Leaders say Australia needs tougher gun laws after Bondi Beach shooting

2 days ago 6

Australian leaders rapidly vowed to tighten up the country's laws connected firearm ownership successful the aftermath of the deadly weapon onslaught connected Jewish radical astatine Bondi Beach connected Sunday. Australia has a past of reacting rapidly to weapon unit with legislation, and galore person credited a prohibition connected rapid-fire agelong guns brought successful pursuing a 1996 mass-shooting with sharply reducing decease successful the years since.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese projected caller weapon restrictions, including limiting the fig of guns a licensed proprietor tin get and reviewing existing licenses implicit time, conscionable hours aft decrying the Bondi Beach massacre arsenic an enactment of antisemitic coercion that struck astatine the bosom of the nation.

"The authorities is prepared to instrumentality immoderate enactment is necessary. Included successful that is the request for tougher weapon laws," Albanese said aft authorities revealed that the older of the 2 suspected gunmen, who were begetter and son, had held a weapon licence for a decennary and amassed his six guns legally. Those weapons, including rifles and astatine slightest 1 shotgun, were believed to person been utilized successful the Sunday attack, according to police.

Other authorities leaders besides projected restricting weapon ownership to Australian citizens, a measurement that would person excluded the older suspected gunman, who came to Australia successful 1998 connected a pupil visa and became a imperishable nonmigratory aft marrying a section woman, according to authorities. Officials wouldn't corroborate what state helium had migrated from.

His son, who doesn't person a weapon license, is an Australian-born citizen.

The authorities leaders besides projected the "additional usage of transgression intelligence" successful deciding who was eligible for a weapon license. That could hypothetically person meant that a 2019 probe into the son's suspicious associates, confirmed Monday by Albanese, would person disqualify the begetter from owning a gun.

Christopher Minns, premier of New South Wales, wherever Bondi, a suburb of Sydney, is located, said his state's weapon laws would change, but helium could not yet item how.

"It means introducing a measure to Parliament to — I mean to beryllium truly blunt — marque it much hard to get these horrifying weapons that person nary applicable usage successful our community," Minns said. "If you're not a farmer, you're not progressive successful agriculture, wherefore bash you request these monolithic weapons that enactment the nationalist successful information and marque beingness unsafe and hard for New South Wales Police?"

Australia's prohibition connected semi-automatic agelong guns came aft 1996 massacre

The onslaught was the deadliest shooting successful astir 3 decades successful Australia, since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, successful which 35 radical were murdered.

Just 12 days aft that shooting, Australian lawmakers approved authorities banning the merchantability and importation of each automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns; forcing radical to contiguous a morganatic reason, and hold 28 days, to bargain immoderate firearm; and initiating a massive, mandatory gun-buyback for banned weapons.

The Australian authorities confiscated and destroyed astir 700,000 firearms successful the aftermath of the instrumentality being adopted, reducing the fig of gun-owning households by half.

"It is incontestable that gun-related homicides person fallen rather importantly successful Australia, incontestable," erstwhile Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who defied galore successful his ain blimpish enactment to usher successful the caller laws, told CBS News' Seth Doane 2 decades later, successful 2016.

In the 15 years earlier those laws were passed, determination were 13 wide shootings successful Australia. In the 2 decades since, determination was not a azygous one. Gun homicides wide decreased by astir 60% successful the aforesaid period.

"People utilized to accidental to me, 'You violated my quality rights by taking distant my gun,'" Howard told CBS News. "And I'd [respond], 'I recognize that. Will you delight recognize the argument, the top quality close of each is to unrecorded a harmless beingness without fearfulness of random murder.'"

Asked to respond to critics who said the autumn successful weapon deaths did not needfully hap due to the fact that of the legislation, Howard told CBS News: " I tin accidental that, due to the fact that each the surveys bespeak it."

"The fig of deaths from wide shootings, gun-related homicide has fallen, weapon related termination has fallen," helium said. "Isn't that evidence? Or are we expected to judge that that was each magically going to happen? Come on!"

A survey published earlier this year, however, recovered that Australia inactive had immoderate mode to spell to afloat instrumentality the 2016 legislation, called the National Firearms Agreement. The paper, by the Australia Institute deliberation tank, said immoderate of the measures successful the instrumentality had yet to beryllium afloat brought into unit 29 years later, and that others were being inconsistently enforced crossed antithetic states.

The instrumentality "was ambitious, politically brave, and indispensable for nationalist safety," the study concluded, lauding Howard's volition to defy his chap lawmakers.

However, "Australia inactive allows minors to clasp firearm licenses, inactive lacks a National Firearms Register, and inactive has inconsistent laws that marque enforcement difficult," the radical said, adding that wide weapon ownership crossed the state had really boomed implicit the past 3 decades.

"There are present implicit 4 cardinal registered privately owned guns successful Australia: 800,000 much than earlier the (1996) buyback," the institute said successful its May report. "Australians needs weapon laws that unrecorded up to the Howard Government's bravery, and close present Australia does not person them."