Goulburn ranks fifth in the state for the number of guns owned by one person, according to The Greens.
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The party recently released firearm registration figures sourced from NSW Police, via a Freedom of Information request.
It revealed that the 2580 postcode, covering Goulburn and outlying areas, had 10,216 registered firearms owned by 2220 people by March, 2017. This had climbed to 11,362 held by 2354 owners as of December 3, 2018.
Greens' MLC and the party's spokesman for gun control, David Shoebridge says the figures exclude guns held by collectors and firearms dealers.
The data, based on registrations handled by NSW Police, also shows that one person in the 2580 postcode area owned 148 guns in 2017, the fifth highest in the State. In December 2018, the highest was 293 owned by one person. The highest was Moonbi, near Tamworth, with 311 guns held by one owner.
Mr Shoebridge said he was confident in the figures as the Greens' Freedom of Information request expressly requested that gun collections and firearms dealers be excluded. But former Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate for Goulburn, Andy Wood, suspects double counting on some licences.
Statewide, the statistics showed there were 810,023 guns owned by private people. The Greens says this is too many.
"(We also say) 148 is too many to be held by one person," Mr Shoebridge said.
"I firmly believe people have a right to know how effective the gun lobby is and that there's a failure to keep a reasonable cap on the number of firearms in the community.
"One of the most startling statistics is the number of private guns owned by one individual. All of these have been signed off by by police and I believe they're not doing their job in requesting a 'genuine reason' for having them, which is what's required."
Mr Shoebridge said owners could simply "recycle" this reason to justify securing their 10th or 300th gun and there was insufficient scrutiny. The Greens' are calling for a cap of five firearms held by anyone person and for people to establish a "separate and extraordinary" reason if they want to register more.
"The figures reveal that there are too many guns and there are some large collections in a small number of people's hands," he said.
"...Something is misfiring with firearms laws."
Mr Shoebridge said he fully understood the need for farmers to have one or two gun licences to control rabbits and wild dogs, but to have up to 300 was "feeding an unhealthy culture."
He rejected Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party leader Robert Borsak's claim that the list's release was "providing criminals with all the information they need to target, locate and steal firearms from farmers."
"It's basically a criminal shopping list that puts the law-abiding farmers at risk," Mr Borsak said.
But Mr Shoebridge countered that the data was postcode specific and didn't identify anyone.
Meantime, Mr Wood said the numbers were "entirely irrelevant" because all firearm licences were legal and approved.
"People who possess them have had extensive police checks carried out and have to keep them under rigid conditions," he said.
Mr Wood, a member of the Goulburn Sporting Shooters Association, said guns were a "tool of trade" in rural areas like Goulburn.
He argued Mr Shoebridge's suggestion that owners should have police checks each time they took out a firearms licence, was unreasonable.
"He has an agenda to push and likely sees a complete ban on guns as a solution but bans don't solve problems," he said.
"Australia has a history of bans not working. Britain banned guns and firearm crime over there spiked."
He accused Mr Shoebridge of "mugging" the data to push his agenda. Specifically, he believed there was an overlap with the gun collections The Greens claimed these were excluded from the figures but Mr Wood said many collectors applied for category A and B licences for some of of these guns, allowing them to shoot them. Collectors licences don't currently allow firing.
Mr Borsak has made the same point.
Meantime, Goulburn Sporting Shooters Association president Bill Irvine said owners had different guns for different purposes and authorities were well aware of this.
He told The Post that police resources were better devoted to criminals misusing guns rather than "law-abiding" firearm owners "doing the right thing."
"People who commit robberies and other crimes are the last people we want involved in our club," he said.
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