Australia set for major overhaul of gun laws

Australia is preparing for its biggest overhaul of gun laws in decades after a terrorist shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach killed 16 people and injured more than 40, the country's deadliest mass shooting in nearly 30 years.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday the attack would be remembered as a "dark day in Australia's history", when two gunmen — one of whom was killed — opened fire at a public event marking the first night of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

Flags flew at half-mast nationwide on Monday as Albanese said "strong, decisive and focused action was needed on gun law reform as an immediate action".

Australia's first ministers have agreed to strengthen gun laws nationwide, tasking police ministers and attorneys-general with developing reform options.

The measures would include limits on the number of firearms to be held by any individual and the additional use of criminal intelligence in licensing, which can be used in administrative licensing policies, Albanese's office said in a statement.

As an immediate priority, the government will begin work on potential further customs restrictions on firearms and related imports, including 3D-printed weapons and high-capacity equipment, the statement said.

Australia established a National Firearms Register after the Port Arthur massacre on April 28, 1996, in which 35 people were killed in a mass shooting at the historical tourist site in southeast Tasmania.

However, analysts said the measures failed to prevent similar incidents. In the Sydney shooting, police located and seized six guns and three improvised explosive devices at the scene and during searches of two residences, said New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon.

Gunman Sajid Akram, 50, who held six firearms, and his son Naveed Akram carried out the attack on a footbridge at Bondi Beach on Sunday, targeting beachgoers celebrating the first day of Hanukkah.

Sajid Akram was shot dead at the scene, while Naveed Akram remained in coma in a hospital after being shot. The latter was examined by the Australian Security Intelligence Organization in 2019 over close ties to an Islamic State-linked terrorism cell in Sydney, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The attack, classified as terrorism, targeted the Jewish community, with the victims aged between 10 and 87, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said on Monday.

Lanyon said 328 officers had been deployed and that police would continue working closely with the Jewish community to prevent and respond to any further threats.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Monday that Foreign Minister Wang Yi had sent a message of condolences to his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong.