On Sunday, an incident in Sydney, Australia, resulted in the deaths of at least 15 individuals and the hospitalization of 42 others after a father and son opened fire on a crowd at a beach. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese characterized the event as a "terrorist incident" targeting Jewish Australians.
This event has prompted Australian officials to propose further restrictions on firearms, despite the country's existing strict gun laws and the rarity of mass shootings.
Australia's current stringent gun legislation stems from the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, where 35 people were killed. Following this event, conservative Prime Minister John Howard led an initiative resulting in the National Firearms Agreement (NFA). The NFA restricted semi-automatic rifles and pump-action shotguns, established a national buyback program that collected over 650,000 firearms, and unified previously disparate state and territory firearms laws into a national system. This agreement has been credited with reducing firearm-related deaths, with one study indicating no mass shootings in Australia for over two decades post-implementation.
Prime Minister Albanese acknowledged the NFA's "enormous difference" and "bipartisan support." However, firearm ownership in Australia has seen an increase, with over 4 million guns in the country, a 25% rise since 1996. The Australia Institute reported in January that some NFA provisions have been inconsistently applied or modified. Graham Park of Shooters Union Australia stated that Australian firearms owners were "winning" over the summer, according to The Guardian.
In response to the recent shooting, the Prime Minister and regional leaders convened on Monday and agreed to pursue strengthened gun measures. These proposals include:
- Renegotiating the 1996 National Firearms Agreement.
- Accelerating the establishment of the National Firearms Register, a 2023 initiative to create a countrywide database of firearms owners and licenses.
- Increasing the use of criminal intelligence in the firearms licensing process.
- Limiting the number of guns an individual can own.
- Restricting specific types of guns and modifications.
- Mandating that only Australian citizens can hold a firearms license.
- Introducing further customs restrictions on firearms and related equipment, potentially limiting imports involving 3D printing or high-capacity ammunition accessories.
The commitment to Australia's national firearms amnesty program, which allows individuals to surrender unregistered firearms without legal penalty, was also reaffirmed.
Details related to the Sunday shooting included Prime Minister Albanese's statement that the son involved had been noted by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in 2019 due to ties to an Islamic State terrorism cell in Sydney. Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke confirmed the son is an Australian-born citizen, while the father, who arrived on a student visa in 1998, later held a partner visa and was most recently on a "resident return" visa.
Australia's political structure, particularly the National Cabinet—comprising the Prime Minister, state premiers, and territory chief ministers—facilitates rapid action on national issues. The National Cabinet, initially formed in 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic response, coordinates national strategies for implementation by respective parliaments.
Public support for robust gun laws remains high in Australia. A January poll by The Australia Institute indicated that 64% of Australians favor strengthening gun laws, with only 6% supporting relaxation. John Howard, Prime Minister during the Port Arthur massacre, noted in a 2016 interview that the "ready availability of guns inevitably led to massacres" in American culture, guiding Australia's approach. The NFA itself states that gun ownership is "a privilege that is conditional on the overriding need to ensure public safety."
Walter Mikac, founding patron of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, established in memory of his daughters killed in the 1996 shooting, issued a statement on Monday emphasizing "the need to stay vigilant against violence" and the importance of gun laws for public safety.