NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane has urged gun owners who do not want to surrender their firearms to hold on to them, as she vowed to scrap key elements of the state’s gun buyback scheme.

The Shooters Union is calling on gun owners to boycott the scheme until the next NSW election in March, arguing it could be scrapped if the Liberals or One Nation win government.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: NSW Opposition leader backs gun buyback boycott

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The buyback scheme was introduced in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack in December 2025 that saw 15 innocent victims killed.

Phase one of the buyback, which is due to commence in two weeks, will include a fixed price schedule for individual licence holders who are above the new legal limit for their licence to return their firearms in exchange for fair compensation.

Gun owners will be paid between $450 and $1000 when they hand the firearms in.

Sloane stopped short of calling for a boycott of the buyback but argued if gun owners voted Liberal in the upcoming election, “they won’t have to” hand them in.

“It’s not compulsory for them to hand it back... They have a choice at the moment.

“So I say, hold on to your guns if you don’t want to give them away.”

Kellie Sloane stopped short of calling for a boycott of the buyback but argued if gun owners voted Liberal in the upcoming election, “they won’t have to”. Credit: Sunrise

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Sloane said a Liberal government would introduce a “fairer scheme”, scrap firearm caps for farmers and professional sporting shooters and establish a commission of inquiry to make NSW streets safer.

“These laws were rushed. They’re complex. There was no stakeholder consultation. We need to do better,” she said.

Support ‘came with a caveat’

The Liberals initially voted in favour of the legislative package, but Sloane said the party’s support has come with conditions.

“I offered bipartisanship at the time, but it came with a caveat, a very important caveat, that if we got it wrong, we must consult, we must use Parliament to change it and improve it,” she said.

Sloane accused the government of refusing to consult on changes to the laws, arguing a different approach was needed to improve community safety.

‘We are looking at the wrong enemy’

Sloane, who was in Bondi when the attack occured, argued the focus should be on illegal firearms used by organised criminals and terrorists, rather than law-abiding gun owners.

“I was there in the middle of Bondi. I saw my community slaughtered,” she said.

“I have memories of that day that will stay with me forever. I have a vested interest in keeping our community safe.

“Pretending that it’s farmers and sporting shooters does not keep our community safe.

“The shoot-ups on our street with the Alameddines, with the coconut cartel and all their organised crime, they are not handing in their guns to the police.

“While we spend up to a billion dollars taking legal firearms off our streets, we are looking at the wrong enemy.”

Sloane said the Liberals would put forward a new policy proposal ahead of the March election, which she argued would better address community safety.