Australia to tighten gun controls after Bondi attack
Australia’s leaders are planning to strengthen the country’s already strict gun laws following a deadly mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, 2025, which killed 15 people during a Hanukkah event.
Two gunmen, identified as Sajid Akram and his son Naveed, targeted Jewish attendees at Bondi Beach, marking Australia’s deadliest terror attack in decades and the worst mass shooting since 1996. The attackers, who held licensed firearms, were killed at the scene; police recovered six weapons and are investigating possible overseas links, including a trip to the Philippines.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened the National Cabinet, which agreed on immediate changes like limiting gun licenses to Australian citizens only, capping the number of firearms per owner, and introducing periodic license reviews to account for radicalization risks. Licenses would no longer be indefinite, with criminal intelligence used in approvals.
Albanese announced a major gun buyback program targeting surplus, outlawed, and illegal firearms—the largest since the 1996 Port Arthur reforms that banned assault weapons and removed about one million guns from circulation. This echoes past successes but addresses modern issues like 3D-printed guns and evolving threats.
