The Australian government has announced a gun buyback plan following the Bondi Beach attack, its deadliest mass shooting in decades.
The plan is the largest since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, which left 35 dead and prompted Australia to introduce world-leading gun control measures.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens wounded Sunday when two gunmen, allegedly motivated by the “ideology of the Islamic State,” opened fire on a Jewish festival on the country’s most iconic beach.
On Friday, police said a group of men who were arrested in Sydney after traveling from Victoria state had “extremist Islamic ideology.”
Police allege that Sunday’s attack, which they have declared a terrorist incident, was carried out by a father and son duo. Naveed Akram, 24, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act. His father Sajid died during the attack.
The day after the shooting, the national cabinet, which includes representatives of the federal government and leaders from all states and territories, agreed to tighten gun controls.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there are now more than 4 million firearms in Australia, more than at the time of the Port Arthur massacre.
“We know that one of these terrorists had a firearms license and had six guns, despite living in the middle of the Sydney suburbs… There is no reason why someone in that situation would need that many weapons.
“We need to get more guns off our streets.”
Earlier on Friday, a senior New South Wales police officer told national broadcaster ABC that seven men arrested by counter-terrorism police in Sydney on Thursday night could have been on their way to Bondi.
Tactical officers swooped on the group, who had traveled from Victoria and were known to police there, in dramatic scenes in the Liverpool suburb.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said there were “some indications” that Bondi was one of the places they were considering visiting, but “without any specific intention in mind or demonstrated at this time”.
Rarely used national security powers were relied upon to swoop in before their plans were developed.
“We made the decision that we weren’t going to … take any risks in terms of what they might be doing,” he said.
Officers found a knife, but no guns or other weapons, Hudson added.
