CANBERRA: A report by the Australia Institute said on Tuesday that between 215,835 and 253,670 firearm licences in New South Wales listed sport target shooting or recreational hunting as a qualifying reason for ownership, a figure far above the number of people the think tank said actually took part in those activities. The Canberra-based institute said its analysis compared NSW Police licensing records with participation data from the Australian Sports Commission and pointed to what it described as a loophole in the genuine reason test.
The institute said up to 35,761 people in NSW participated in either shooting or recreational hunting during the July 2024 to June 2025 period, based on AusPlay survey data. It said that total was a maximum estimate because it applied the full margin of error and combined two activity categories that could overlap, meaning some respondents may have been counted twice. The report therefore framed the participation figure as a high-water mark rather than a definitive tally of unique active shooters or hunters.
NSW Police figures correct as of Dec. 31, 2025 showed 257,309 individual firearm licence holders excluding collectors and 261,014 total licences. In the registry’s breakdown by category and genuine reason, Category A licences included 60,170 entries for sport target shooting and 215,835 for recreational hunting or vermin control. The same table also states those numbers do not represent unique licence counts because firearms licences can cover several categories and each category can carry multiple genuine reasons.
Genuine reason rules under focus
Australia’s 2017 National Firearms Agreement says individuals must demonstrate a genuine reason to acquire, possess or use a firearm, and states that personal protection is not a valid reason. Under the national framework, sports shooters must have valid membership with an approved club, while recreational shooters and hunters must produce proof of permission from a landowner. NSW Police says sport target shooting applies to current members of approved target shooting clubs, while recreational hunting and vermin control can also be supported by landholder or government agency permission.
The Australia Institute said the licensing and participation gap did not stem from a single headcount of unlawful owners, but from comparing two different official datasets. Its estimate used NSW’s Category A licensing table to calculate the minimum and maximum number of licences listing one or both reasons, while the participation figure came from the national AusPlay survey. The report said NSW is the only state publishing licence data broken down by genuine reason and firearm category, leaving no comparable nationwide measure of how many licence holders rely on the same grounds elsewhere.
Reforms gather pace after Bondi attack
The report lands as governments move ahead with wider firearms reforms announced after the Bondi Beach terrorist attack in December, in which 15 people were killed. The federal government said it would establish a national gun buyback scheme and work with states and territories on measures including limits on the number of firearms held by an individual, tighter licensing rules, faster work on a national firearms register and broader use of criminal intelligence in licensing decisions.
NSW has already passed its own package of changes, including a four-gun cap for most individuals, a higher limit for primary producers, mandatory gun club membership for licence holders, required use of the GunSafe online platform by clubs and safe storage inspections before a first permit to acquire a firearm is issued. Against that backdrop, the new report adds fresh scrutiny to how sport shooting and hunting are verified as genuine reasons for gun ownership under a system built around public safety after Port Arthur – By Content Syndication Services.