There are now more than 4 million guns in the community – almost double the number recorded in the years after the Port Arthur massacre that prompted a national crackdown
T
he gun lobby claims it is “winning” the fight against Australia’s longstanding crackdown on firearms, pointing to a sharp increase in licensed gun owners and weapons since new laws were introduced in the aftermath of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre as a sign of its strength.
The claim, made in a June video address to members of the Shooters Union lobby group, comes as half a dozen Australian pro-gun groups band together for the first time to resist more national firearm restrictions.
Australia’s gun laws are held up as the global gold standard for community safety, but almost 30 years since a national firearms agreement was introduced after Martin Bryant shot and killed 35 people in Tasmania, experts say these laws must be galvanised.
