Australia announces gun buyback plan after Bundy attack

The Australian government announced a gun buyback program after the Bondi Beach attack, the worst mass shooting in decades.

The program is the largest since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, which killed 35 people and prompted Australia to adopt world-leading gun control measures.

Two gunmen believed to be motivated by “Islamic State ideology” opened fire on Sunday at a Jewish holiday on the country’s most iconic beach, killing 15 people and wounding dozens more.

Police also said on Friday there was no reason to detain a group of men arrested in Sydney over “extreme Islamic ideology”.

Police said Sunday’s attack was carried out by a father and son, and they have labeled it a terrorist incident. Naveed Akram, 24, was charged with 59 charges, including 15 counts of murder and one count of terrorist acts. His father Sajid was killed in the attack.

The day after the shootings, the national cabinet, which includes federal government representatives and state and territory leaders, agreed to tighten gun controls.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in an interview with the media on Friday that Australia now has more than 4 million guns, more than the number at the time of the Port Arthur massacre.

“We know one of the terrorists had a firearms license and owned six guns, even though he lived in the middle of a Sydney suburb… There’s no reason anyone would need that many guns in this situation.

“We need to get more guns off the streets.”

He said the new scheme would buy surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms and would provide funding on a 50-50 basis with states and territories. They estimate hundreds of thousands of guns will be seized and destroyed.

National Cabinet also agreed to introduce limits on the number of firearms held by any individual, restrict open firearms licenses and the types of firearms legal, and make Australian citizenship a condition of holding a firearms licence.

Work on the National Firearms Register will be accelerated and firearms regulators will have better access to crime intelligence.

On Friday, New South Wales police said they were prepared to release seven men with extremist ideologies but they would continue to be monitored.

There were dramatic scenes on the outskirts of Liverpool on Thursday as tactical police swarmed a group of people from Victoria who were known to local police. Police found a knife but no guns or other weapons.

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanning told a news conference there was “no established link” between the alleged terrorists and the detained group, but Bondi Beach was one of several locations the latter planned to visit.

Commissioner Lanyon said: “While the specific threat posed by men is not yet known, I can say that the potential for violent crime is significant and we are not prepared to tolerate that risk.”