Key Points:
- The death toll from the antisemitic terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi beach shooting has tragically risen to 15, with 38 people remaining hospitalized, including a bystander hailed as a hero.
- Jewish Australians assembled to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah were targeted in the attack; one of them was a holocaust survivor who was murdered protecting his wife.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is acting very fast to reform gun laws, such as the introduction of time constraints and tightening of gun licensing reviews, as a direct counter to the fact that the attackers legally owned guns.
The idyllic setting of Sydney’s Bondi Beach was shattered by an act of terror this week, plunging Australia into a state of shock and grief. What began as a joyful Hanukkah celebration quickly devolved into the deadliest mass shooting the nation has seen in decades.
The Bondi Beach Shooting that is proclaimed to be an act of antisemitic terrorism has claimed the lives of atleafst 15 people, with victims ranging from a young child to an elderly Holocaust survivor.
An Intensive Assault against a Community
The attackers opened fire at Jewish Australians present at the beach to celebrate Chanukah by the sea, the first evening of the festival of lights.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese defined the attack as pure evil and a targeted attack on the Jews in Australia, on the first day of Hanukkah. According to Time, he stressed that an assault on Jewish Australians is an assault on all Australians.
One of the victims was a holocaust survivor, and he was said to have died protecting his wife with the bullets.
Some of the wounded include a brave passer-by, a 43-year-old fruit shop owner who was captured on a camera rushing to attack one of the gunmen. This is a civilian hero who was wounded twice by bullets but is in the hospital recovering, reported by The Guardian.
Suspects and a Security Gap
The authorities have named the suspected offenders as a 50-year old father, Sajid Akram, and his 24 year old son, Naveed Akram, of Pakistani origin. The father, Sajid Akram was killed on the spot by policemen, and the son, Naveed Akram is still in a critical although stable state and under police guard in the hospital.
The fact that the older man, Sajid Akram, had an Category AB recreation hunting license to use the long arms, which he was using, has instantly put a spotlight on the proudly-proclaimed gun control regime in Australia. Police established that he had been a firearms club member and owned half a dozen firearms legally.
To add to the security issues, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon acknowledged that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) had priorly looked at the son, Naveed Akram but had determined that there was no likelihood of the son committing violence, reported by CBS News.
This has cast some tough questions on how the person who is known to have been involved in such a disastrous attack could have still been a party in the same. Moreover, they found improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the car of the suspects, which is an indication of pre-meditation.
The Push to Toughen Gun Regulations
In 1996, Australia enacted extensive gun control reform with the purchaseback of more than 650,000 guns after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, and the establishment of a universal registration programme. The action has been attributed to this legislation which has helped to avoid further mass shootings over the decades.
The Bondi Beach Shooting however, has brought out areas of great flaws, especially in regards to the way of attaining the license and its retention. Prime Minister Albanese has responded resolutely and he declared that he will place tougher regulations on the agenda of the National Cabinet today.
The reforms suggested includes a limit to the number of firearms that may be acquired and more frequent inspection of firearms licenses.
Albanese stated that licences should not be held “in perpetuity” because “people’s circumstances can change. People can be radicalised over a period of time.”
He has promised to collaborate with the heads of state and territory to make the national gun laws more effective and to create more uniformity across the lines.
