Coroner wants gun licence ‘rubber stamping’ bolstered with medical checks

Victorian gun owners should be forced to provide a doctor’s certificate proving they are medically fit before renewing their firearms licence, a coroner has urged.

Coroner Simon McGregor has called for a tightening of the state’s firearm laws following the suicide of a man who legally owned five guns despite a long history of mental illness.

The 42-year-old Gippsland man, who had been admitted to hospital for mental illness and had substance abuse issues, renewed his handgun licence in the year before taking his own life in front of his wife while their children were at home.

At the time of his death, he had a firearms licence for long arms and handguns and owned five registered weapons, including two handguns, two rifles and one air rifle.

The coroner said the current system was too reliant on self-reporting by gun owners and the onus needed to be on firearm licence applicants.

In Victoria, gun licences are granted for 5-year periods, with applicants forced to declare whether they have been treated for mental health, alcohol or drug-related issues during the previous five years.

McGregor found the man had been in contact with mental health services leading up to his death, but he wasn’t required to provide any updated medical evidence proving he was fit to hold a firearms licence.

“Given the manifest omissions…under the current system, I make no adverse comment about the individual decision-making which led to the licence being renewed,” McGregor said.

“The system itself, however, unfortunately, has the hallmarks of a ‘rubber stamping’ process, rather than a genuine vetting process around the use and control of dangerous equipment.”

Between 2016 and 2025, there were 342 suicides involving firearms in Victoria.

The coroner’s findings come just weeks after the Allan government rejected caps on the number of firearms a person can own, which was one of 16 recommendations made following a rapid review into the state’s gun laws after the Bondi terror attack.

In May, Jacinta Allan confirmed Labor had rejected the key recommendation from former police chief commissioner Ken Lay to cap the number of firearms a licence holder could own at four. The Coalition did not support capping firearms for licensed holders.

The government accepted 15 recommendations, including restricting gun ownership to citizens, and a recommendation that would strengthen oversight for new licence holders and renewal applications.

That recommendation included developing secure reporting pathways for medical practitioners to notify Victoria Police where a licence holder’s medical or health circumstances may impact their ongoing fitness to hold a licence.

But McGregor called for that recommendation to be tweaked, saying medical practitioners aren’t privy to information confirming which patients have firearms licences unless that information is volunteered.

“It would be more appropriate and less resource intensive to consider placing the onus on firearm licence/renewal applicants to provide medical evidence supporting their eligibility as a fit and proper person,” he said.

McGregor said the case also highlighted an information gap for child protection workers assessing family violence risks.

Two months before his suicide, the Gippsland man was involved in an alleged family violence incident, triggering an investigation by child protection workers, as well as drug and alcohol testing.

The coroner said child protection investigators were unaware firearms were kept at the property. He recommended child protection workers be provided with information about firearms licences during investigations, noting access to guns can be a significant risk factor in domestic violence cases.

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