CANBERRA, Dec 19 (NNN-AAP) – Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, today, announced that, a national firearm buyback scheme will be established, to reduce the number of guns in the community, following the Bondi Beach shooting.
Albanese said at a press conference in Canberra that, the federal government will establish a national buyback, to purchase and destroy surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms.
The scheme will mimic a buyback that was established in response to the fatal shooting of 35 people at Port Arthur, in the island state of Tasmania in 1996.
The fatal shooting of 15 people at Bondi Beach on Sunday night was Australia’s most deadly mass shooting since the 1996 attack, which prompted a major overhaul of the country’s gun laws.
Albanese said today that, there are currently over four million firearms in Australia, more than there were at the time of the Port Arthur massacre.
Australia’s states and territories will be responsible for collection, processing and payments under the buyback, and the Australian Federal Police will be responsible for destroying the surrendered firearms.
Albanese said, he expects hundreds of thousands of firearms will be collected and destroyed.– NNN-AAP