Did gun control laws work in Australia? What was the experience in Australia with the 1997 gun buyback / ban legislation?

I moved from New Zealand to Australia in the year 2000 - some three years after the gun buy back scheme was enacted.

I have lived in rural areas since I arrived, both at the coast and in very heavy farming districts.

So with those qualifications - here's my answer.

I have never heard anyone speak against the gun laws enacted by the Howard Government following the Port Arthur Massacre.  The Australian public can apparently clearly see that a system that allowed a mentally ill young man to buy enough guns and ammunition legally to kill 35 innocent people in cold blood was a system that needed fixing.

Desperately.

I know plenty of farmers and I teach plenty of kids who live on properties. Not once has any of them every told me they wish they had more access to fire arms.  We have discussed gun control in class and no one has ever expressed a contrary opinion.

So whatever propaganda is being pedelled in the US regarding our gun laws - if I were you I would ignore it.  The Australian gun laws have saved lives.  Pure and simple.

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