Labor leader Bill Shorten has called for convicted gun smugglers to face life in prison, and for the Turnbull government to extend the national gun amnesty until the end of 2017 to get more weapons off the street.

Just days after the massacre of 58 people in Las Vegas, and the end of the three month gun amnesty on September 30, Mr Shorten has told Fairfax Media the Turnbull government should be doing more to keep guns off Australian streets.

The call comes as state and territory first ministers arrive in Canberra on Thursday for a special Council of Australian Governments meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that will focus exclusively on counterterrorism.

The meeting will discuss law changes that would allow terrorism suspects to be interrogated for up to 14 days before being charged, two new offences for possessing "instructional terrorist material" and for making terrorism hoaxes, and a proposal that would see the states hand over the identities of millions of Australian drivers to the federal government.