Australia had the ‘gold standard’ on gun control. The Bondi beach terror attack may force it to confront its surging number of weapons | Bondi beach terror attack

For almost three decades, Australia’s gun laws have been considered some of the strictest and most effective in the world.

After the horror of the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania in 1996, which killed 35 people, Australia’s then-conservative government looked to the gun lobby to impose restrictions that led to a dramatic decline in gun numbers.

In a nearly unprecedented display of national cooperation, the federal government worked with states to restrict semiautomatic weapons, tighten licensing requirements and impose a new requirement for gun owners to show a “bona fide reason” for owning them.

Australians are rightly proud of these reforms; They are confident that society is relatively safe from gun violence and that America is free from the reality of frequent mass shootings.

Sunday’s Bondi attack will shake that trust and could force the country to grapple with gun laws again.

Police confirmed Monday morning that one of the alleged attackers was a registered gun owner and was in possession of six legally obtained firearms.

There is growing concern among gun control advocates that access to firearms remains too easy, despite the country’s “gold standard” framework.

Gun safety experts warn against complacency, pointing to rising gun numbers and weaknesses in state and territory laws that can easily be exploited or legal guns falling into the hands of criminals.

At the same time, new threats such as 3D printed guns and the growing sovereign citizen movement present new challenges to law enforcement when it comes to gun control.

While the well-intentioned reforms of 1996 had enormous public and political support, in reality there are elements of the so-called national firearms agreement that have not yet been fully implemented.

For example, a promised national register is still not a reality, and instead of nationally harmonized laws Australians have different laws in different states, all inconsistently regulated.

The national amnesty immediately following the Port Arthur massacre saw the number of firearms in society fall sharply, but there are now more than 4 million guns in Australia; This number is almost double the number recorded in 2001.

Yes, the population increased at the same time, but now the number of guns per capita in society is higher than after Port Arthur; At least 2,000 new firearms enter the community legally every week.

It’s these figures that have led the gun lobby to boast that it has “won” the fight against Australia’s long-standing crackdown, and are calling on gun owners to become more politically active to further strengthen their industry.

The lobby is particularly alarmed by new laws that came into force in Western Australia last year, which limit the number of guns an individual license holder can own and tighten mental health checks for license holders, among other measures.

Police in Western Australia said the new laws set a new, higher bar for community safety, claiming the new laws should be a “beacon” for other states to follow.