Kyle Sandilands refused permit to own gun

Police turned down shock-jock Kyle Sandilands’ bid to buy guns because of his association with colourful underworld identities.

Kyle Sandilands at a gun range in Los Angeles with Karl Stefanovic in 2020 during a 60 Minutes interview

Radio shock-jock Kyle Sandilands has been thwarted in a bid to buy guns, with police concerned his association with some of Sydney’s most colourful underworld identities make him not a “fit and proper person” to own firearms.

The avid shooter is now taking the NSW Police Commissioner to a tribunal to appeal the decision, determined to own his own weapons and shoot competitively.

The Australian understands police are claiming a long list of reasons for knocking Sandilands back on his application to allow him to purchase a firearm.

The 50-year-old, who holds a handgun licence, shoots weekly at a pistol club in Sydney’s southwest under the watchful eye of an instructor.

Sandilands took 60 Minutes host Karl Stefanovic to a gun club in Los Angeles last year, saying he shoots for “relaxation”.

“It just gets the adrenaline out, plus I’m really good at it. I just imagine all the people I hate,” he said.

However, in the pursuit of owning his own pistol and rifle, Sandilands has hit a roadblock.

In NSW, when an individual applies to own a firearm, police must determine whether the applicant is a “fit and proper” person, and whether it is in the “public interest” for them to own one. An application can be refused if there are grounds to believe that possessing a firearm could be a “danger to the public safety or to the peace”.

An individual may not be considered a fit and proper person if they have a history of mental health problems, any history of domestic violence offences, and whether there is any criminal intelligence suggesting they should not acquire a firearm.

Police conduct significant background checks into an applicant’s behaviour, environment and history to determine whether an individual can be “trusted” to possess a firearm.

Kyle Sandilands, left, next to Simon Main, and John Ibrahim, second from right, during a holiday in Ibiza, Spain.

It is understood police were concerned about some of Sandilands’ colourful friends, including convicted drug trafficker Simon Main, who was jailed in Italy in 2000 for four years for his role in what was at the time the world’s largest ecstasy bust.

In 2018 Sandilands’ close friend and nightclub boss John Ibrahim was served with a firearms prohibition order after police searched his Dover Heights home. Sandilands arrived at the property as police were searching and told reporters gathered outside: “There’s no guns here, they’ve been here like 40 times. They’ve pulled out walls with suction caps, there are no guns here. Stop wasting money.”

A year earlier Ibrahim’s partner Sarah Budge was charged after Australian Federal Police discovered a stolen 9mm Glock 26 and loaded magazine in her bedroom during a raid on the model’s eastern suburbs apartment.

Budge was acquitted of one charge and found not guilty of two other firearm possession charges, with her defence team suggesting Ibrahim may have planted a gun at her home. The court made no findings about Ibrahim and he has not been charged with any offences.

A friend close of Sandilands suspected police believe the broadcaster’s often outrageous on-air antics would reflect his approach to handling guns.

“As a result of being seen as a ‘crazy figure’, the police formed a view that his on-air persona would be how he’d treat a firearm, but in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

“It’s his only hobby,” the source said.

In October the controversial broadcaster spoke about his safe use of firearms in a radio segment discussing Alec Baldwin’s accidental fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the film set of Rust.

“I use live ammunition weekly and the protocol in live ammunition is very strict. You’ve got to be careful where you point it, hold it, everyone’s counting everything,” he said.

When contacted by The Australian, Sandilands’ manager Bruno Bouchet declined to comment.

The matter will be mentioned at the Civil and Administrative Tribunal on December 21.