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After a 1996 Mass Shooting, Australia Enacted Strict Gun Laws. It Hasn't Had a Similar Massacre Since.
At the heart of the push was a massive buyback of more than 600,000 semi-automatic shotguns and rifles, or about one-fifth of all firearms in circulation in Australia. The country’s new gun laws prohibited private sales, required that all weapons be individually registered to their owners, and required that gun buyers present a “genuine reason” for needing each weapon at the time of the purchase. (Self-defense did not count.) In the wake of the tragedy, polls showed public support for these measures at upwards of 90 percent.
homicides by firearm plunged 59 percent between 1995 and 2006, with no corresponding increase in non-firearm-related homicides. The drop in suicides by gun was even steeper: 65 percent. Studies found a close correlation between the sharp declines and the gun buybacks. Robberies involving a firearm also dropped significantly. Meanwhile, home invasions did not increase, contrary to fears that firearm ownership is needed to deter such crimes. But here’s the most stunning statistic. In the decade before the Port Arthur massacre, there had been 11 mass shootings in the country. There hasn’t been a single one in Australia since.
They are making a lot of sense.
You need to look at a lot more data concerning Australia.
There have been many studies of deaths associated with firearms in Australia. There is general agreement that the laws passed in Australia in 1996 reduced suicides with guns. But there is no statistically clear causation between homicides and the gun laws. With the exception of a single mass shooting, homicides in Australia were declining both before the 1996 laws and after. The fact is Australia has relatively few homicides and the the gun laws didn't materially change that.
Call me callous, but I am not very concerned about suicides with guns. That doesn't threaten my safety or my family, or my community.
Homicides with firearms in the US have been declining since the 1960s and we are at a 50 year low. The US banned "assault weapons" for ten years and there was zero effect on homicides or mass shootings.
You need to look at a lot more data concerning Australia.
There have been many studies of deaths associated with firearms in Australia. There is general agreement that the laws passed in Australia in 1996 reduced suicides with guns. But there is no statistically clear causation between homicides and the gun laws. With the exception of a single mass shooting, homicides in Australia were declining both before the 1996 laws and after. The fact is Australia has relatively few homicides and the the gun laws didn't materially change that.
Call me callous, but I am not very concerned about suicides with guns. That doesn't threaten my safety or my family, or my community.
Homicides with firearms in the US have been declining since the 1960s and we are at a 50 year low. The US banned "assault weapons" for ten years and there was zero effect on homicides or mass shootings.
Thanks. I read most of that report. Definitely the Conclusion.
Still we are faced with why no more mass shootings in Australia?
Thanks. I read most of that report. Definitely the Conclusion.
Still we are faced with why no more mass shootings in Australia?
There weren't many before the gun buyback. People in Australia still have guns. A mass shooting is still possible.
If you look at "mass murders" in Australia, the death toll of mass murders after 1996 isn't much different than the mass murders in the same amount of time before 1996. 52 killed in five incidents after 1996 while 66 were killed in the 13 years before. It seems arson has taken over as the mass murder method of choice in Australia.
Ok, let's play it your way then. Let's include suicides in the gun violence rate.....
Now, you guys always like to use Japan as a shining example of "common sense" gun control. After all, they only average about four gun deaths per year or so, and it's almost impossible to get a gun in Japan and the ones who are able to get one are extremely limited in their selection and type. And yet, Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, MUCH higher than the US. How can that be? Obviously gun control didn't help in reducing suicides in that country. China ranks high on that list to, and guns are all but forbidden there, but gun control advocates want to use suicides as a reason for tougher gun laws here? In fact, The United States, with all it's guns, doesn't even rank in the top thirty countries with the highest suicide rate. Obviously gun control has no correlation with reducing suicides.
Russia is even worse in that aspect. Russia has 13 million guns in circulation compared to over 300 million in the USA. Russia has strict gun laws. However, Russia has one of the world's highest suicide rates in the world. The teenage suicide rate in Russia is 3 times higher than the world average. And the murder rate in Russia is quite high compared to the American murder rate. There are more murders in Russia(in terms of raw numbers) than in the USA, despite having a population that is 2/5 of what the USA population is. Some federal subjects of Russia see murder rates as high as 54 murders per 100,000. Compare this to Louisiana, which had a murder rate of 11 murders per 100,000.
Anyone believing that Russia has only 13 million guns is delusional. The Germans left more that that behind when they retreated from Russia in 1945. Most of those guns wound up is somebody's closet.
Anyone believing that Russia has only 13 million guns is delusional. The Germans left more that that behind when they retreated from Russia in 1945. Most of those guns wound up is somebody's closet.
Not too long ago a woman decided to commit suicide by driving her pickup truck down the wrong side of the freeway and targeting another truck to collide with head on. She not only killed herself, but an innocent father of 2 young children.
It would have been less tragic had she had access to a gun. I guess this kind of scenario is hard to spin into a politically driven statistic.
The highest suicide rate in the world is in a country where guns aren't even a part of its history. Am I missing something?
Lithuania has the highest suicide rate in the world, among sovereign nations. 31 suicides per 100,000.
There is something else. I've found this out. Sweden has often been thought of as a nation with a high suicide rate. Truth is, the USA has a higher suicide rate than Sweden. Sweden's suicide rate is 11.1 per 100,000. USA's is 12 per 100,000. Sweden has strict gun laws. However, Switzerland, where every male over 18 has a gun, has a low murder rate and a suicide rate matching Sweden's, 11.1 per 100,000.
I feel like a better question is this. Why do people commit suicide? What is the mindset behind it?
Lithuania has the highest suicide rate in the world, among sovereign nations. 31 suicides per 100,000.
There is something else. I've found this out. Sweden has often been thought of as a nation with a high suicide rate. Truth is, the USA has a higher suicide rate than Sweden. Sweden's suicide rate is 11.1 per 100,000. USA's is 12 per 100,000. Sweden has strict gun laws. However, Switzerland, where every male over 18 has a gun, has a low murder rate and a suicide rate matching Sweden's, 11.1 per 100,000.
I feel like a better question is this. Why do people commit suicide? What is the mindset behind it?
I was actually thinking of Japan or South Korea. In those countries, there is intense pressure in society for perfection in individuals, at work or otherwise. The rest of Asia has a similar mindset as well.
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