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A man is accused of shooting and killing 15 people in Sydney bondi beach A state government leader said Tuesday he faced long delays in obtaining a gun license because of a bureaucratic mishap over an anti-Semitic attack, not because he had raised suspicions.
Sajid Akram, who was killed by police during the attack, and his 24-year-old son Navid Akram are accused of attacking hundreds of people jews Celebrating Hanukkah on December 14, Australia’s worst mass shooting since 1996.
Questions have been raised over how the 50-year-old father came into legal possession of six rifles and a shotgun.
new South Wales Premier Chris Minns confirmed on Tuesday that the father had applied for a state license to possess a firearm in 2000, three years before he was granted one. This process generally takes six to 10 weeks.
“The latest information we have is that there was a real glitch with respect to bureaucracy when it came to gun licenses and delays related to that – no particular threats,” Minns told reporters.
Reporters asked Minns on Monday why he was allowed to keep guns when his father shared guns. sydney Home with Navid Akram, who was investigated by spy agency Australian Security Intelligence Organization in 2019 over his extremist links.
Minns said, “I don’t know. I can do anything for a week, a month, two years to make sure this doesn’t happen. But we need to make sure we take steps so this doesn’t happen again.”
A sweeping and powerful form of public inquiry known as a royal commission will investigate the circumstances surrounding the massacre and the rise in anti-Semitism in Australia since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in 2023.
The New South Wales Parliament this week was asked to pass legislation, which Minns said would give the state some of Australia’s strictest gun laws.
Experts say videos of the attack clearly show the gunmen using guns with straight-pull mechanisms, which are capable of firing more rapidly than comparable bolt-action mechanisms.
Under proposed new laws, straight-pull guns will not be available to recreational shooters like Sajid Akram.
The new restrictions would include making Australian citizenship a condition to qualify for a gun licence. This would exclude Sajid Akram, who was an Indian citizen with a permanent resident visa.
Government decisions to deny gun licenses for reasons including suspicions of spy agencies will no longer be able to be appealed under the proposed reforms.
Recreational shooters will be allowed to own a maximum of four guns. Farmers and sports shooters will be allowed up to 10.
There is currently no limit in New South Wales. There are currently 298 guns registered in one person’s name.
Farmer groups have complained that 10 guns will not be enough for some people. The Nationals Party, which represents rural voters, opposed the proposed laws.
“The NSW Nationals parliamentary team will not support a bill that uses gun reforms as a political tool rather than addressing the real issue of anti-Semitism,” a statement from the party said.
Police alleged in court documents that Akram adhered to “religiously inspired ideology associated with the Islamic State.”
During the massacre, the police shot Navid Akram in the stomach. He was in Sydney’s Long Bay Correctional Complex on Tuesday after being transferred from a hospital on Monday.
Last week he was charged with 59 crimes, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to the injured survivors and one count of committing a terrorist act.
The last rites of the victims continued on Tuesday. A service was held for 82-year-old Marika Pogany at a Catholic church in Sydney. She was Christian, but her mother was Jewish and she was close to Sydney’s Jewish community.
The health department said 12 people injured in the attack were admitted to hospitals on Tuesday, four of whom were in critical condition.
In 1996 a gunman armed with semiautomatic rifles killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, prompting Australia to undertake major national gun reforms that drastically reduced the number of rapid-fire weapons in the community.