Three decades ago, almost 650,000 firearms − about one-third of all privately owned guns in Australia – were surrendered, loaded intro trucks and destroyed. In exchange for these firearms, part of a mandatory gun buyback program, the government paid out $200 million. Gun-related murder and suicide rates plummeted.

At least 15 people were killed at a Jewish gathering on Australia's Bondi Beach, according to Australian government officials and police. One of two gunmen was also dead.

SYDNEY (AP) — A father and son are suspected by officials to have killed 15 people on a popular Australian beach, shocking a country where gun violence is rare. The government on Monday, a day after the shootings, proposed tougher new gun laws amid criticism that officials didn’t take seriously enough a string of antisemitic attacks.

Canberra said it had "credible intelligence" Iran likely directed others. The Australian debate is like a mirror of the American debate. Opposition figures had been warning for months that antisemitism was intensifying.

The deadly terror attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney comes amid a significant spike in antisemitic rhetoric and attacks in Australia.

Among the new measures proposed would be a limit on the number of guns someone can own and a review of licenses held over time.

Sunday's terrorist attack on Jewish Australians in Sydney highlights the community's fears amid rising antisemitism and government inaction since Oct.7, 2023.

The Bondi Beach attack is the latest and most deadly in a string of antisemitic incidents that have blighted Australia