Australia’s gun laws were already among the world’s toughest. The Bondi massacre could spark even tighter controls
By Hilary Whiteman, CNN
Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — Australia already has some of the world’s toughest gun laws, but the Bondi mass shooting could lead to even tougher rules as the realization spreads that they aren’t strong enough to prevent bloodshed.
Restrictions were tightened almost 30 years ago after a lone gunman armed with semiautomatic weapons killed 35 people at the Port Arthur historic tourist site in Tasmania.
The massacre shocked the government of the day into action, and within two weeks, new laws dictated tough rules on who could and couldn’t own a gun.
Australia’s swift action has been held up as an example that change is possible. New Zealand did the same after the Christchurch massacre in 2019, when an Australian-born right-wing terrorist live-streamed the massacre of 51 at two mosques in the city.
Less than a month after the slaughter New Zealand introduced a nationwide ban on semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles. Both countries launched amnesty and gun buyback schemes. Opposition arose in both countries, but the governments did it anyway.
Gun murders rare
Until Sunday, Australia had decades of proof that tough gun laws can make a country safer with one of the world’s lowest gun homicide rates, per capita.
Between July 2023 through June 2024 Australia saw only 31 gun-related murders, a homicide rate of 0.09 per 100,000 people, according to data from the Australian Institute of Criminology.
But the number of guns held legally has risen steadily for more than two decades and now, at four million, exceeds the number before the 1996 crackdown, think-tank the Australia Institute said earlier this year.
The Bondi shooting has forced a rethink about whether state laws are still fit for purpose.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Monday after a meeting of the National Cabinet that state and territory leaders had agreed to pursue tougher controls.
The new rules would mean only Australian citizens can hold a gun license, and the number and type of guns they can own would be limited. Licenses would expire, under the plan, requiring more frequent checks on gun owners’ suitability to hold a license.
Work would also begin on tougher restrictions on the import of firearms and other weapons, including “3D printing, novel technology and firearms equipment that can hold large amounts of ammunition,” the government said in a statement.
Australia states and territories govern gun laws, but under the National Firearms Agreement agreed in 1996, all gun-owners are required to have a license and register their firearms in every jurisdiction.
But holes still exist.
The National Firearms Register is yet to compile details of gun ownership nationwide. A four-year program started last year, and work’s underway across jurisdictions to merge their records.
Albanese said work on the national register would be carried out as quickly as possible, though he emphasized the challenge of pulling together sometimes antiquated systems.
“In some cases, some state jurisdictions still had paper identification. That was what we were dealing with,” he said. “We are responding in a really practical way. If there’s more that can be done, we will do it. We will do whatever is necessary.”
In New South Wales, several types of gun licenses are available, but holders must only use the firearm for the purpose specified. For example, members of gun clubs can apply for a license that says they’ll only use the gun for sport and recreational purposes.
As a member of a gun club, the 50-year-old shooter in the Sydney attacks had a valid recreational gun license, police said, with six registered firearms.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has suggested the laws will be changed.
“We want to make sure that prospective reform and change in New South Wales has a lasting impact,” he said during a press conference Monday.
“If you’re not a farmer, if you’re not involved in agriculture, why do you need these massive weapons that put the public in danger and make life dangerous and difficult for New South Wales police?” he added.
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