Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced sweeping new gun control measures following a terrorist attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration on December 14. The incident, which killed 15 people and wounded 40 others, involved an Indian migrant and his son who allegedly opened fire on the crowd. The father was shot dead by police at the scene, while the son was injured and taken into custody.
Authorities have stated that the attack was inspired by the Islamic State (ISIS). In response, Albanese has argued that Australia must strengthen its firearm laws rather than immigration policies. “Sunday’s deadly ISIS-inspired antisemitic terrorist attack at Bondi Beach highlights the need to finish the job… on gun reform,” he said.
Albanese revealed that one of the attackers was a licensed firearm owner who legally possessed six guns, adding, “There is no reason someone living in the suburbs of Sydney needed this many guns.”
The proposed measures include limits on the number of firearms an individual may own, restricting firearm licenses to Australian citizens, and allowing criminal intelligence agencies to assess license applications. Albanese stated that the government expects “hundreds of thousands of firearms will be collected and destroyed” through a mandatory buyback scheme.
Under the plan, state and territory governments will collect surrendered firearms and compensate owners, while the Australian Federal Police will oversee destruction.
The move has drawn attention from skeptics who point to incidents in jurisdictions with strict firearm regulations. Earlier this year, a mass shooting at a school in Sweden left multiple people dead despite the country’s stringent gun laws. In the United States, a 2023 mass shooting in Baltimore—where gun laws are extensive but policing is limited—resulted in two deaths and dozens of injuries, fueling debates about the effectiveness of gun control alone.
