Firearms ownership: Dubbo and Central West

There may be fewer gun owners in Australia but they are buying more guns, with 82,077 firearms owned by 17,414 licence holders in Orana and the Central West.

Bathurst is home to the highest number of licence holders (2701) and guns (13,094), this is followed by Orange where there are 2514 licences with 10,504 guns.

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Next on the list was: Mudgee (9307); Parkes (4289); Lithgow (4288); Young (4285); Cowra (3771) and Forbes (3609).

In Dubbo, the average firearms licence holder owns 4.92 registered guns.

The figures from www.toomanyguns.org, which are authorised by Green MP David Shoebridge using data provided by the NSW Police, also show the largest number of guns held by one registered owner (with the exclusion of collectors).

Dubbo is by far the highest at 202, followed by Cootamundra (132), Parkes (123), Bathurst (103) and Cowra (77), however NSW Police clarified that a club can be licensed for multiple guns for its members to use.

Nationally, the number of registered firearms in Australia is now higher than before the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.

The Hunters and Collectors: Gun use and ownership in Australia report by The Australia Institute shows that while the number of licensed gun owners has decreased by one-third since 1997, the number of firearms has increased dramatically - from 2.5 million to 3.6 million in 2017.

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But gun shop owners across the region say there is a very good reason that some people have multiple guns.

"Different guns have different purposes," Bullets and Bits owner Ray Hawkins said.

Sporting shooters and farmers will use different types of guns for different jobs, while for many hunters "it's all about meat preservation" and the correct calibre was needed.

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"The best analogy is you can't play golf with just one club," Mr Hawkins said.

While children aged above 12 years can get a minor's permit to shoot they cannot own a gun, so he owns guns that are the right calibre and weight for his children to use.

"Ninety per cent of people tend to do the right thing," Mr Hawkins said.

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Macquarie Arms owner Bob Dowling said the variety of gun use has remained the same during his 20 years of running the shop, but "society's attitudes" had changed for the worse around gun ownership.

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers leader Robert Borsak said publishing gun ownership by postcode was a breach of privacy and it encouraged break-ins and the theft of firearms.

"I would be more concerned about firearms you don't know about that are are in the community, the illegal ones," he said.

Greens MP David Shoebridge agreed that there was definitely valid reasons for some people to have multiple firearms.

"Why does anyone need 20, 30, 50 or even 300 guns?" he said.

Mr Shoebridge said legislation stipulates that you have to have a "genuine reason" to have a gun, but the loophole allows you to use this same reason again and again.

"Clearly the current legislation is not fit for purpose," he said.

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"Once someone has five guns they should provide additional reasons whey they should have another firearm.

Mr Shoebridge said this loophole allows people to have "private arsenals" and increases the risk of many guns be stolen at the same time.

"This data shows they're likely to find not just one or two guns, but a large number of guns," he said.

Mr Shoebridge the community should be "rightly alarmed" and encouraged them to contact their local MP to complain about the current legislation.

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