MEDIA RELEASE - 11 SEPTEMBER 2026
Tasmania Votes Down Gun Caps — Leaving the ACT the Last Jurisdiction Still Pursuing Them
Tasmania’s parliament this week voted down a proposal to cap the number of firearms a person may own — the same five-firearm cap now before the ACT. Numerical caps have been imposed in only two of the eight Australian jurisdictions, were left out of the updated National Firearms Agreement, and have been rejected or dropped wherever they have lately been tested. SSAA ACT says the ACT can no longer claim any substantive, evidence-based basis for pressing ahead with caps, and asks the Assembly to apply the same test the rest of the country has applied.
CANBERRA, ACT — On Thursday the Tasmanian House of Assembly voted not to cap the number of firearms a person may own, defeating an Opposition amendment 15 votes to 16. The proposed Tasmanian cap — five firearms, or ten for primary producers and sporting shooters — was the very same structure now before the ACT Legislative Assembly. The Sporting Shooters Association of Australia ACT Inc (SSAA ACT) says the vote is the latest sign that firearm caps are fast becoming a contested political question rather than a settled measure — and that the ACT is now the only jurisdiction in the country still seeking to add them.
“A cap on how many firearms a licensed owner may hold has now been imposed in just two of eight jurisdictions, left out of the updated National Firearms Agreement, and knocked back wherever it has lately been put to a vote or a review. The ACT is being asked to adopt a measure the rest of the country is walking away from. Our request to the Assembly is a simple and fair one: apply the same evidence test everyone else has applied.”
Nicole, Secretary, SSAA ACT INC
A government minister making the case against caps
The Tasmanian Government opposed the cap on the ground that it “would target law-abiding firearms owners, rather than criminals.” Its Police Minister, Felix Ellis, told the House that the number of homicides and firearm thefts had fallen even as the number of firearms rose — and that a cap “would not have stopped the Bondi massacre, as the shooters had just three guns between them.” Those are the very points SSAA ACT has put to the ACT Assembly: caps fall on the law-abiding rather than the criminal, and would not have prevented the event now cited to justify them.
The national scorecard — caps and buyback, jurisdiction by jurisdiction
Numerical caps have been imposed in only two of the eight Australian jurisdictions, and the national opt-in buyback is being progressed by only two. Where caps have freshly been put to a vote or an independent review this year, they have been rejected or dropped.
| Jurisdiction | Numerical caps | National buyback |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Yes (repeal Bill pending) | Yes |
| Western Australia | Yes | No |
| Victoria | No (rejected) | No |
| Queensland | No | No |
| South Australia | No | No |
| Tasmania | No (voted down) | No |
| Northern Territory | No | No |
| Australian Capital Territory | Proposed | Yes |
Caps: numerical limits on how many firearms a licensed owner may hold. National buyback: participation in the Commonwealth-supported opt-in Gun Buyback Scheme — Western Australia and Tasmania have pursued their own separate arrangements rather than the national scheme. New South Wales’ caps are now the subject of a repeal Bill; the ACT’s caps are proposed, not yet law.
The updated National Firearms Agreement, signed at National Cabinet on 26 August 2026 — the first update in nearly a decade — adopted neither numerical caps nor any recategorisation of firearm types.
On the ACT Government’s own preferred test, consistency with the national standard, the case for the ACT’s caps is weaker today than at any point in this debate.
The alternative SSAA ACT supports
SSAA ACT is not opposed to sensible firearms regulation. It supports evidence-based measures directed at genuine risk — secure storage, fit-and-proper licensing, and keeping firearms away from anyone who would misuse them. What the evidence does not support is a numerical cap on how many firearms a vetted, law-abiding owner may hold: the independent Lay Review of Victoria’s firearms laws found “no clear evidence that numerical caps on individual ownership, by themselves, reduce firearms-related harm,” and the ACT Standing Committee on Legal Affairs recorded “significant uncertainty over the operation of the proposed numerical caps” (Report 9, Finding 1).
“We have engaged constructively with the Government, the Opposition and the crossbench throughout, and we will keep doing so. But the ground has shifted. A measure the nation as a whole has declined, and that a state parliament rejected only this week, should not be imposed on Canberra’s licensed owners without a clear, stated public safety benefit — and none has been given.”
Nicole, Secretary, SSAA ACT INC
-ENDS-
MEDIA CONTACT
Nicole
Secretary
SSAA ACT INC
info@ssaaact.org.au
NOTES TO EDITORS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Tasmania: the House of Assembly defeated an Opposition amendment to impose a firearms cap 15–16; the proposed cap was five firearms, or ten for primary producers and sporting shooters, with provision for the police commissioner to grant exemptions; the Tasmanian Government opposed the cap; Police Minister Felix Ellis stated that caps “would target law-abiding firearms owners, rather than criminals” and “would not have stopped the Bondi massacre, as the shooters had just three guns between them.” Source: ABC News, “No cap on gun ownership in Tasmania after Labor amendment fails in close parliament vote” (10 September 2026). Caps have been legislated only in New South Wales and Western Australia; Victoria’s Government rejected a scaled cap recommended by the Lay Rapid Review of Victoria’s Firearms Laws (May 2026); the updated National Firearms Agreement (National Cabinet, 26 August 2026) adopted neither numerical caps nor recategorisation. Evidence anchors: Lay Review (May 2026) — “no clear evidence that numerical caps on individual ownership, by themselves, reduce firearms-related harm”; ACT Standing Committee on Legal Affairs, Report 9 (May 2026), Finding 1. The ACT’s Firearms (Public Safety) Amendment Bill 2026 proposes a five firearm cap, extending to ten on qualifying grounds.
The Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia ACT Inc (SSAA ACT INC) is the peak body representing licensed firearms owners, competitive shooters, hunters and rural users in the Australian Capital Territory. SSAA ACT represents approximately 5,700 members; there are approximately 7,000 licensed firearm owners in the ACT (these are distinct figures).
This release is for public information and does not constitute legal advice.