Mourners gather at a tribute at the Bondi Pavilion on Dec. 15.
Photographer: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images
Australia Once Acted Decisively on Guns. Bondi Tests Whether It Still Can
The push to tighten gun laws after the Sydney attack tests a once-strong political consensus — and highlights the US’s enduring paralysis on firearms.
The bulletproof vest bulged beneath John Howard’s suit as he stood before a crowd of furious gun owners in rural Australia.
It was 1996 and the then prime minister — in the role for just three months — was explaining his plan to impose a sweeping ban on automatic and most semi-automatic weapons. His conservative coalition included a party whose rural support base owned plenty of firearms — yet despite the political risks and threat to his own life, Howard was determined to act.