Christina Kukala

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says there are currently more than four million firearms in the country.

That's even more than in the late 1990s, when a mass shooting attack in Tasmania killed 35 people and prompted a major reform of gun ownership laws.

Albanese says tougher action is needed today.

Funding for the buyback programme needs to be legislated.

Australia's government says the programme will target surplus newly banned and illegal firearms and surrendered weapons will be destroyed.

It also wants to limit how many guns a person can own and to make Australian citizenship a condition of holding a gun licence.

For NPR News, I'm Christina Kukala in Melbourne.