Caps and Categories — Off the National Table.
In December, National Cabinet asked officials to develop options for limiting the number of firearms a person may own, and the types of firearms that are legal. Yesterday, First Ministers signed the first update to the National Firearms Agreement in nearly a decade — and neither made it in.
From December to August — What Changed
Yesterday’s National Cabinet is best read against where this began. On 15 December 2025, in the immediate aftermath of the Bondi Beach attack, National Cabinet commissioned officials to “develop options” to strengthen gun laws — and two of those options went to the heart of lawful ownership:
“Limiting the number of firearms to be held by any one individual” — that is, numerical caps.
“Limiting… the types of guns that are legal, including modifications” — that is, recategorisation.
Eight months later, on 26 August 2026, First Ministers signed the first update to the National Firearms Agreement since 2017. The agreed changes were these:
Sharing Commonwealth criminal intelligence with the states and territories.
Making Australian citizenship a condition of holding a firearms licence, subject to agreed exceptions.
Prohibiting the manufacture of 3D-printed firearms, and the possession and distribution of material for making them.
Numerical caps are not there. Nor is any recategorisation of firearm types. Of the measures canvassed in December, the ones that carried through are those aimed at genuine risk and illicit supply — while the two that would have fallen hardest on lawful, licensed owners did not make the Agreement.
Why This Matters — “National Consistency”
This matters in the ACT for one simple reason. Throughout this debate, the ACT Government has justified its proposals by appealing to “national consistency” and to the National Firearms Agreement itself. That Agreement has now been updated for the first time in nearly a decade — and it contains neither caps nor recategorisation.
The national benchmark, in other words, does not include the two measures our members are most concerned about. Caps have only ever been legislated in two jurisdictions (New South Wales and Western Australia); five of the eight declined them; and the updated Agreement now omits them as well. On the Government’s own preferred test — consistency with the national standard — the case for the ACT’s proposed caps and recategorisation is weaker today than it was a week ago.
The Buyback — One Line, Two Jurisdictions
On the buyback, the communiqué said remarkably little. The Commonwealth “stands ready to support states and territories which choose to implement a National Gun Buyback Scheme” (Recommendation 14) — opt-in, not compulsory, and separate from the National Firearms Agreement. Its only specific mention was a single line:
“The Commonwealth welcomed progress implementation arrangements of the National Gun Buyback Scheme with New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.”
— Meeting of National Cabinet, Communiqué, 26 August 2026
Two jurisdictions named; the other six unmentioned. And as the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, Dr Marisa Paterson, confirmed to your Committee on 25 August, the terms of the ACT scheme are still not formalised and its cost is still not modelled — and in the ACT, any acquisition must be on just terms at fair market value (section 23 of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (Cth)).
An Evidence-Led Turn — and a Fair Test
There is much here to welcome. National Cabinet appears to have approached this update on the basis of risk assessment and evidence — adopting measures directed at genuine risk (intelligence sharing, a prohibition on 3D-printed firearms, and citizenship screening) while not adopting measures the independent evidence does not support. SSAA ACT has argued for exactly that approach from the outset, and we welcome it.
We ask only that the ACT’s own proposals be held to the same standard. If numerical caps and recategorisation did not make the national Agreement, the fair question for the Assembly is a simple one: why do they belong in the ACT’s Bill?
Caps: not in the updated National Firearms Agreement.
Firearm-type limits / recategorisation: not in the updated Agreement.
The buyback: opt-in only — the Commonwealth named just New South Wales and the ACT.
The Agreement: updated for the first time since 2017 — adopting intelligence sharing, a citizenship condition, and a 3D-printed firearms ban.
What SSAA ACT Is Doing
At the table
We continue to press members’ concerns directly — with the Minister, and across the Assembly — that any reform be fair, proportionate and evidence-based.
Holding the line on the facts
The updated National Agreement adopted neither caps nor recategorisation, and mandated no buyback. We will keep putting that on the record, wherever the ACT’s proposals outrun the national evidence.
Keeping you updated
We report to Council and keep members informed here and via our Legislative Action webpage as this matter develops.
Sporting Shooters Association of Australia ACT Inc
General enquiries — info@ssaaact.org.au
Our full record of media releases, member updates and information briefs on the proposed amendments is available on our Legislative Action webpage.
SSAA ACT Inc represents approximately 5,700 members. There are approximately 7,000 licensed firearm owners in the ACT. These are distinct figures.
Member information from SSAA ACT Inc on the outcome of the 26 August 2026 Meeting of National Cabinet, read against the 15 December 2025 meeting. Quotations are taken verbatim from the National Cabinet Communiqués of those dates; the ACT buyback status is per the Committee’s meeting with Minister Paterson on 25 August 2026. Not legal advice. Sources: Meeting of National Cabinet — Communiqués, 15 December 2025 and 26 August 2026 (pm.gov.au).