Stronger safeguards for gun holders are being ushered in after the worst terror attack in modern Australian history.
The NSW government measures starting on Wednesday come after 15 people were killed by a father and son at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi beach on December 14.
The most consequential change will be powers given to the NSW Police commissioner to veto any state resident from acquiring a gun permit if there are terrorism-related concerns.
The commissioner must be satisfied the applicant has never been investigated by a federal or state law enforcement or intelligence agency for terrorism-related offences.
The applicant must also not be residing or associating with a person who has been investigated for terrorism-related offences.
The changes were about public safety and were not an assault on gun ownership, NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said.
"Owning a firearm is a privilege, not a right," she said.
"We're increasing oversight, reducing risk and will ultimately reduce the number of firearms in the community."
One of the gunmen, Naveed Akram, had been investigated for terrorism offences and lived with the other gunman, his father Sajid Akram, at the time of the killings.
Sajid Akram was the legal owner of six firearms, some of which were used in the attack.
The police commissioner can also delegate their decision to an assistant commissioner if need be if there has been any criminal intelligence flagged about the potential gun holder.
NSW has more than one million firearms registered and more than 260,000 gun licences issued.
These licences will be slashed from five years to two years for new applicants and those seeking renewals, as part of the reforms aimed at tightening loopholes.
Identity verification will be mandatory before an application can proceed and a permit to acquire a gun will not be issued until a person can demonstrate they meet safe storage requirements.
The government is investing $42.8 million over 10 years into the NSW Gun Registry to hire additional staff and upgrade its systems after glaring gaps were revealed leading up to the attack.
The ongoing royal commission was told in May a senior intelligence analyst was staffed to the NSW Firearms Registry but removed in November 2021 because the role was deemed unnecessary.
The position remained vacant until February 2025.
The commander of the registry at the time agreed the lack of in-house intelligence capability was a significant risk to public safety and NSW Police.
NSW Police said the firearms licensing authority would expand to include three full-time intelligence analysts.
A federal push to cap the number of firearms an individual can own and establish an Australia-wide gun buyback scheme has stalled after several states rejected tighter restrictions.
