Australian govt agrees to strengthen gun laws after Sydney mass shooting

Sydney, Dec 15 Australia's leaders at a snap National Cabinet meeting on Monday agreed to take decisive action to strengthen gun laws following a fatal mass shooting Sunday night at Sydney's Bondi Beach.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that he and the leaders of Australia's states and territories agreed to take "strong, decisive and focused action" on gun law reform at the emergency meeting convened in response to the shooting.

He said that the state and territory leaders have commissioned their respective police ministers and attorneys-general to develop options on strengthening gun laws, including limiting the number of firearms allowed to be held by one individual and limiting firearms licenses to Australian citizens.

Additionally, Albanese said that the National Firearms Agreement that was established after 35 people were fatally shot at Port Arthur in the island state of Tasmania in 1996 will be renegotiated to ensure it remains "as robust as possible" in the changing security environment, Xinhua news agency reported.

Authorities have confirmed the deaths of 16 people following the shooting that targetted an event celebrating the first day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah on Sunday evening, making it Australia's most deadly mass shooting since the Port Arthur massacre.

Police said earlier on Monday that the deceased range in age from 10 to 87 years old and include one of the two shooters.

The attackers have been identified as Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid Akram, 50. Sajid Akram was shot dead in an exchange of gunfire with police at the scene, while his son is currently in hospital under police guard.

Albanese confirmed at a press conference that Naveed Akram had been noticed by the intelligence agency in 2019 for "associations that he had," and had been investigated for six months, without revealing further details.

Both Naveed and his father had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported, citing counter-terrorism officers. An IS flag was found in their car at Bondi Beach.

Mal Lanyon, police force commissioner of the state of New South Wales (NSW), where Sydney is located, confirmed that the 50-year-old Sajid Akram had been a licensed gun holder for the past 10 years, with no prior security incidents. "He has six firearms licensed to him. We are satisfied that we have six firearms from the scene esterday," he said.

On Monday morning, officers from NSW Police and the Australian Federal Police were conducting a major operation at Akram's residence in Sydney's southwest suburbs, as well as at a short-term rental in the city's west where the two men had been staying.

The investigation into the motives behind the attack is still ongoing, said Lanyon.

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