SYDNEY, Australia: Australia’s prime minister proposed tougher gun laws on Monday after gunmen killed 15 people in a mass shooting targeting a Jewish festival at a Sydney beach.
The alleged attackers, a father and son, fired into crowds packing the beach for the start of Hanukkah on Sunday evening.
Police confirmed the 50-year-old father was licensed to hold six firearms, which they believed were used in the shootings.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said stricter gun laws were needed, including a limit on the number of firearms that can be owned by any one person, according to AFP.
“The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws,” he told reporters.
Albanese said he would take the reforms to a National Cabinet meeting with state premiers on Monday afternoon.
“People can be radicalised over a period of time. Licences should not be in perpetuity,” he said.
Mass shootings have been rare in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 people in the tourist town of Port Arthur in 1996.
The so-called “Port Arthur massacre” led to sweeping reforms that were long seen as a gold standard worldwide.
These included a gun buyback scheme, a national firearms register and a crackdown on the ownership of semi-automatic weapons.
Albanese said it was time to consider whether the country’s gun laws needed to be tightened up again.
“I’m certainly up for it.”
