Australia Institute report finds there are more guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre in 1996
The number of guns per owner in Australia has skyrocketed by 85 per cent since the Port Arthur massacre, a new report has found.
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THE number of guns per owner in Australia has skyrocketed by 85 per cent since the Port Arthur massacre, a new report has found.
The research from the Australia Institute, a Canberra-based independent public policy think tank, has again found there are more privately owned in Australia than before 1996 and the introduction of strict gun controls.
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The study, commissioned by Gun Control Australia, found guns per owner increased dramatically from 2.1 to 3.9.
It also showed the Australian gun lobby was as large, per capita, as the National Rifle Association in the United States.
The number of privately owned firearms reported in Australia was 3.6 million in 2017, up from 3.2 million prior to the 1996 National Firearms Agreement, the report said.
That is despite the number of licensed gun owners falling by a third and the share of the population participating in shooting sports decreasing from 0.7 per cent to 0.3 per cent — a 40 per cent drop in firearm owners per capita.
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If the ratio of guns per owner had remained at its 1997 rate, there would have been 1.7 million guns in Australia by 2016 — 1.45 million fewer guns than before the massacre, the report said.
“Australians would be surprised to learn that Australia has more guns now in 2019 than even before the Port Arthur massacre and the introduction of strict gun controls,” Australia Institute researcher Bill Browne said.
“Our research finds fewer gun owners are buying more guns.”
Gun Control Australia president Sam Lee said the watering down of gun laws across the country had led to the rise.
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“Placing a limit on the number of guns per licence holder will prevent individuals from accumulating large caches of firearms and storing these guns in the home,” she said.
“It will also prevent gun manufacturers from utilising legislative loopholes that allows for the sale of more guns.”
Debate on the nation’s gun control measures has resumed following the Christchurch shooting earlier this month and revelations
One Nation staffers were caught on hidden camera asking America’s NRA for cash while saying they wanted to weaken Australia’s gun laws.
Last week Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman confirmed his Government had no plans to weaken the state’s gun laws.
jack.paynter@news.com.au
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