Doubts are mounting over how many people will participate in the first stage of NSW’s controversial gun buyback scheme as confusion lingers over which shooters qualify for exemptions to the caps.
The first buyback appointments opened on Monday ahead of the November 2 start date for the scheme, but farming and shooting groups have questioned how many will willingly take part without knowing if they qualify for an exemption next year.
The government introduced a four-gun cap for most shooters, with farmers and sporting shooters granted a 10-gun cap, under legislation rushed through the parliament in the wake of the Bondi terror attack in which 15 people were killed and dozens of others injured.
Under a draft regulation, a further exemption to the cap would be considered by the police commissioner on a case-by-case basis if gun owners have a genuine need for each additional firearm above the cap.
A NSW government statement said police will conduct “targeted consultation” on the regulation.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley said circumstances that may qualify for an exemption include farmers with guns at multiple properties, or elite sporting shooters who need different guns for different sporting events.
“We’re just making sure people have all the right information, so they can make a decision about how they want to deal with the guns that they have and how they choose to participate in the buyback,” Catley said.
Bookings opened at noon on Monday for gun owners to surrender their guns at six police stations: Narellan, Penrith, Sutherland, Griffith, Grafton and Dubbo. A further 34 stations will participate in the scheme in the coming months.
The first stage of the scheme will offer compensation of up to $1000 for each gun. Compensation for higher value firearms will come next year.
By 5pm on Monday 100 gun owners had registered to take part in the buyback, and 30 had made appointments for the first week.
NSW Farmers Association rural affairs committee vice chair Glen Andreazza said he would be surprised if any farmers participated in the buyback before knowing what the regulations for exemptions included.
“There would be no reason for a farmer to surrender any weapons at this point in time,” he said.
Sporting Shooters Association Australia is encouraging members to comply with the law. However, NSW chief executive Pete Szaak said the uncertainty around who would qualify for an exemption made it unlikely sporting shooters would voluntarily surrender guns in the first stage of the buyback.
Szaak said the looming regulations raised more questions than answers, leaving some sporting shooters confused.
“Given there is no requirement to compulsorily hand guns in, you should think about all these things first … it’s not as if police are ripping doors down doing search warrants,” he said.
While the state Labor government has committed to taking the gun crackdown to the election, the Shooters Union is encouraging members to boycott the buyback. The Coalition and One Nation have called for the firearms caps to be repealed.
Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane, who voted with the government to support the gun crackdown after the Bondi attack, has said the Liberals would scrap caps for farmers and sporting shooters.
A recent Resolve Political Monitor survey found voters were overwhelmingly in favour of caps on the number of firearms an individual can own and time limits on gun licences.
In the survey of voters in August and September, 80 per cent said they supported restricting gun licences to Australian citizens, 73 per cent favoured the four-gun cap for individuals, and 75 per cent supported time limits on licences forcing owners to reapply every few years.
A majority – 53 per cent – said they supported the government’s buyback, which has drawn criticism from gun owners, the Coalition and some independent MPs. Only 20 per cent opposed the scheme, with 27 per cent either neutral or undecided.
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