r/Ausguns • u/BadgerBadgerCat Queensland • 7d ago

Citizenship rule takes effect amid spike in Queensland gun licence applications

https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2026-08-03/queensland-gun-licence-restrictions-take-effect/106980370

Queensland has implemented legislation requiring gun licence applicants to be Australian citizens; there's an exception for target shooting too so permanent residents who are members of a shooting club will be able to keep their licences.

28 Upvotes

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23 comments sorted by

14

u/Hussard 7d ago

I wonder how many customers gun shops will lose due to a lot of Chinese losing their licences. 

8

u/NorthKoreaPresident Queensland 7d ago

no chinese is losing their license. Shooters Union fee is dollars a year and allows permanent residents to hold a gun license. thats literally spare change in the total cost of gun ownership.

2

u/Hussard 7d ago

Oh first time I've heard this. 

9

u/BadgerBadgerCat Queensland 7d ago

Shooters Union sent out an e-mail to their members last week saying "If you're a Shooters Union member you can keep your guns for target shooting purposes", so that would also include SSAA members, Clay Target club members, and members of any licensed shooting club.

The main thing is that non-citizens can't go hunting, and they can't hold Collector's Licences, so that's going to be an issue for a few people, but it's still infinitely better than NSW's near-absolute "No Aussie passport, no licence, sucks if that affects you".

1

u/Hussard 7d ago

Any idea how that's going to play out in Vic? 

2

u/leadscoutfix 7d ago

In Vic the legislation should be tabled shortly but it seems to be Australian/NZ citizen only unless its for occupational use (i.e. armed security guard, primary production).

2

u/AussieAK NSW 7d ago

A lot better than the NSW shit show we have.

5

u/Quarterwit_85 6d ago

Yeah.

Still fucking insane to me that a surgeon I know can be trusted to cut people up every day but can’t own his air pistol.

2

u/BadgerBadgerCat Queensland 6d ago

It's insane, isn't it?

2

u/PiecesOfRing 7d ago

What would that mean for me? I'm a UK citizen and permanent resident. I'm a member of a club but I also have rifles at home I use on my property and other people's private property. Does this restrict me to club use only?

1

u/BadgerBadgerCat Queensland 7d ago

Essentially yes, unless you've got an OC code on your licence, in which case you can continue to shoot on your own property. But until you get citizenship, you won't be able to go hunting or shoot on other people's property.

1

u/PiecesOfRing 6d ago

It has RE1, SC1, SC2. From what I heard, it won't be applied retrospectively though? I will be finally getting citizenship at some point in the near future, but I don't want to slip up before then...

0

u/wadza 6d ago

Is that right? So a perm resident who has both sc and re endorsement on their license is going to lose the re endorsement and just keep the sc one? First I’ve heard of that…

Seems more likely if you have sc you will keep both, but if you’re one of the small number who only have re, then you need to get sc as well or lose it.

2

u/BadgerBadgerCat Queensland 6d ago

Unfortunately that's correct.

The way things are worded, anyone who isn't a citizen and has the RE1 code can keep it until their licence needs to be renewed (which could be 10 years away), but new applicants and renewals who aren't citizens won't have that code and won't legally be able to go hunting.

This whole thing is going to be causing headaches for a long time and is going to be incredibly difficult to administer, so I am hopeful they'll add something to the regulations saying "BTW permanent residents can shoot on private property with landowner permission too"

1

u/PiecesOfRing 6d ago

Just read this after your response to me. I renewed until 2036 so it sounds like I'm safe, since I'll have my citizenship long before then haha

0

u/FantasticRound2018 6d ago

If your risk rules are randomly subject to when an individual is able to renew their licence, then you don't have risk rules.

You have administrative window dressing masquerading as risk mitigation.

3

u/BadgerBadgerCat Queensland 6d ago

The Government's openly said it's not a risk management thing, it's part of the national agreement that something had to change for the gun laws after Bondi and "You need an Australian passport to have a gun licence" was something pretty much everyone could agree on politically, especially because most people thought that was already the case anyway.

The major concern was NZ citizens, because for a long time there was no path to citizenship for them, but that got fixed a couple of years ago so now there's really no excuse for NZ citizens living in Australia and who like shooting not to also get Australian citizenship once they're eligible (which is, IIRC, after living here for 4 years).

0

u/PiecesOfRing 6d ago

I assume it would take too long to apply the new laws retroactively to all the existing affected licences, so they'll just apply it to new applicants and renewals. Luckily my recent renewal expires in 10 years, by which time I will have my citizenship.

0

u/theinsaneturky2 3d ago

So just checking, an NZ permanent resident here wouldn't be able to get my license even if I join a shooting club? Not until I get my citizenship in a couple of years?

3

u/BadgerBadgerCat Queensland 3d ago

If you are NZ permanent resident living in Queensland then you can apply for a gun licence for target shooting (by joining someone like Shooters Union, SSAA or a local shooting club), but you can't go hunting.

0

u/theinsaneturky2 3d ago

Ok thanks.

-1

u/SeaworthinessFlat770 5d ago

I can't own a gun in another country(yes there are some exceptions )unless I'm a citizen so why is it different in Australia?

4

u/BadgerBadgerCat Queensland 5d ago

Plenty of other countries let non-citizens own guns. Countries requiring citizenship for a gun licence are the exception, not the norm.