THE decision by then prime minister John Howard to tighten gun laws in the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 ranks among the best and boldest in Australian political history.
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From the moment news of the mass shooting started filtering through to a shocked nation on that fateful Sunday afternoon, Mr Howard was turning his thoughts to toughening firearm laws.
Flushed with political capital after a landslide election victory that delivered a 45-seat majority just weeks earlier, Mr Howard stood firm despite opposition from some key Nationals colleagues.
The outrage from recreational shooters and some farmers was even more vociferous and after receiving death threats, he famously donned a bullet-proof vest at a rally in Sale. It was a choice that Mr Howard would later regret, but it is instructive as to the level of hostility towards gun control that existed at the time – even in the wake of such a tragedy.
The result of the National Firearms Agreement, which included a gun buy-back scheme that saw one million guns purchased and destroyed, is that for 20 years Australia’s gun laws have been the envy of the world.
As body after body drops in the United States, pro-gun control politicians, academics and commentators frequently point to Australia as a example to which to aspire.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics analysed by international news agency Reuters indicate this country is a substantially safer place following the the gun reforms.
Reuters found the chances of being murdered by a gun in Australia declined 72 per cent from 0.54 per 100,000 people in 1996 to 0.15 per 100,000 people in 2014.
If that evidence is not compelling enough, in 1996 there were 311 murders in Australia of which 98 were with guns.
Despite a considerably larger population by 2014, the number of murders fell to 238, with just 35 committed with firearms.
Any attempt to erode this country’s gun laws, as we have witnessed in the past week, is a mistake.
There is no compelling reason why a weapon such as the lever-action Adler A110 shotgun, which is capable of firing up to eight rounds in eight seconds, should be imported into this country.
To allow so would be complete folly.
- Ross Tyson, deputy editor
