Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer has gifted a "weapon of demoracy" to the Museum of Australian Democracy, handing over an Enfield 303 rifle that has been in his family for more than 70 years.
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Mr Fischer's gun was one of the first firearms to be handed in for registration under the National Firearms Agreement, which was passed in May 1996 following the Port Arthur massacre that killed 35 people.
He said his weapon and the thousands of others registered or surrendered as part of the agreement were game-changers that stopped Australia "going down the USA pathway of guns, guns and more guns".
The rifle will be one of the key items on show at the museum in its new exhibition, Democracy: are you in?, which opens on June 26.
"It's been in the family for about seven or eight decades," Mr Fischer said as he presented the gun to museum director Daryl Karp at Old Parliament House on Thursday.
"It's with great pleasure that I hand over this icon, this weapon of Australian democracy."
Mr Fischer said the gun was used to shoot foxes, and originally belonged to his father when he owned a farm at Boree Creek, 82 kilometres west of Wagga Wagga.
When Mr Fischer bought the farm, he also took ownership of the gun, which he last fired sometime in the late 1970s, when he was a member of the New South Wales Parliament.
"I got terrified of my own weapon," Mr Fischer joked.
"It had a bit of a kickback onto your shoulder, so I preferred the .22, which my nephew now owns."
Rural voters strongly opposed the gun reforms, which were passed just 12 days after the Port Arthur massacre, putting Mr Fischer at odds with many in his own electorate of Farrer, in southern New South Wales.
"It was a good example that even the deputy prime minister had to comply," he said.
Mr Fischer registered the gun and took out a shooting licence under the agreement he developed with then-prime minister John Howard, but has now sold the farm and has no use for the weapon anymore, paving the way for him to donate it to the museum.
Ms Karp said the new exhibition would feature a selection of objects with ties to events in Australia's history as a democratic world leader.
She said the exhibition was not just about looking back on history, but challenging visitors to think about the democratic issues Australia was facing today.
"This [rifle] is a wonderful example of how government leadership of the day, and responding to the people, saw a change in legislation and brought about a significant change in the Australia we are today," Ms Karp said.
