Throw them out!
Enough is enough!
Anti-gun activists in the U.S. have been pushing for gun law reform.
Australia, having made substantial changes to its gun laws, is often held as an example.
The country has a very low rate of gun-related homicide when compared to the U.S.,
where people are at least 20 times more likely to be murdered by firearms.
Stricter gun controls can’t stop every mass shooting, but they have made Australia a significantly safer place.
Here’s how.
Australia used to have a serious problem with gun violence.
Researchers define mass shootings as five or more deaths, not including the perpetrator.
From 1979 to 1996 there were 13 mass shootings,
resulting in over 100 deaths and more than 50 injuries.
However, due to the gun lobby and politicians sympathetic to their firearm-owning voters
little was done to stop gun deaths.
If being a politician and living in that bloody house is the most important thing to them,
then they’re not worth it.
In April 1996 that all changed.
On the island of Tasmania, the worst massacre in Australia’s history is finally over.
At least 34 people were killed, and four others critically wounded.
Armed with two rifles - an AR-15 and a .308 FN - Martin Bryant made his way through
Port Arthur historic site killing 35 people and injuring a further 23.
Both guns were semi-automatic, rapid-fire weapons and both were legal in the state of Tasmania.
At the time, the Port Arthur massacre was the worst single-person mass shooting in global history.
It utterly shocked Australians and reignited public outrage .
Just 12 days later, the then Prime Minister John Howard pushed through a sweeping set
of gun regulations, despite a lack of support from his rural constituency.
I’m sorry about that, but there is no other way.
There is no other way.
Within a month, the government passed the National Firearms Agreement,
transforming gun legislation in the country.
Before the Port Arthur massacre gun laws varied from state to state.
What the agreement did was standardize the laws nationally.
Certain semi-automatics and self-loading rifles and shotguns were banned.
New licensing requirements were adopted and a national firearms registry was established.
The law says Australians need a “genuine reason” for having a firearm,
such as sport shooting or for agricultural use.
It doesn’t include self-defense.
People must go through background checks and wait 28 days before they can buy a gun.
The government also spent $375 million , to buy back 640,000 civilian-owned guns
and then destroyed them.
After the gun law reform, the total number of homicides involving a firearm decreased by half.
The total number of gun-related deaths fell rapidly as well,
dropping more than half in 2016 compared with 1996.
Australia didn’t see a single mass shooting from 1996 to 2018, more than 22 years.
However, anti-gun activists warned that following years of lobbying by pro-gun groups,
Australia’s strict gun laws have been eroded.
And gun numbers are almost back to the same level as at the time of the Port Arthur massacre.
In May 2018, a family of seven - including four children - were shot dead in an apparent
murder-suicide in the state of Western Australia.
It’s brought back painful memories and uncertainty about the issue many thought had been resolved.
Australia is not totally immune to mass shootings,
but its response to the Port Arthur massacre demonstrated how strong political leadership
and strict gun control policies can help curb violence and save lives.