Australia announces gun buyback as swimmers mourn Bondi shooting victims
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Fifteen victims were killed after alleged father-and-son gunmen opened fire at people celebrating Hanukkah on Dec 14.
PHOTO: AFP
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SYDNEY – Australia will use a sweeping buyback scheme to “get guns off our streets”, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Dec 19 as hundreds plunged into the ocean to honour Bondi Beach shooting victims.
The alleged gunmen – Sajid Akram and his son Naveed – are accused of opening fire on a Jewish festival
Mr Albanese vowed to toughen laws that allowed 50-year-old Sajid to own six high-powered rifles.
“There is no reason someone living in the suburbs of Sydney needed this many guns,” he said.
Australia would pay gun owners to surrender “surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms”.
It would be the largest gun buyback since 1996, when Australia cracked down on firearms in the wake of a shooting that killed 35 people at Port Arthur.
Australia will remember those slain at Bondi with a national day of reflection, said Mr Albanese.
He urged Australians to light candles at 6.47pm local time on Dec 21 – “exactly one week since the attack unfolded”.
Sydney remains on high alert almost a week on from the shootings.
Armed police released seven men from custody on Dec 18, a day after detaining them on a tip they may have been plotting a “violent act”
Police said there was no established link with the alleged Bondi gunmen and “no immediate safety risk to the community”.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people returned to the ocean off Bondi Beach on Dec 19 in another gesture to honour the dead.
Swimmers and surfers paddled into a circle as they bobbed in the gentle morning swell, splashing water and roaring with emotion.
“They slaughtered innocent victims and today, I’m swimming out there and being part of my community again to bring back the light,” said security consultant Jason Carr.
“We’re still burying bodies. But I just felt it was important,” the 53-year-old said.
“I’m not going to let someone so evil, someone so dark, stop me from doing what I do and what I enjoy doing.”
Ms Carole Schlessinger, 58, chief executive of a children’s charity, said there was a “beautiful energy” at the ocean gathering.
“To be together is such an important way of trying to deal with what’s going on,” she said. “It was really lovely to be part of it. I am feeling very numb. I’m feeling super angry. I’m feeling furious.”
Heroes
Meanwhile, a married couple who were shot and killed as they tried to stop the gunmen were laid to rest at a Jewish funeral home.
Bondi locals Boris, 69, and Sofia Gurman, 61, were among the first killed as they tried to wrestle Sajid to the ground.
“The final moments of their lives they faced with courage, selflessness and love,” Rabbi Yehoram Ulman told mourners. “They were, in every sense of the word, heroes.”
Sajid was killed at the scene exchanging gunfire with police but his 24-year-old son Naveed survived.
The surviving suspect, an unemployed bricklayer, has been charged with 15 counts of murder
The authorities believe the pair drew inspiration from the Islamic State group.
Australian police are investigating whether they met Islamist extremists during a visit to the Philippines weeks before the shooting. AFP
