Australian PM announces national gun buyback following Bondi Beach shooting

CANBERRA - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday announced that a national firearm buyback scheme will be established to reduce the number of guns in the community following the Bondi Beach shooting.

Albanese said at a press conference in Canberra that the federal government will establish a national buyback to purchase and destroy surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms.

The scheme will mimic a buyback that was established in response to the fatal shooting of 35 people at Port Arthur in the island state of Tasmania in 1996.

The fatal shooting of 15 people at Bondi Beach on Sunday night was Australia's most deadly mass shooting since the 1996 attack, which prompted a major overhaul of the country's gun laws.

Albanese said on Friday that there are currently over 4 million firearms in Australia, more than there were at the time of the Port Arthur massacre.

Australia's states and territories will be responsible for collection, processing and payments under the buyback, and the Australian Federal Police will be responsible for destroying the surrendered firearms.

Albanese said he expects hundreds of thousands of firearms will be collected and destroyed.