Revealed: Qld’s post-pandemic firearms explosion

Latest figures reveal there has been an almost 30 per cent increase in the number of registered firearms in Queensland in just under five years.

The number of registered firearms in Queensland has soared almost 30 per cent in just under five years with the surge being attributed to factors ranging from increased survivalism interest to the Olympics to other states tightening their gun laws.

Recently released Queensland Police Service data shows there were 1,076,140 legally registered firearms in the state as of October 6, up from 829,743 at the end of 2019.

More than 57,000 of those guns were registered in the past 13 months alone.

The four-year rise of 29.4 per cent was a sharp increase on the 17 per cent growth reported from 2015-2019 in a 2020 Queensland Audit report.

According to the government data, the number of weapons license holders has also risen about 21 per cent since December 31, 2019, from 185,742 to 224,833.

This is in contrast with a 12 per cent rise over the previous four years reported in the Queensland Audit review released in 2020.

Tambo Clay Target Club member, Jack Brandt, 16, of Emerald, was part of the Australian Junior team that won gold at the World Down The Line Championships in Bywell in the UK in July. The Year 11 Marist College pupil also won both the Open European DTL Championship and the Junior European DTL Championship and placed second in the Bywell Challenge. Picture: Lil Brandt

Weapons licence holders in the Sunshine State are allowed to own multiple guns, but they must register all of the individual firearms with the police.

Firearms are placed into distinct categories, with license holders required to have different classes of licenses for certain types of guns, depending on their category.

Though not the case for all, several people within the Queensland shooting community told The Courier-Mail their gun clubs had experienced growth in recent years, in line with the upswing in licenses.

They put at least some of the new-found popularity in shooting down to various determinants such as the Covid-19 pandemic, a positive spotlight on the sport during the Olympic Games, increased promotion by shooting organisations as well as improved processing times by the QPS Weapons Licensing Branch (WLB).

Others say the rise could also, in part, be a result of population growth or firearms laws strengthening in Western Australia.

Pistol shooters in Brisbane. Picture: Pistol Shooting Queensland

A Shooting Industry Foundation Australia survey released in June found there had been a positive improvement in Queensland weapons license processing times in the past year, up from seven per cent processed in 2023 to 27 per cent as of the date of the report.

In March 2023, there was an approximate eight-month wait for the WLB to review or approve licence applications, and a 46-day wait to obtain a separate permit to own a firearm for those already licensed.

A weapons licence holder must apply for a ‘permit to acquire’ if they want to own their own firearm.

According to the QPS, new licenses were now taking an average of just under three months to process with ‘permits to acquire’ taking an average of 17 days as of October 6.

Any Queensland resident aged 11 or older wishing to use or own any type of firearm, crossbow, paintball gun or some knife types are required to have a weapons license.

All applicants must first complete an approved safety course, have a secure place to store a firearm and meet other requirements under the Weapons Act 1990.

Jack Brandt, 16, of Emerald, was part of the Australian Junior team that won gold at the World Down The Line Championships in Bywell in the UK in July. The Tambo Clay Target member also won the Open European DTL Championship and the Junior European DTL Championship and placed second in the Bywell Challenge. Picture: Lil Brandt

Several weapons safety instructors throughout the state said they had seen an increase in people completing the required courses since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Aaron Lemphers, owner of Arming the Nation – a training organisation that offers Firearms and Weapons Safety Courses statewide – said he and his trainers have had “double” the number of people completing a course since 2020.

“Covid was a Godsend to me,” he said.

“Business picked up over the pandemic because people couldn’t go anywhere and couldn’t do much so many of them took up shooting as sport … because shooting was an outdoor activity (they could do).”

Mr Lemphers, 41, of Townsville said his business was continuing to see more customers than prior to 2020.

“There are many mixed ages coming through … there are a lot of older people going with their sons to do something together, which is good for our sport,” he said.

“It’s good to see many trying to get kids away from bloody technology and devices and actually getting hands on with something instead of sitting in front of their phone.”

