SYDNEY: The number of firearms in Australia reached an all-time high of more than 4 million in 2025, the center-left government reported ​on Sunday, a day after saying it would introduce a gun reform bill in parliament in response to the Bondi massacre.
There were a record 4,113,735 guns in Australia last year, with 1,158,654 of those in the most populous state of New South Wales where ‌the Bondi attack ‌took place, the government ‌said, citing ⁠Department ​of ‌Home Affairs data.
The Labor government on Saturday said parliament, recalled from its summer break, would debate bills this week to authorize a gun buyback and lower the bar for hate speech prosecutions — measures drafted in the wake of the December ⁠14 shooting that killed 15 at a Hanukkah celebration.
Home Affairs ‌Minister Tony Burke said there ‍were now more guns ‍in Australia than at the time of ‍a 1996 shooting that killed 35 and prompted a gun buyback scheme by the conservative government of former Prime Minister John Howard.
“The deadly antisemitic terrorist attack ​at Bondi Beach is a national tragedy which can never be allowed to ⁠happen again,” Burke said, adding that the government was committed to “getting dangerous guns off our streets.”
New South Wales, responding to the Bondi massacre, passed state laws in December banning private individuals from owning more than four firearms, with exemptions for farmers, who can have up to 10.
The shooting in Bondi has also sparked calls for efforts to tackle antisemitism in Australia. Police say the ‌alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.