- The community gathers at the lifeguard, paddles out to honor 15 killed.
- Police are detaining seven men in a separate incident.
- Shooting appears to be inspired by Daesh: officials.
SYDNEY: Australia will launch a national gun buyback scheme after the mass shooting in Sydney, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday, as hundreds of surfers and swimmers paddled out at Bondi Beach to honor the victims.
The buyback would be similar to gun reforms introduced shortly after the 1996 massacre in Tasmania’s Port Arthur, after a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompting authorities to implement some of the world’s toughest gun laws.
“Australia’s gun laws were most recently significantly reformed in the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy. The horrific events in Bondi show that we need to get more guns off our streets,” Albanese told a media briefing.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured in Bondi on Sunday after two gunmen opened fire on people celebrating Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.
A 50-year-old gunman who was killed at the scene had a gun license and had six guns registered, prompting criticism that Australia’s gun laws needed an overhaul.
An estimated four million firearms are currently in the country, Albanese said. The government will target surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms and the cost will be shared between the federal and state governments, he said.
After the Port Arthur massacre, Australia announced a gun buyback plan and secured the surrender of around 640,000 banned firearms nationwide. The total cost of compensating the owners was about A$304 million ($201 million).
Neighboring New Zealand announced sweeping gun reforms, including gun buyback schemes, following the 2019 Christchurch terror attack.
Seven men detained
Albanese, under pressure from critics who say his centre-left government has not done enough to curb a rise in anti-Semitism since the start of the Gaza war, has said the government will also strengthen hate laws.
The government said it has consistently condemned anti-Semitism over the past two years and passed legislation to criminalize hate speech. It expelled the Iranian ambassador after accusing Tehran of directing two anti-Semitic arson attacks.
Authorities have said Sunday’s shooting appears to have been inspired by Daesh, and police have increased patrols and policing in an attempt to prevent further violence.
Late on Thursday, police said they had intercepted two cars and detained seven men in Sydney’s south-west after receiving information that “a violent act may be being planned.”
New South Wales State Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the men could be released quickly after assessing the specific threat posed by them was unknown and officers would continue to monitor them.
Lanyon said police were not prepared to take any risks after suspecting the group planned to visit Bondi.
There was no “confirmed link” between the detained men and the two Bondi gunmen, but they likely had similar ideologies, he added.
Daesh has called the Bondi mass shooting a “source of pride”, in an article published on the group’s Telegram channel, although it did not explicitly claim responsibility.
Police and additional security have been deployed at Sydney’s Lakemba mosque, one of the largest in Australia, ahead of Friday prayers, Australian media reported.
Australia’s Jewish community gathered at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Friday for prayers as hundreds of swimmers and surfers formed a huge circle in the water off the beach to honor the victims.
Community leaders described the support as deeply moving amid heightened fears of a rise in anti-Semitic incidents.
“Over the last two years there have been a lot of people questioning whether we are still welcome here in Australia because we saw people calling for our death in the streets on a weekly basis,” said Rabbi Yosef Eichenblatt of Sydney’s Central Synagogue. ABC Newsafter participating in the paddle-out event.
“So it’s been so heartwarming to see the outpouring of love and support. It’s really so therapeutic.”
