The variety of firearms in Australia reached an all-time excessive of greater than 4 million in 2025, the center-left authorities reported on Sunday, a day after saying it will introduce a gun reform invoice in parliament in response to the Bondi bloodbath.
There have been a document 4,113,735 weapons in Australia final yr, with 1,158,654 of these in essentially the most populous state of New South Wales the place the Bondi assault happened, the federal government stated, citing Division of Residence Affairs knowledge.
The Labor authorities on Saturday stated parliament, recalled from its summer season break, would debate payments this week to authorize a gun buyback and decrease the bar for hate speech prosecutions — measures drafted within the wake of the December 14 capturing that killed 15 at a Hanukkah celebration.
Residence Affairs Minister Tony Burke stated there have been now extra weapons in Australia than on the time of a 1996 capturing that killed 35 and prompted a gun buyback scheme by the conservative authorities of former Prime Minister John Howard.
“The lethal antisemitic terrorist assault at Bondi Seashore is a nationwide tragedy which might by no means be allowed to occur once more,” Burke stated, including that the authorities was dedicated to “getting harmful weapons off our streets”.
New South Wales, responding to the Bondi bloodbath, handed state legal guidelines in December banning non-public people from proudly owning greater than 4 firearms, with exemptions for farmers, who can have as much as 10.
The capturing in Bondi has additionally sparked requires efforts to deal with antisemitism in Australia. Police say the alleged gunmen have been impressed by the Islamic State militant group.
