Inquiry into antisemitic attack that left 15 dead in Sydney recommends gun reform

A government inquiry into a rise in antisemitism across Australia before a mass shooting killed 15 people at a Hannukah celebration late last year recommended on Thursday that authorities prioritize gun reformThe government established the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion after father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram allegedly opened fire with legallyowned guns at the celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14 2025Authorities say their attack was inspired by the Islamic State groupRoyal Commissioner Virginia Bell made 14 recommendations on Thursday in her first interim report five of which were not made public because they were classified as confidential for national security reasonsThe report also noted there had been a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in Australia since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7 2023The United States and Israels attack on Iran in February was likely to have increased the risk of attacks directed at the Australian Jewish community it saidReport proposes new limits on gun ownership and followup on gun licensesThe recommendations included that the federal and state governments prioritise implementing nationally consistent gun laws and a gun buybackSajid Naveed was shot dead by police at the crime scene He was a licensed shooter who legally owned the guns usedUnder new restrictions proposed by the federal government the Indianborn Australian permanent resident would have been banned from holding a gun license because he was not an Australian citizenHis son was wounded but survived Naveed Akram has been charged with committing a terrorist act 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of attempted murder He has entered no pleasThe government has also proposed limiting the number of guns someone can own to as few as four and implementing periodic reviews of existing gun licensesThe new restrictions would be accompanied with a gun buyback scheme to compensate gun owners who must hand in weapons The government has proposed sharing the cost of the buyback with the six states and two territories But some states have said they wont payPrime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government had agreed to implement all the recommendations that were relevant to federal authoritiesAlbanese said he hoped the recommended gun reforms were implementedI certainly hope that that occurs and would continue to engage constructively with state and territory governments to say that this is reform which is necessary Albanese told reportersAlbanese noted that Australia commemorated on Tuesday the 30th anniversary of Australias deadliest mass shooting in modern timesA landmark national firearms agreement virtually banned rapidfire rifles after a gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania state on April 28 1996The nation is safer because of that Albanese saidGovernment moves to increase protection of Jewish sitesAlbanese noted that despite concluding that risks to Australian Jews were rising the report found that no urgent changes were required to keep Australians safeThere has been a rise in antisemitism That is a global phenomenon Albanese saidThat is something that has happened right around the world Governments need to respond to it We are responding to it he addedThe report noted that the government had allocated 102 million Australian dollars USD 73 million to increase security at Jewish sites including synagogues and schoolsThe money is administered by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry the communitys peak organisationThe councils cochief executive Alex Ryvchin said the report was an important part in the process of making Jewish Australians feel safe againWe need to get to a point where Jewish Australians at Hanukkah this year feel safe that we can gather again that we wont be targeted Ryvchin told Australian Broadcasting CorpIts going to be a long process to get us to that point Theres a deep sense of trauma in the community and a lot of unanswered questions bit this is an important step in the process he addedPublic hearings in the inquiry begin on Monday next weekThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever