Over the weekend, Australia experienced its first mass shooting since 1996. Meanwhile, the United States just recorded its 392nd mass shooting of the year.
The difference in responses between the two nations has been stark: one has immediately moved to further tighten regulation, and the other has continued to defend gun rights.
It’s not hard to guess which is which.
Highlights
- Australia faced its first mass shooting since 1996 with 15 dead and many injured in a terrorist attack at a Sydney Hanukkah event.
- Australia swiftly moved to tighten gun laws, considering citizenship requirements and limits on gun ownership after the Bondi Beach attack.
- The U.S. recorded its 392nd mass shooting in 2025, with little federal action due to Second Amendment protections and court rulings.
- The Brown University shooting left 2 dead and 9 injured, triggering a campus lockdown and a large ongoing manhunt for the suspect.
The Bondi Beach terrorist attack
At 6:40 p.m. local time on Sunday, December 14, two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach in Sydney.
Australia’s federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said on Tuesday that the incident was “a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State.”
It left 15 victims dead, with the youngest a 10-year–old child and the oldest an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.
Two gunmen opened fire at Bondi Beach. Image credits: Bo Wenwen/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
Of the 41 people injured, six remain in critical condition, while 27 are listed as serious but stable.
Two police officers who were injured also remain in serious but stable condition.
During the incident, one alleged shooter, a 50-year-old man identified as Sajid Akram, was shot by police and died at the scene.
The other alleged shooter, his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, suffered critical injuries and was taken to the hospital under police guard. He awoke from a coma on Tuesday, police said.
Investigators are now probing a trip the father and son took to the Philippines last month, where they stayed from November 1 to November 28.
The Philippines has previously been home to militant groups that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, particularly in the country’s southern region.
The Jewish community is in mourning. Image credits: Audrey Richardson/Getty Images
Some of these groups were linked to the ISIS-affiliated network known as Islamic State East Asia.
Authorities are understood to be examining whether the trip involved contact with individuals connected to regional Islamist networks and extremist groups.
Australia’s last mass shooting occurred in April 1996, when a lone gunman, Martin Bryant, killed 35 people and wounded 23 others at the Port Arthur historic site in Tasmania.
The attack remains the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history.
In response, the government, led by then Prime Minister John Howard, moved swiftly to introduce sweeping national gun law reforms, including a ban on semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, a mandatory buyback scheme, and stricter licensing requirements.
No mass shooting of comparable scale has occurred in Australia since.
Albanese moves to tighten gun laws
The day after the shooting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that tougher gun laws would be considered at Monday’s snap National Cabinet meeting.
Sajid Akram legally owned the firearms used in the attack, holding a valid New South Wales firearms license and possessing at least six registered guns.
After the meeting, Albanese announced that the National Cabinet had agreed to pursue tougher national gun laws.
Anthony Albanese is moving to tighten gun laws. Image credits: Anthony Albanese
Leaders from the federal and state governments pledged to strengthen firearms restrictions, including exploring limits on the number of guns a person can own, requiring Australian citizenship for firearm licenses, and accelerating the establishment of a national firearms register.
He said police ministers and attorneys-general had been tasked with developing proposals to further tighten background checks and license reviews, as well as to consider additional measures such as a crackdown on 3D-printed weapons and limits on certain types of firearms.
At a press conference on Tuesday, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns addressed those proposed changes.
“I’m determined to bring in the toughest gun laws in Australia, and they’ll be significantly tightened in New South Wales,” he said.
“This has been a tragic event for the Jewish community of New South Wales and Australia.
Albanese added, “The very nature of our gun laws means that they are only as strong as the weakest link, which is why we want to make sure that they followed Premier Minn’s lead in committing to strengthening the gun laws.
“The consideration that will take place includes limiting the number of guns an individual can own, the type of guns that are legal, whether gun ownership should require Australian citizenship, and accelerating work on the National Firearms Register.
“This is an agreement that we reached through the National Cabinet at the end of 2023. We’ve provided over $160 million (US$106 million) to do that, included in that is over $100 million to states and territories.
“It is a fact that for some states and territories, they still have paper records, and that obviously makes it impossible to check across boundaries in a quick and efficient manner. And the digitization that is required, we’ve agreed to accelerate that.”
The Brown University Shooting
On Saturday, December 13, at about 4:05 p.m. local time, a gunman opened fire inside the Barus and Holley engineering and physics building at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, during a final exam review session.
Two students, later identified as Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, were killed in the attack.
Nine other people were injured and taken to the hospital, with several reported to be in serious or critical condition.
