Will other states follow NSW into the national gun buy-back scheme – and will it make any difference?

The gun debate in Australia has been dramatically brought back into focus with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns announcing on Sunday that they were in lockstep over a new national gun buyback scheme that is set to start on November 2.

Other states have so far refused to join the scheme, or declined to sign on to it.

But Minns was firm in his commitment, saying, as a “willing partner” he would take the issue to the next election if he needed to.

But just how meaningful is it? While the press conference attracted some media attention, the joint announcement was simply a next step, indeed a limited one, in the transition to remove more guns from Australian households in the wake of the December 2025 Bondi terror attack.

The steps began with the passage of the Combating Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Act 2026 , which came into force on January 22 2026.

While the Australian government has power to legislate about import controls and intelligence sharing between gun licensing agencies, the states and territories hold most of the levers when it comes to everything else about firearms.

To that end they have so far signed up to enforce the National Firearms Agreement by establishing the following: registers of all firearms shooter licensing rules based on a genuine reason for owning a firearm the types of guns that can be owned club membership requirements, storage laws, and limits on the number of firearms an individual can possess.

But within days of the Bondi attack, federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland insisted the aim was for a stronger and more uniform national approach, and one that was underpinned by a new gun buyback scheme with all states and territories in harmony with the national push.

However, the attorney-general’s March 31 deadline for a state and territory consensus on the buyback scheme flew past without resolution.

The next impetus was the release on April 30 of the interim report of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

In this document, Commissioner Virginia Bell urged the Commonwealth, states and territories to prioritise the foreshadowed national gun buyback scheme and speed up the roll-out of the National Firearms Register.

Now, almost four months later, and with Minns in his corner, Albanese has stepped in to urge the rest of the country to get behind this component of gun law reform.

What does that plan look like? The New South Wales scheme presents no surprises.

The government flagged its gun possession limits (four guns for most people, with primary producers and sporting shooters limited to ten) some months ago.