MEDIA RELEASE

Field & Game Australia is calling for a transparent, independent evaluation of NSW's major firearms reforms as their practical impacts begin to emerge.

FGA CEO Dr Turlough Guerin said community safety must remain the objective, but the effectiveness and wider impacts of individual measures should now be measured.

“NSW has introduced substantial changes to firearm ownership limits, licensing, classification and the buyback. The reasonable next question is: how will we know which measures are actually making the community safer?”

Dr Guerin said an evaluation framework should establish baseline data and track outcomes including firearm crime, theft and diversion, licensing interventions, Registry performance and the impact on legitimate activities such as farming, pest management, hunting and sporting shooting.

“This should not be about reopening the political argument. Evaluation is part of good implementation, not criticism of it.

“If a measure is working, the evidence should demonstrate that. If there are unintended consequences, government should know about those too.”

FGA believes the work could be independently undertaken or overseen with input from NSW Police, BOCSAR, Parliamentary Research and affected communities.

“The question is straightforward: which measures reduce which risks, by how much, and how will we know?”

ENDS

Dr Turlough Guerin
CEO, Field & Game Australia