Canberra to join Australia gun buyback after Bondi attack
Australia's capital will join a gun buyback as part of a response to a shooting spree that killed 15 at a Jewish festival in Sydney, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Canberra will join Australia's gun buyback program following a deadly shooting spree in Sydney that claimed 15 lives, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced. The centre-left government had previously introduced legislation in January to tighten gun controls, including licensing and hate speech crackdowns, in response to the attack.
The gun buyback is set to launch on November 2 in the state of New South Wales, the country's most populous. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which houses the national capital Canberra, has also agreed to participate in the scheme, aiming to prevent another antisemitic terrorist incident like the Bondi Beach attack. The ACT currently has 23,000 guns and over 7,000 firearms license holders.
Prime Minister Albanese thanked the ACT Government for their partnership in removing guns from streets to protect Australians better. The attackers, a father and son allegedly inspired by Islamic State, utilized legally obtained powerful firearms. One suspect remains uncharged. Australia currently possesses a record 4.1 million firearms, with the government's largest buyback occurring since a 1996 Port Arthur massacre that killed 35 people.
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