Australian parliament passes stricter gun control, hate crime laws

Australian Parliament on Tuesday passed tougher gun control and hate crime laws in response to last month's Bondi Beach shooting during a Jewish festival, reported Xinhua.

The gun control laws, which establish a national firearm buyback scheme and tighten import controls, passed both houses with support from the Greens party.

The legislation will also strengthen background checks for gun license holders and applicants, improve information sharing between security agencies, restrict gun imports to Australian citizens only, and impose tighter limits on the types of firearms that can be imported.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged decisive action on strengthening gun laws after 15 people were fatally shot in a terrorist attack that targeted a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14. Authorities said in the wake of the attack that one of the two gunmen had a firearms license and legally owned six guns.

The hate crime laws will grant powers to designate organizations as "hate groups," allow a minister to cancel or refuse visas for individuals who spread hateful or extremist views, and create stronger offenses for advocating violence or preaching hate to children.

Australian neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network disbanded last week in response to the new hate speech laws.