Political fight over gun buyback after boy, 11, shot in the face and neck in Sydney apartment

The shooting of an 11-year-old boy in Sydney’s north-west was a “tragic reminder” of the danger of guns, the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has said while the opposition defends “backflipping” on a gun buyback.

The child was transported to Westmead Children’s hospital in a critical condition on Monday evening after suffering gunshot wounds to his face and neck at a unit in Norwest, NSW police said.

Five other people were home at the time, including four 18-year-old men and a 44-year-old woman, none of whom were injured.

One of the men was charged with concealing a serious indictable offence, while two of the other men were arrested and released pending further inquiries.

He appeared at Blacktown local court on Tuesday morning via audiovisual link, where he made no application for bail.

Speaking to ABC TV on Tuesday, Minns said it was an “incredibly distressing situation”.

“It’s the subject of a major police investigation,” the premier said.

“I understand the adults in the house are not cooperating with police. We just urge anyone that has any information about this horrible event … to come forward.”

Minns said the incident was a “very tragic reminder” of how dangerous guns were.

“Often the people who are the victims of guns are innocent people, many times they are children,” he said. “They’re very dangerous and we need less of them in our community.”

Supt Naomi Moore said on Monday night that police had no information to suggest the shooting was related to organised crime.

“It is an absolutely tragic situation, and we’ve seen tragedy across Sydney in the last couple of days; this is not far from the worst that I’ve seen,” Moore told reporters.

She said police were investigating how the gun came to be in the house, as there were no firearms registered to the property and none of the individuals had gun licenses.

There have been at least six suspected mistaken-identity shootings in Sydney since the start of last year.

Last week, two teenage boys were charged with murder after the recent shooting death of a university student in Sydney, which police say was a case of mistaken identity.

Earlier this month, the state’s police minister denied that gang violence was out of control.

Following the Bondi beach terror attack, the state government introduced new legislation to undertake Australia’s biggest gun buyback in 30 years, with the scheme set to begin on 2 November this year.

The Liberal opposition voted with Labor in support of a buyback last year, but on Saturday pledged it would scrap Labor’s firearm ownership caps for primary producers.

The NSW opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, instead proposed a commission of inquiry into gun laws and a freeze of any buyback. Caps for farmers and professional shooters would also be scrapped.

The police minister, Yasmin Catley, called the Coalition’s plan a “stunning backflip” and said it would leave more guns in circulation.

“Our position is simple and it has not and will not change: fewer dangerous guns in circulation means a safer NSW,” Catley said.

Sloane defended the opposition’s position on Tuesday, telling ABC radio that resources should be spent on “red-flagging terrorists” and “additional policing”.

“We just think this is a government that is trying to say that they’ve made our streets safer, when this is really a very blunt instrument that’s targeting the wrong people,” she said.