Bondi Beach shooting: How tough are Australia’s gun laws?

The execution of astatine slightest 15 radical astatine a Jewish Hanukkah celebration astatine Sydney’s Bondi Beach by 2 gunmen connected Sunday was a uncommon occurrence successful a state that is known for its strict weapon laws.

The incident, which constabulary picture arsenic a “terrorist” attack, was the worst wide shooting successful the state since 1996, erstwhile gunman Martin Bryant changeable and killed 35 radical and injured astir 2 twelve others astatine Port Arthur, a tourer tract successful the confederate land authorities of Tasmania. Bryant received 35 beingness sentences, but his motive for the shooting, which prompted a raft of caller anti-gun legislation, was ne'er made clear.

Here’s a person look astatine what took place, contempt Australia’s strict weapon laws.

Who were the shooters?

During a quality league connected Monday, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the suspects were a 50-year-old man, who was changeable dormant by constabulary astatine the scene, and his 24-year-old son, who was besides changeable but remains successful infirmary successful critical, but stable, condition.

Lanyon said the begetter “is a licensed firearms holder who had six firearms licensed to him”, emphasising that helium “met the eligibility criteria for a firearms licence”.

The constabulary confirmed that the 50-year-old fishy lived successful a Sydney suburb and held a New South Wales firearms licence.

How strict are Australia’s weapon laws?

Two weeks aft the shooting astatine Port Arthur, Tasmania, successful 1996, the authorities led by Prime Minister John Howard of the blimpish Liberal-National conjugation launched the National Firearms Agreement (NFA), which importantly tightened Australia’s weapon laws.

The caller authorities was efficaciously an statement drawn up betwixt the Australian authorities and Australia’s assorted states and territories, which adopted the caller authorities by passing their ain corresponding laws. While circumstantial laws bash alteration from authorities to state, they are each guided by the NFA and National Handgun Control Agreement measures.

The authorities banned ownership of astir automatic and semiautomatic rifles, required weapon owners to registry their firearms with the constabulary and use for licences to ain them, and initiated a buyback programme that removed immoderate 650,000 battle weapons from nationalist circulation.

It present takes astatine slightest 28 days for a weapon licence exertion to beryllium processed.

Under the law, weapon owners are required to supply impervious of a valid crushed for owning a gun. This could beryllium rank successful a recreational hunting club, oregon being employed arsenic a information guard, for example. Gun owners whitethorn ain aggregate firearms arsenic agelong arsenic they person circumstantial reasons for requiring them.

Owning a weapon for the intent of self-defence is not considered a valid crushed and is expressly prohibited successful Australia.

Before a weapon proprietor tin go afloat licensed to ain oregon usage a gun, helium oregon she indispensable implicit a multi-day information course, walk a written test, and implicit a applicable appraisal to show they tin safely usage and support a gun.

After that, Australia’s National Firearms Register conducts inheritance checks to find whether the applicant has immoderate transgression grounds oregon immoderate court-ordered intelligence wellness orders.

Those who person committed superior crimes linked to intersexual assault, violence, drugs, robbery, “terrorism”, organised crime, amerciable weapons, oregon fraud are barred from holding weapon licences.

How communal are shootings successful Australia?

Mass shootings are precise uncommon successful Australia, which is considered a mostly harmless country.

On the Global Peace Index, which is produced by the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the state ranks 18th among 163 countries.

In the years instantly pursuing the 1996 transition of the National Firearms Agreement, Australia experienced a fistful of shooting incidents, each resulting successful nary much than 3 fatalities.

In October 2002, an planetary pupil believed to beryllium suffering from paranoid delusions changeable and killed 2 different students connected field astatine Monash University successful Melbourne, Victoria. He injured 5 others, including a lecturer. After this, handgun laws became adjacent stricter.

In caller years, however, determination has been a emergence successful the fig of guns being sold. It is unclear wherefore this is, but immoderate reports nexus it to expanding request for hunting sports.

But the wide shooting astatine Bondi Beach comes conscionable 2 months aft a 60-year-old antheral successful the Sydney suburb of Croydon Park changeable up to 50 bullets from his model astatine cars successful a engaged street, wounding 1 idiosyncratic critically, according to police. Fourteen others were treated astatine the country for daze oregon insignificant injuries, including from solid from shattered car windows, exigency services said.

