World

Australia's Capital to Implement Gun Buyback Following Bondi Beach Shooting

The Australian Capital Territory will participate in a gun buyback program in response to a recent shooting spree at a Jewish festival in Sydney, as announced by Prime Minister Albanese.

22 August 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

AI-generatedWritten by an AI system, editorially responsible — how we work

Archive photo: Australia's Capital to Implement Gun Buyback Following Bondi Beach Shooting — Archive photoPhoto: woody1778a · Flickr · BY-SA

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is set to join a gun buyback program following a shooting incident at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach that resulted in 15 fatalities. This initiative was confirmed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who highlighted the seriousness of the event necessitating this action.

According to Albanese, the ACT is home to approximately 23,000 firearms, alongside more than 7,000 registered firearms licence holders. The move to initiate a gun buyback aims to enhance public safety and reduce the number of weapons in circulation.

The announcement aligns with similar measures taken by New South Wales (NSW), where the deadly attack occurred. Following the incident, the NSW government has also committed to implementing stricter firearm regulations and expanding gun buyback initiatives as part of a broader legislative response.

The gun buyback program is part of a policy enacted earlier in January by Albanese’s centre-left government, which includes tighter checks on firearm licences and efforts to counteract hate crimes in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach attack.

The recent events have reignited discussions about gun control measures in Australia, with both the ACT and NSW moving to strengthen laws regarding firearm ownership in the interest of community safety.

This item was written by an AI system on the basis of the headlines and short teasers of the independently operating newsrooms named below. We disclose this under Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act). Before publication we check origin and verifiability — anything that appears in only one place is not published — as well as language, substance and legally sensitive content. No separate substantive review of each individual item by a natural person takes place; we therefore do not rely on the exemption in Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of the AI Act. Editorial responsibility for this publication rests with the person named in the imprint (§ 18 Abs. 2 MStV). Please report errors to [email protected] — we will correct or remove the item. Full reports are available from the sources listed.