A survivor of Australia's worst terrorist incident is backing tighter gun laws as a push to wind them back intensifies.
After the December 14 2025 Bondi Beach massacre where 15 people died, NSW Premier Chris Minns introduced tough restrictions on gun ownership, including a cap on the number of firearms an individual can own.
Appearing before a parliamentary inquiry into legislation that would repeal those reforms, Bondi survivor Leon Elski said he backed the crackdown.
Mr Elski was attending the Chanukah festivities with 10 members of his immediate family when two men opened fire.
He described lying on top of his eight-year-old daughter to shield her while his wife and 10-year-old daughter hid under a plastic table.
"Many bullets passed within centimetres of my head, the heavy sound of large calibre rounds passing through the air is something I will never forget," he told the inquiry on Friday.
“There's obviously quite decent layers of checks in place, but with all of that said, something has failed.”
Mr Elski backed stronger checks determining if a person is seeking a firearms licence for legitimate purposes.
But the survivor's evidence clashed with that of Shooters Union president Graham Park.
He lashed the government for failing to consult the public before pushing the legislation, supporting the repeal bill and pleading future changes go through a public inquiry.
“The hard conversation about radicalisation and extremism is one the state needs to have," Mr Park told the inquiry.
"Instead, within hours, politicians were having ideas about banning things, and within days, the government picked an easy target and an easy answer."
Mr Park argued licensed shooters were among the most vetted people in NSW and had nothing to do with the Bondi attack.
"They deserve better than to be the easy answer to divert from the real cause."
The concerns around licensing arose in response to revelations Sajid Akram, one of the men responsible for the Bondi attack, was able to legally purchase six guns despite son Naveed being on the radar of counter-terrorism authorities
Mr Elski acknowledging some people would view any limits on gun ownership as restricting their freedom.
"If we need to fine tune (these laws), okay, but let's talk about details," he said.
Representatives for the Australian Jewish Association also appeared before the inquiry and expressed their support for the repeal bill.
“Why should a farmer, a sporting shooter, or a recreational hunter who has complied with the law be penalised because two Islamic terrorists committed an atrocity?” chief executive Robert Gregory said.
