NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge told the ABC that private individuals were able to amass large caches of firearms because under the current law, they could use the same reason to buy their first, 10th or 300th gun. The March 2017 figures exclude licensed collectors and dealers. The biggest cache of 312 firearms belongs to a single owner near the regional town of Tamworth. In Newcastle, one person owns 310 guns in the central suburb of Cardiff. Here's what our readers thought about the overall trend in increased gun ownership.
They include the exclusive Sydney suburb of Mosman, where one person owns 285 guns in the south-eastern area of La Perouse where an individual owns 305 guns and in North Sydney, where someone owns 268 guns.
The most comprehensive figures are in New South Wales, where figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws from NSW Police reveal the top 100 private arsenals across the state. Gun-control advocates say the private caches are "honeypots for criminals", and also pose a public safety risk if their owners become mentally unstable. The trend is thought to be driving an overall increase in gun ownership nationally.