The shooting on Sunday, 14 December, during a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, which left 15 people dead, including one of the shooters, Sajid Akram, has raised concerns about whether Australia’s gun laws, already considered among the strictest in the world, remain adequate.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would ask Cabinet to review potential restrictions on the number of firearms permitted under a single licence, as well as the duration for which licences should remain valid. Police confirmed that Sajid was a licensed firearm owner and a member of a gun club, indicating he was likely involved in target shooting, according to AP.
The attack, carried out by Sajid, 50, and his son Naveed, 24, targeted a Hanukkah celebration and has intensified criticism that authorities are failing to do enough to address the growing wave of antisemitic crime. "What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism," Albanese told reporters.
What are Australia's gun laws?
The National Firearms Agreement 1996 prohibits various firearms, such as semiautomatic rifles and pump-action shotguns, and established a compulsory gun buyback programme, resulting in over 650,000 surrendered and destroyed guns. It also enforces strict licensing rules, mandatory background checks, a 28-day waiting period for purchases, and restrictions on gun ownership, including a ban on licenses for individuals under 18.
Firearm licence holders are required to show at least one valid “genuine reason” for possessing a firearm, with self-defence explicitly not considered acceptable as per norms, further stating they must not fall under the category of a “prohibited person", and all firearms must be registered to their owner using their serial numbers.
Australia's gun laws: What's next for the country?
Proposed measures include capping the number of firearms an individual can own and tightening the review of gun licences over time. These and other steps would amount to a major overhaul of Australia’s landmark National Firearms Agreement, which effectively banned rapid-fire rifles after a gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania in 1996, prompting swift nationwide action.
“The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws," AP quoted Albanese as saying.
Meanwhile, despite an increase in the number of firearms in Australia, gun-related crime remains low compared with other countries, a report by Reuters noted.
Data from the Australian Institute of Criminology shows that 33 people were killed in firearm-related homicides in the year to June 2024. By contrast, figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the United States recorded an average of 49 gun homicides each day throughout 2023.
