Australian gun laws changed after Port Arthur, so why won’t USA change its gun laws?

Australia's worst shooting massacre at Port Arthur changed the nation’s gun laws forever, and it took less than a week for New Zealand to act after the Christchurch tragedy. What will it take for the US to do the same?

Australia's worst shooting massacre changed the nation’s gun laws forever, and it took less than a week for New Zealand to act after the Christchurch tragedy. What will it take for the US to do the same?

As Americans cling to the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights written back in 1791, even the most horrific of mass shooting events are unable to sway those with the power to do something about it.  

 President Donald Trump ordered politicians to look at gun control legislation following the shooting at a Florida school which claimed 17 lives in early 2018.  

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CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL GUN SUPPLIES

Mr. Trump called for legislation that would expand background checks to firearms purchased at gun shows and on the internet. But since the Florida massacre - which led to protests and student-led walkouts across the country - there have been more mass murders, and little action by lawmakers. 

Just three months after Florida another eight children and two teachers were dead in another school shooting, in Texas. After that, 11 people were massacred in a Pittsburgh synagogue by a man armed with a legally-purchased AR-15 assault rifle and three Glock .357 handguns.  A month later another 12 people were slain in a California country and western bar before the gunman, who had been armed with a lawfully-obtained weapon, shot himself dead.

University of Sydney Associate Professor Philip Alpers, who’s also founding director of GunPolicy.org, says changing  laws regarding access and owndership are as far as we can go to reduce gun-related deaths.

The long-held argument often put foward by those against US gun reforms - that guns provide safety - just doesn't wash, he says. 

“The common-sense answer is: If guns make people safer, the United States and Yemen should be the safest places on Earth,” he said. Here's the facts about gun-related deaths in the US, compared to Australia and New Zealand.

How many gun deaths are there each year?

America

In America, more than 33,000 people are killed each year. This number, (specifically 33,599 deaths) is based on averages from the years 2012 to 2014.

Homicides make up about 12,000 deaths per year.

And mass shootings — defined by the FBI as four or more people shot and/or killed — are alarmingly common.

In 2018 there were more than 300 of them. In 2019 there were more than 60 mass shottings in the US by mid-March, according to Gun Violence Archive data. 

In 2016 the overall rate of death by firearms in the United States was 11.8 per 100,000 people, which is similar to the rate of deaths from motor vehicle accidents.

Australia

The numbers tell a different story in Australia, particularly after former Prime Minister John Howard’s famous gun reforms were triggered after the Port Arthur masscre left 35 people dead in 1996.

In Australia, there were 211 gun-related deaths in 2015, according to University of Sydney’s database GunPolicy.org. 38 of these deaths occurred in Victoria. 

There were 238 deaths resulting from firearms in Australia in 2016, GunPolicy.org figures showed. Suicides constitute a large proportion of Australian firearms deaths.

Forty-nine of these occurred in Victoria.  Based on 2016 data,  Australian gun deaths occur at a rate of 1.04 per 100,000 people.  

New Zealand

There were 55 gun deaths in New Zealand in 2015, according to GunPolicy.org. That same year, the number of gun deaths per 100,000 people was 1.24. 

Of the 55 deaths from guns in 2015, only eight were homicides. New Zealand will follow Australia's lead in banning semi-automatic rifles after the Christchurch mosque massacre which killed 50 people. 

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the ban along with a buy-back scheme. The ban covers semi-automatics, assault rifles, high  capacity magazines, and certain modification parts.

Fast Facts: Why did Australia change its gun laws?

Former Prime Minister John Howard in a special address to Parliament announcing his intentions on reforming Australia’s gun laws in 1996.

*The death of 35 people in the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania in April 1996 triggered then-prime minister John Howard to radically change Australia’s gun laws.

*Martin Byrant went on a shooting spree at a popular tourist destination, armed with a semiautomatic assault rifle on April 28.

*There was no registration requirement for gun ownership, aside from a handgun, in Tasmania, enabling Byrant to easily buy the weapons.

*Bryant is serving 35 life sentences without parole. 

What happened after Port Arthur?

*Then Liberal prime minister John Howard decided to reform gun laws as a direct result of the mass shooting.

*Mr Howard introduced the National Firearms Program Implementation Act 1996 to restrict individuals’ ability to own semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, and pump-action shotguns.

*His reform also introduced firearm licensing.

How have the laws changed gun ownership?

*Guns must be registered.

*Automatic and semiautomatic weapons are banned.

*More than 650,000 guns were destroyed in a buyback scheme.

*Gun owners must have a valid reason for owning a weapon including farming or hunting.

*Guns and ammunition must be locked and stored appropriately.

*A second gun amnesty ran between July 1 to September 30 in 2017, collecting another 26,000.

*States must adhere to the Firearms Act 1996 and the Weapons Prohibition Act 1998

Who can have a gun in Victoria?

*Victorian individuals, organisations and government departments can hold a firearm licence.

*Must be a “fit and proper person”.

*Licences can be for juniors aged 12 to 18, or adults.

*Must have and maintain a “genuine reason” for needing the licence type.

Mourners light candles during a vigil for the victims of Sunday night's mass shooting in Las Vegas. The massacre is one of the deadliest mass shooting events in U.S. history. Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP

What are the US gun laws?

America

In the US, guns are widely available with nearly 89 guns privately owned per 100 people. This is largely because of the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, which gives citizens the right to bear arms.

While restriction that occurs on a national level is known as the Brady Law. It requires background checks for people who purchase guns from a licensed dealer. But this only accounts for around 60 per cent of purchases, leaving the rest of the buyers to go unchecked.

While automatic rifles are banned in the USA, semiautomatic weapons are legal.