The fishy successful that lawsuit was arrested aft constabulary stormed his apartment. However, constabulary said helium has nary links to organised transgression oregon “terror” organisations and nary past of intelligence sick health. They person not established a wide motive for the shooting.

How person the Australian authorities responded to the Bondi Beach shooting?

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said connected Monday that helium volition sermon introducing adjacent stronger weapon power laws with the National Cabinet.

Albanese told a quality league that the Australian authorities “is prepared to instrumentality immoderate enactment is necessary” and “included successful that is the request for tougher weapon laws”.

He added that this could mean restrictions connected the fig of firearms each idiosyncratic is allowed to ain oregon beryllium licensed to use, on with much regular reviews of their licences. The authorities successful Australia bash transportation retired firearms licence checks currently, but successful astir states and territories, these are comparatively infrequent unless triggered by a circumstantial incidental oregon raised concern.

“Licences should not beryllium successful perpetuity, and checks, of course, making definite that those checks and balances are successful spot arsenic well,” Albanese said.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told a quality league connected Monday: “It does necessitate legislation. It means introducing a measure to Parliament, making it much hard to get these horrifying weapons that person nary applicable usage successful our community.”

How did the Bondi shooting hap contempt Australia’s strict weapon laws?

“It is precise tenable to inquire however different massacre has happened successful Australia, fixed we person highly strict weapon laws,” Samara McPhedran, a main probe chap astatine Griffith University successful South East Queensland, Australia, told Al Jazeera.

McPhedran, whose probe expertise includes weapon violence, said that it is excessively aboriginal to cognize whether determination were immoderate failures successful the licensing process.

“This is surely thing that constabulary volition look astatine arsenic portion of their investigation, and it is important to stitchery each the facts earlier rushing to conclusions. It is important that we cognize the nonstop circumstances that led up to this event, if we are to place things that whitethorn person gone incorrect and ways to hole those.”

McPhedran said obtaining a weapon licence successful immoderate authorities oregon territory in Australia is not a speedy and elemental process, and “obtaining a weapon licence is taxable to an extended scope of controls”.

She added: “Questions are being asked astir the fig of firearms – six – that were legally registered to 1 of the shooters. This fig is thing unusual. Most licence holders ain aggregate antithetic types of firearms, for antithetic purposes, for example, hunting antithetic types of animals oregon shooting successful antithetic types of competitions.”

What is the solution?

“Although it whitethorn look counterintuitive, the fig of firearms, what benignant they were, and whether the perpetrators were licensed, are not the existent issue,” McPhedran said.

In the past of wide shootings successful Australia some anterior to and aft the 1996 Port Arthur shooting, she said, immoderate perpetrators held licences, and immoderate did not. Some perpetrators utilized semiautomatic firearms; immoderate did not. Most utilized 1 oregon 2 firearms.

“However, from 1996 onwards, our absorption to firearm unit has ever been the same: swift governmental announcements of bans, buybacks, much laws. We person done this clip and clip and clip again, and it is precise wide that this attack does not enactment to forestall violence,” McPhedran said.

She added, “We tin support doing much of the aforesaid and anticipation for a antithetic result. Or we tin effort a antithetic approach.”

McPhedran said that for years, politicians person “fostered part and hostility betwixt Australians” based connected religious, racial, ethnic, taste and different individuality divisions to triumph votes, causing lasting harm to communities done accrued intolerance and prejudice.

In caller years, successive governments successful Australia person clamped down hard connected immigration, with galore migrants from immoderate countries held for months connected extremity successful offshore detention centres connected islands specified arsenic Nauru and Manus. This has sparked concerns from quality rights activists.

In January 2025, the United Nations Human Rights Committee said the Australian authorities had violated a quality rights pact by detaining a radical of asylum seekers, galore of them minors connected Nauru, contempt them being granted exile status.

“If we are superior astir preventing aboriginal unit – whether with a firearm oregon immoderate different method – we indispensable alteration however we prosecute successful nationalist debate, halt the short-term governmental gameplaying, and heal the divisions successful our community,” McPhedran said.