Advocates are calling for an Australia-wide gun register to improve safety

The Australian Firearms Information Network provides a national overview of registered firearms in Australia, from legal importation through to legal exportation or destruction, to support law enforcement agencies across all jurisdictions.

However, states and territories are responsible for issues relating to possession, licensing, manufacture and use of firearms, resulting in fragmented information-sharing.

According to gun control advocates, Australia has failed to act on a recommendation made after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, to establish a national gun register.

Gun Control Australia vice president Roland Browne said the lack of a national registration system was an "outstanding failure".

"It's pretty clear that one of these blokes moved significant numbers of guns across the border from NSW to Qld," he said, referring to reports that one of the Wieambilla shooters, Nathaniel Train, illegally crossed the NSW border into Queensland with a cache of weapons.

"Gun registration enhances the effectiveness of the licensing system, so police know which licensed shooters have which firearms in their possession," Mr Browne said.

Queensland deputy police commissioner Tracy Linford said Nathaniel Train's gun licence had been suspended and an arrest warrant was issued after he breached COVID-19 restrictions in December 2021.

In Australia a person can only acquire a gun licence for a genuine reason and must pass criminal, mental and background checks. There are strict requirements for storage with guns to be stored in a locked receptacle with a key kept separately.

A 2022 Deakin University study found that it was "surprisingly easy" for criminals to buy guns on the black market and that people with "huge caches" of guns is not uncommon.

Greens Senator and Justice spokesperson David Shoebridge said courts and police needed the ability to review existing gun licences when someone was identified as expressing violent radicalisation.

"We know that in Australia there are now more guns than there were at the time of the Port Arthur massacre.

"This is despite the proportion of people who have a gun licence continuing to fall," he said.

"Rather than every jurisdiction in Australia holding firearms data in separate and incompatible systems, there should be a federal registry with real time and consistent information on gun ownership and gun numbers."

A government spokesperson told ACM the Albanese government will support the findings of the investigation into the Queensland shooting.

"Australia has some of the strictest firearms restrictions in the world," the spokesperson said.

"The Albanese Government is committed to ensuring the safety of Australians and will consider any findings after the investigation concludes, including working with states and territories, who have the primary responsibility for gun registration and control."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously said his government will support a discussion on a new database.

"I am certainly up for dialogue with the states and territories about how there can be better national consistency and national information that can serve the interests of police going about their duty," Mr Albanese said last week.

Queensland police minister Mark Ryan has also said that he fully supported a national gun register and would be happy to discuss the proposal at a national level.

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Before the 1996 Port Arthur massacre that resulted in 35 deaths, there was no nationally consistent framework for gun ownership, with different jurisdictions having different rules.

With the introduction of strict gun laws the proportion of Australians who hold a gun licence has fallen significantly, by 48 per cent since 1997.

"Something that comes out of the Queensland shooting is that at least one of these perpetrators had a gun licence and the fact that he had a gun licence means that he'd duped the system.

"He could not have been a fit and proper person to have a gun licence and yet he had one," Mr Browne said.

"The system needs to be overhauled with much greater assessments on people to verify they don't pose a public risk."