BREAKING: Australia Launches MASSIVE Gun Buyback Scheme to Take Back Deadly Firearms from Streets After Bondi Terror Attack
- Government to fund national buyback scheme to reimburse gun owners who hand in surplus, newly banned or illegal firearms
- Proposal comes in response to deadly Bondi terror attack that left 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl, dead
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says “we need to get more guns off our streets” after it was revealed one of the terrorists held a firearm licence and had six guns
In a dramatic move to curb gun violence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has unveiled a national gun buyback scheme to take back deadly firearms from Australian streets. The proposal comes just a week after the devastating Bondi terror attack that left 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl, dead.
The government’s plan, labelled the largest of its kind since John Howard’s 1996 initiative, will target surplus, newly banned, and illegal firearms. “The terrible events at Bondi show we need to get more guns off our streets,” Mr Albanese said, highlighting that one of the terrorists held a firearm licence and had six guns, despite living in the middle of Sydney’s suburbs.
The buyback scheme will be funded on a 50:50 basis with the states and territories, with further details to be worked out next week. National cabinet, comprising the prime minister and state and territory leaders, has unanimously agreed to look at ways to bolster gun laws.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the buyback scheme “makes everything else possible”, flagging that if limits were imposed on the number of guns permitted per person, Australians would be forced to forfeit their surplus weapons. “In 1996, the then-Howard government did the right thing — intervened to have a scheme which Australians have been rightly proud of. We need to go further,” Mr Albanese said.
However, the proposal has sparked resistance from within the Labor party, with Hunter MP and Olympic shooter Dan Repacholi taking to Instagram to declare he does not support changes “that unfairly target responsible, law-abiding firearms owners”.
The government’s reforms to gun laws are expected to include accelerating the launch of a national firearms register, limiting the number of guns a single person can own, making Australian citizenship a condition of holding a gun licence, and further restricting the types of weapons that are legal.
Former prime minister John Howard, whose gun reforms fundamentally reshaped Australia, has expressed support for further tightening, but warned that it cannot be made into a distraction or an “excuse” not to tackle antisemitism.
The announcement comes as the nation prepares to honour the victims of the Bondi attack with a day of reflection on Sunday, a week to the day after the tragedy occurred. Flags on all New South Wales and Australian government buildings will be flown at half-mast, and Australians are urged to observe a minute’s silence.