Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI:Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on December 15 that he is “ready for the fight” to tighten Australia’s firearms laws after the Bondi beach terror attack, as the gun lobby and the National party push back against changes they claim are attempts to divert attention from radicalisation.
Former Liberal prime minister John Howard, who introduced sweeping gun control measures after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, said he’d support tightening firearms laws and there were too many guns in Australia, but claimed Albanese was focusing on the wrong issue. Howard said the debate over gun laws was “a diversion” and that “the issue here is antisemitism”.
“The failure over the last two years has been that of the federal government, led by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to bring sufficient energy to a broad-based attack on the evil of antisemitism,” he told Sky News. Albanese’s push to tighten gun laws has the backing of Walter Mikac, whose wife and two daughters were among the 35 people killed at Port Arthur. But the president of the Shooters Union warned of a “massive pushback” to proposed changes, claiming licensed firearm owners were treated as a punching bag.
Federal and state leaders agreed at national cabinet to investigate gun law reform including limiting the number and type of weapons able be owned, reviewing licensing including more sharing of criminal intelligence in deciding applications, and limiting licenses to Australian citizens. States and territories have widely varying laws, including how often licenses are renewed, with some still using paper-based systems for licensing. The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said states must “act as one nationally”.