Australian Prime Minister announces gun buyback scheme

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced that the government will fund a national gun buyback scheme, labeling it the largest such measure since John Howard established a similar plan in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre.

The buyback initiative would be consistent with the 1996 approach, Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Friday, and target surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms. Strengthening gun laws was the government’s first major commitment in the immediate aftermath of the deadly terror attack on Sydney’s Jewish community, in which 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed.

Labor will first have to pass legislation to provide funding for the scheme, with the Coalition yet to formally commit its support for gun law reform even as it calls for parliament to be recalled next week.