Austria’s Chancellor Christian Stocker stated on Saturday that the country’s gun laws must be strengthened following a mass shooting earlier in the week.

Stocker suggested multiple changes to the current gun policies, such as raising the minimum age for purchasing weapons and improving data sharing between officials to better identify warning signs. He also announced that the Austrian government will vote on plans to strengthen the gun laws, confirming that the cabinet will meet on June 18 to finalize a reform package designed to enhance public safety oversight. Additional proposed reforms include narrowing classifications for legal weapons and mandating stricter psychological evaluations.

The proposed reform came after a mass shooting on Tuesday at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school in Graz that left at least 10 students dead and 12 injured before the gunman shot and killed himself. Stocker called the shooting a national tragedy that signified a “dark day” in the country’s history.

The attack marks the deadliest shooting in Austria since World War II.

Survivors reported that students and teachers hid under tables and called loved ones during rattling gunfire to say goodbye. In a phone call to her husband, one teacher stated, “We’re safe, but the situation is dire. Shooting’s going on constantly.”

According to authorities, the gunman, identified as a 21-year-old former student of the school, used a legally acquired Glock 19 pistol and a sawed-off Mercury shotgun, despite having passed Austria’s required psychological assessment for gun licensing.

Investigators say he was socially isolated and deeply engaged in violent video games. Following the shooting, police found discarded bomb plans and a non-functional pipe bomb in his apartment.

Austria, which has one of the highest civilian gun ownership rates in Europe and a robust hunting culture, is now facing renewed scrutiny over its historically lax firearms laws. The tragedy in Graz has intensified discussions across the EU, where similar concerns are rising in Sweden and Finland following recent school attacks.