It was and still is Australia's deadliest mass shooting
In 1996, a lone gunman opened fire in Port Arthur in the southern island state of Tasmania, killing 35 people
The massacre shocked the nation, and under then-Prime Minister John Howard, the government imposed sweeping reforms on gun laws
This legislation has long been seen as a gold standard worldwide. But in the wake of the Bondi Beach shooting
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it could be reworked amid what he called the need for decisive action on gun law reform
Quite clearly the Howard government's gun laws have made an enormous difference in Australia
and are a proud moment of reform, quite rightly, achieved across the parliament
with bipartisan support. If we need to toughen these up, if there's anything we can do, I'm certainly up for it
In 1996 the National Firearms Agreement essentially banned semi weapons from civilian use In a government buyback scheme residents were paid the market value for prohibited guns during a 12 amnesty
and a shooter licensing scheme introduced new restrictions on who could buy a gun and what kind
Limits were also put on the amount of ammunition a person could buy in a certain time period
In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, gun ownership in Australia dropped
though research published by the Australia Institute this year shows that in 2024 there were more than 4 million guns owned by civilians nationwide
That's a 25% increase compared to 1996, but still less than the population growth over the same period, which was 48%
Some say firearm restrictions don't go far enough. For example, different states have different laws on gun ownership
all of which are inconsistently regulated, and there's also concern about the rise of 3D-printed guns
Authorities are now expected to look into barring non-nationals from obtaining firearm licenses
and limits on how many weapons a person can own