{"id":886984,"date":"2026-09-10T14:22:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T14:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886984\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T14:22:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T14:22:31","slug":"parliament-blocks-amendment-to-cap-tasmanian-gun-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886984\/","title":{"rendered":"Parliament blocks amendment to cap Tasmanian gun ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tasmanian parliament has voted down a Labor amendment to cap the number of firearms a person can legally own, with the proposal failing 16 votes to 15 shortly before 7pm tonight.<\/p>\n

The amendment, moved by Labor member Jen Butler, would have limited licence holders to a maximum of 10 firearms overall and five for recreational hunting or vermin control.<\/p>\n

Exemptions were built into the proposal, allowing the Police Commissioner to approve higher numbers where a legitimate reason existed.<\/p>\n

Police Minister Felix Ellis said the government strongly opposed the amendment, arguing it lacked an evidence base and would penalise law-abiding firearms owners without removing a single illegal gun from the streets.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Tasmanian parliament voted down the firearms cap 16 votes to 15. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think it gets the balance wrong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ellis said the estimated cost of a buyback scheme would be between $40 million and $90 million.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Tasmanian parliament voted down the firearms cap 16 votes to 15. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

Labor leader Josh Willie urged members to seize the moment, calling it a once-in-a-generation opportunity to partner with the federal government on a buyback.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you support unlimited guns in Tasmania or don\u2019t you?\u201d Labor member Brian Mitchell said during debate.<\/p>\n

Butler read from a letter sent by a Port Arthur survivor urging members to support caps.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease listen to your medical colleagues and the Police Commissioner, who strongly urge a cap on gun ownership in Tasmania,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n

\"\"Labor and the Greens supported the amendment. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

Greens member Tabatha Badger backed the amendment, saying caps were one tool among many to improve community safety.<\/p>\n

Independent crossbencher George Razay, whose vote was seen as crucial, said he could not support the amendment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I believe there is a merit in cap scheme, I don\u2019t feel this amendment has found the right balance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Independent Carlo Di Falco also voted against, saying no one had produced compelling evidence for the proposed numbers.<\/p>\n

\"\"Carlo Di Falco voted against it, citing a lack of evidence. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

Peter George, another independent, supported the amendment, describing it as a sensible minimum rather than a hard cap.<\/p>\n

The bill continues through the committee stage with further amendments still to be debated.<\/p>\n

\"\"George Razay voted against Labor\u2019s amendment to cap firearm numbers. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tasmanian parliament has voted down a Labor amendment to cap the number of firearms a person can legally…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-886984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}