Two people were killed in the shooting at Brown University. Image credits: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The suspect fled the scene, triggering a large police response and a campus-wide lockdown.
As of Tuesday, a manhunt for the shooter remained ongoing, and investigators were reviewing surveillance footage, as well as appealing for public assistance.
Authorities have released photos and videos of a new person of interest after an earlier suspect was released, described as “approximately 5’8"” with a stocky build.
There is also a $50,000 reward being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
In response to the attack, Brown University announced it was significantly enhancing safety measures across campus.
A manhunt remains ongoing for the shooter. Image credits: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
“We are coordinating with external agencies and implementing new measures on an ongoing basis,” it said in a statement.
Those enhanced security measures include an increased security presence, restricted building access, a police perimeter, and restricted area and shuttle and safety escort services.
Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee ordered a full review of school safety and security plans, and has requested additional police presence at schools.
“As a parent who has sent my children off to college – I can only imagine how families are feeling right now. And I will assure you: The safety and well‑being of your children and all Rhode Islanders are my priority,” McKee wrote on X.
He added, “I know that many people are feeling anxious right now. Given the emotional toll that a tragedy like this can take, it is essential that mental health resources are visible, accessible and responsive.
“Our hearts remain with the victims and everyone who has been impacted by this devastating tragedy.”
The Second Amendment comes first
According to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a non-profit that collects U.S. gun violence data, there have been 392 mass shootings in the United States in 2025.
The group recorded the shooting at Brown University as the 389th mass shooting of the year.
Under the GVA’s definition, each of those incidents involved at least four victims injured or killed, not including the shooter.
The Second Amendment protects gun rights. Image credits: Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
In stark contrast to the Australian response to mass shootings, the U.S. has not moved to introduce new legislation or significantly tighten existing laws in an effort to curb gun violence.
Opposition to tighter gun regulation is largely rooted in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
In 2022, the Supreme Court further expanded Second Amendment protections in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, striking down New York’s restrictions on carrying concealed weapons.
The ruling held that gun regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation, significantly limiting the ability of governments to enact new gun control measures and leading to legal challenges against existing firearms laws in several states.
Gun regulation is currently governed by a mix of federal and state laws.
Some Americans support gun control. Image credits: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Federal law requires background checks for gun purchases from licensed dealers and restricts firearm ownership for certain groups, including convicted felons and people deemed mentally unfit by a court.
Beyond those baseline rules, states set their own gun laws, resulting in wide variation across the country.
Some states impose strict licensing requirements and limits on carrying firearms, while others allow permitless carry and maintain minimal restrictions.
Efforts to tighten gun laws at the federal level have often stalled due to political opposition and constitutional challenges.
Some Americans are in favor of gun rights. Image credits: Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
While Congress passed a modest bipartisan gun safety law in 2022, broader proposals such as bans on assault-style weapons or national licensing systems have repeatedly failed to gain sufficient support.
Gun-rights advocates argue that such measures violate the Second Amendment, a position reinforced by recent court rulings.
As a result, most significant changes to gun policy in recent years have occurred at the state level rather than through sweeping federal reform.
Australians hit back at Americans claiming gun laws don’t work
Following the Bondi Beach attack, some Americans argued that the incident showed that strict gun control does not prevent gun violence.
Australia already had some of the tightest gun control laws in the world when it moved to further strengthen them just 48 hours after the attack.
The comments struck at the heart of grieving Australians, many of whom were experiencing the first mass shooting in their lifetime.
Abbie Chatfield, an Australian media personality and online influencer, hit back at the claims in a TikTok video on Monday.
Chatfield, who lives in Bondi, also slammed comments claiming that if Australians were allowed to carry guns like Americans, it would have prevented the attack.
“Our tragedy is not yours to politicize, particularly when your politicization makes no f*****g sense,” Chatfield said, adding it showed how “uneducated” Americans were about Australian gun history.
“That was our first mass shooting since 1996,” she continued. “Having one mass shooting in 30 years does not prove that gun control doesn’t work.
“Also, those guns were legally obtained. So, as a result of having those legally obtained guns being involved in our only mass shooting in 30 years, our Prime Minister is not putting forward legislation to make our gun legislation even tougher.
“We are responding to the tragedy that we can admit was caused by guns, so you know what’s happening? We’re doubling down on gun laws.”
Chatfield clarified that she was not addressing Americans who are in favor of gun control in the U.S., but those who were using Australia as an example in favor of gun rights.
“This is going to be a major event in our history,” she added. “America, in comparison, have events like this, multiple events like this, every single day because of your lack of gun control.”