In the wake of the devastating Sydney Bondi Beach massacre that claimed 15 lives, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced the most significant firearms law overhaul in decades. The federal cabinet convened Monday afternoon to initiate immediate reforms following Sunday’s horrific shooting during Hanukkah celebrations.
Prime Minister Albanese declared that “strong, decisive and focused action was needed on gun law reform as an immediate action” in response to the tragedy. The national government has mobilized a coordinated effort with state and territory leaders, tasking police ministers and attorneys-general with developing comprehensive policy options.
The proposed measures include implementing strict limits on the number of firearms any individual may possess, eliminating open-ended firearms licensing, restricting legal firearm categories, and enhancing the use of criminal intelligence in administrative licensing decisions. These reforms aim to address critical gaps in the existing system, which failed to prevent the Bondi Beach attack despite Australia’s established National Firearms Register created after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre that killed 35 people.
The urgency of these reforms is underscored by the revelation that the Bondi Beach shooter, Sajid Akram, had been deemed “fit and proper” to hold an A/B category gun license a decade earlier. Akram and his son subsequently used six legally owned firearms to carry out Sunday’s attack on beachgoers, exposing fatal flaws in the current regulatory framework.