in the March election. The Shooters Union has urged gun owners to boycott the scheme. Phase one, due to start in two weeks, offers between $450 and $1000 to licence holders who are above the new legal limit. Sloane said the focus should be on illegal firearms held by organised criminals and terrorists instead.
NSW's joint state and Commonwealth gun buyback opens on 2 November. Owners who hold more firearms than the new 4- or 10-gun limits allow are eligible for payments of $1000 for revolvers and $850 for semi-automatic handguns and double-barrel shotguns. Dealers can access grants of up to $25,000. A second phase, with compensation for eligible firearms valued above $3000, is planned for early 2027. The Opposition Leader, Kellie Sloane, has pledged to freeze the buyback and scrap ownership limits for farmers if elected in March, pending a commission of inquiry.
NSW MP Roy Butler has introduced a bill that would send firearms appeals back to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The bill was introduced into NSW Parliament on Thursday, 15 October. Butler says appeals to the NSW Supreme Court cost at least $20,000, which he argues puts them out of reach for most people. He says around a third of firearms licence refusals challenged at NCAT in recent years were overturned. The NSW Government has argued that NCAT cannot handle confidential intelligence from security agencies.
Northern Territory police have seized a loaded and unsecured firearm, prohibited items and 214 packets of illicit tobacco during Operation Whirlwind. Searches on Wednesday 14 October at a licensed premises and an adjoining property in Stuarts Well also turned up 50 rounds of .22 calibre ammunition, a shotgun cartridge, about $3,800 in cash and six imported OC spray canisters. Three men, aged 33, 59 and 71, were issued Notices to Appear in the Alice Springs Local Court. The breach of liquor licensing conditions has been referred to Liquor Licensing.
A discussion paper on firearm noise suppressors has been published in full. The editor says the topic is no longer before the lower house after it was removed from the agenda.
AU Now app
Your suburb’s news, alerts and Shorts — in one app
Alerts, Shorts and your saved stories — free on Google Play.
Police have seized firearms and allegedly stolen property, including two motor vehicles, during investigations into burglary offences across Tasmania's north. Officers from Taskforce Raven searched a property at rural Tayene on Thursday. A 61-year-old man was found in nearby bushland and taken into custody. Police allege the search turned up a pump action shotgun, two handguns and ammunition. The man faces multiple charges, including burglary, stealing and firearms offences, and has been remanded in custody.
Firearms manufacturer Jeff Bacon will be second on One Nation's upper house ticket in New South Wales. He wants the state's post-Bondi gun laws repealed, saying every rifle his Tamworth company makes has been banned in the state. Bacon said his business faces collapse because of the reforms. Gun reforms passed in December limit recreational licence holders and include a federal buyback scheme. A Resolve poll in September found 63 per cent of voters supported the reforms, while 33 per cent of One Nation voters opposed them.
A man and a woman have been charged over a non-fatal shooting in the car park of a St Albans fast food outlet. Police arrested the pair at a short-term rental property near Greenvale. Both are due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court. Police allege a shot was fired at a vehicle, then a second shot hit the 44-year-old driver in the lower body. He went to hospital that evening with non-life threatening injuries. Police believe the incident was targeted. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Police have recovered five rifles allegedly stolen from a Millaa Millaa address earlier this month. On 9 October, officers executed search warrants at addresses on Pine Street and Beatrice Way, finding all five rifles and ammunition. Later that day, a 14-year-old Millaa Millaa boy was arrested in Atherton. He faces multiple charges, including unlawful possession of weapons and trespass, and is due to appear in the Atherton Childrens Court on 13 October. Detective Senior Sergeant Gary Hall said stolen firearms in the wrong hands pose a serious threat to community safety, and urged licence holders to store weapons securely.
Detectives from the Clandestine Laboratory Squad have charged five people over the alleged manufacture of illicit drugs. Search warrants executed on October 2 uncovered an active laboratory at a Bundoora property, where police seized liquid MDMA, two handguns, ammunition and cannabis. A 53-year-old Bundoora man faces charges including trafficking MDMA and will face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on February 8. Police also arrested two people at a Mill Park hotel room and seized drugs and electronic devices. A search of a Croydon storage unit found MDMA powder and laboratory equipment.
