The sports shooting community in Western Australia is on edge as new firearm reforms loom, following public concern heightened by the recent killings of two Floreat women.

WA will become the first Australian jurisdiction to limit the number of firearms a license holder can own, with sports shooters restricted to owning no more than 10 firearms.

Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA) WA spokesman Bevan Steele says he is concerned recent gun violence will be linked to the need to restrict recreational shooting.

“One of the key things in the proposed law that is a bit nasty is that [the government is] restricting the ability for people to have firearms recreationally,” he says.

Mr Steele says competitive shooters often need to possess multiple firearms to participate in different events, such as rifle, pistol, and shotgun disciplines.

“Ten sounds a lot for people that aren’t into shooting, but once you get into the shooting disciplines, you want to progress to the next sort of shooting sports,” he says.

Gun Control Australia advocate Professor Charles Watson says while some groups want to protect their hobbies, 90 per cent of Australians have wanted tighter gun laws since the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996.

“The National Firearms Agreement back in 1996 introduced many reforms, made many recommendations and now Western Australia is doing all the things which were recommended,” Prof Watson says.

Prof Watson says he hopes the reforms will prompt other states to enact similar laws to restrict gun ownership.

“We have too many guns in our suburbs and the shooting last Friday is an example of that,” he said. says.

Mr Steele says that SSAA does not yet have a response on the recent Floreat “tragedy” and is waiting for more information.

“I’m a former police sergeant as well and there’s so many different variables that happen out of these events,” he says.