Southport Indoor Pistol Club manager, Robert Dank, said there had also been an uptake in interest at the Gold Coast club since the pandemic.

Shooters lining up for a competition in Queensland in July, 2023. Picture: facebook.com/QLDRifle

“I think part of the reason was back when we had Covid and everything got shut down,” he said.

“You’d expect a decline in business, but we experienced about a 25 to 30 per cent increase in membership … starting towards the end of the pandemic.

Mr Dank, 58, of Benowa, said the pandemic showed people how reliant they were on everything.

“I suspect it might have had something to do with people all of a sudden realising they might need to be more self-sufficient in the future. Not necessarily for home defence and that sort of thing, but for things like hunting,” he said.

“You can’t just, all of a sudden when something happens, then go out and get your gun licence, so it’s better to have the training and the experience and knowledge and so forth beforehand.

“I think the pandemic was a bit of an awakening to people that we are very reliant on fuel, energy, shopping, all that type of stuff, everything’s done for us.”

Mr Lemphers said he also suspects some Queenslanders might have decided to apply for a firearms license sooner than later in the wake of the Western Australian government recently tightening their gun ownership laws, making them the strictest in the country.

“There has also been an upsurge …. Since the WA change, or I’m guessing that’s part of it,” he said.

Children from 11-17 can apply for a weapons license for minors. Picture: Supplied

“(The WA government has) changed from allowing people to own unlimited firearms to five.

“Here you can own unlimited firearms under the A, B and H license categories, as long as you can justify why you need them.”

But State Minister for Police and Community Safety, Mark Ryan, ascribed Queensland’s population growth as another contributing reason for the climbing number of weapons license holders.

“There may be many reasons why the number of weapons licenses have increased,” he said.

“One reason might be our extraordinary population growth, but every person that holds a weapons license in Queensland has to be law abiding citizen and, secondly have a genuine reason for having that firearm, be it sporting, primary production or some other legitimate reason.”

Queensland’s preliminary estimated resident population was 5,560,452, or about 20.5 per cent of the Australian population, as of March 31 this year, according to an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report released in September.

This reflects an influx of 134,596 people settling in Queensland over the past year, and an increase of 33,204 people since December 31, 2023.

Shotgun shells. Picture: Aaron Lemphers/Arming the Nation/Facebook

The Sunshine State experienced a 2.5 per cent population growth rate in the 12 months to March 31, above the 2.3 per cent national average, with net overseas migration being the largest contribution to population growth in Queensland during that time period at 61.5 per cent, according to the report.

Australia’s population had hit more than 27 million inhabitants as of March 31, a 2.3 per cent annual increase.

Queensland was the third fastest growing state behind Western Australia and Victoria, respectively, according to the ABS.

Mr Ryan, 41, said there were “very strong weapons licensing laws in Queensland.”

“They’re modelled off the National Firearms Agreement which came out of John Howards’ work in the mid-1990s,” he said.

“The key focus of our strong laws is to ensure that those that hold firearm licenses are law abiding citizens. As long as they’re law abiding citizens, people can have confidence in our robust firearms framework in Queensland.”

Dane Sampson, 38, poses during the Australian 2024 Paris Olympic Games Shooting Squad announcement at the Brisbane International Shooting Centre in June. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

The Police Minister, interviewed prior to the October 26 state election, sought to allay concerns about Queensland laws changing in light of the WA government’s stricter rules, saying other than some amendments that passed as part of the Community Safety Bill 2024 in parliament on August 22, no further changes were scheduled.

“We’ve recently just passed some changes through parliament to introduce firearm prohibition orders, as well as a requirement on weapons dealers to verify the validity of a weapons license before selling ammunition,” he said.

“There are no plans for any further (law) changes. That being said my commitment to the industry and community remains the same.

“I’ll be consultative and transparent … and any existing rule changes would first go through consultation with the industry and the community.”

As for Queenslanders being allowed to possess multiple firearms, Mr Ryan said: “Weapons Licensing assesses every application for a firearm permit to acquire on its merits. If there were to be any changes, there would be consultation with the industry. “