Jeff Bacon, managing director of the Tamworth weapons maker Oceania Precision, will run second on One Nation NSW's upper house ticket at the March state election. According to Bacon, the post-Bondi gun laws NSW passed in December have seen every rifle his company sells banned in the state, and he wants those laws repealed.

A manufacturer on the One Nation ticket

One Nation NSW leader Mike Newman and federal MP Barnaby Joyce revealed Bacon's ticket position earlier this month. The candidacy was announced in Tamworth, where Bacon then hosted a One Nation forum on firearms legislation attended by gun lobby groups, local gun clubs, Newman and Joyce.

Newman framed the candidate as an industry figure first, saying Bacon was 'not only a firearms owner, but he is also a manufacturer and also he is an innovator' with 'patents across the world', and would be 'my go-to man on the firearms industry'.

Bacon's path to the ticket ran through two other parties: he stood as the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party candidate for Tamworth in 2019, joined the Nationals in 2023, then defected to One Nation. Speaking in Tamworth on 3 October, he said running again 'wasn't a hard decision', adding: 'To be honest I'd rather continue in my business than be in some way forced to step into politics.'

In a statement, Bacon committed the party to unwinding the December legislation: 'One Nation will repeal the firearms element of the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Act.' The change, he said, would return rights to what they were before December last year, when he claims a functioning system existed. He accused the Minns government and the Liberal party of rushing the legislation through on Christmas Eve.

What the post-Bondi laws changed

The December 2025 laws, passed by Labor and the Liberals, limit recreational licence-holders to four firearms and primary producers to 10, and legislated for NSW to join a joint federal-state buyback. The parliament also voted to recategorise straight-pull and lever-release rifles, meaning recreational hunters will no longer be able to own them.

• •NSW is the only state so far to sign on to the federal buyback scheme, due to begin on 2 November.
• •Owners can surrender affected weapons over a 12-month period, after which they become illegal for recreational licence-holders.
• •The changes followed the 14 December antisemitic attack at Bondi, in which 15 people were killed during Hanukah celebrations.
• •One alleged shooter, Indian national Sajid Akram, owned six weapons on a recreational hunting licence, including straight-pull rifles allegedly used in the attack.

The recategorisation laws have yet to take effect.

Oceania Precision's rifles now banned

Oceania Precision's website describes its rifles as 'built specifically for law enforcement', and advertises one select-fire tactical rifle as 'restricted' to that sector. Archived snapshots from as recently as June showed the company describing itself as a manufacturer for the 'Australian domestic and professional market'.

• •Its two commercial models were the straight-pull SP25-TAC and the lever-release Renegade.
• •Both had been described as 'not available in NSW' since before the post-Bondi changes.

In January, Bacon told the Northern Daily Leader the reforms had seen 'every single one' of his rifles banned in NSW. He warned his business would be 'broke in six months if this continues – we're done, we're finished'.

'I'm in the middle of two manufacturing runs right now... We've had all of our orders cancelled,' he said that month. In August he told Defence Connect the business was at risk of collapse because its entire R&D budget was funded through commercial sporting sales, which had been severely impacted.

The political stakes and the opposition

One Nation's platform includes repealing the buyback and most changes to NSW firearms laws since the Bondi attack. A September Sydney Morning Herald Resolve poll put the party at 25% of the NSW primary vote - a result that could mean at least five upper house seats - with the Coalition on 24%.

The Nationals voted against the December changes while the Liberals supported them; opposition leader Kellie Sloane has since walked back that support, with the Liberals last month announcing they would scrap primary producer caps and freeze the buyback pending an inquiry.

Bacon backs one element of the package: he said in early October he supported making Australian citizenship a requirement for a recreational firearms licence after the buyback completes.

The reforms have defenders. Stephen Bendle, senior advocacy adviser to the Alannah and Madeline Foundation - founded after the Port Arthur massacre - called attempts to wind them back 'outrageous politics that ignores the victims and survivors of Bondi'. He said: 'The outrage is being led by commercial interests in the firearm industry. Mr Bacon and everyone else needs to understand that times change.'

The recategorisation laws have not yet taken effect: owners can surrender affected rifles over a 12-month buyback window starting 2 November, after which they become illegal for recreational licence-holders. Bacon and One Nation did not respond when contacted for comment.