Australia’s gun control laws need to change in order to protect innocent civilians from the increasing resurgence of illegal firearms. The system is riddled with loopholes that enable illegal guns to be trafficked from overseas countries. The main issue is that there is a rising increase in illegal firearms and whether Australia’s current laws are enough to combat the ongoing problem. There are problems in the system were illegal guns manage to get through customs due to loopholes in the system. The legislation, cases, stakeholders and recommendation regarding the change in gun laws to prevent illegal firearms will be discussed.
Gun control is defined as the set of laws or policies that maintain regulation of the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification or use of firearms by civilians. There are an estimated total of 260 000 illegal guns on the street in Australia. Australia Border Force are finding 33 guns or firearm parts a week. The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) conducted an investigation into illegal firearms back in 2012. They estimated 10 000 illegal guns in the market. There were 2.75million registered guns held by 730 000 licence holders. In the 18 years prior to 1996 Australia experienced 13 mass shootings in which 104 victims were killed with at least 52 were wounded. Since the introduction of tougher gun control laws there have been no mass shootings since that time period.
The relevant Queensland legislation surrounding gun control and licensing
The studies and research on gun control has opened up many ideas on how weak the current laws really are. Crime rates consist of high numbers. “Since 1982, there have been at least 62 mass shootings across the country, with the killings unfolding in 30 states from Massachusetts to Hawaii”
Over the last two decades, Australia’s firearm laws have undergone extensive reform, resulting from two main catalyst shootings. These shootings events are known as the 1996 Port Arthur massacre and the 2002 Monash University shooting (Baker, & McPhedran, 2007).
Since then the number of privately owned guns by civilians in 2005 is estimated to be 3,050,000, this number is constantly increasing and just 2,653,000 of these guns are registered and legal (Alpers & Rossetti, 2016). This is telling that there is an estimated 400,00 illegal and unregistered guns circling around Australia. Although the current guns in Australia are different types and are generally safer than the gun in 1996, this is due to the restrictions of handguns, rapid fire, semi-automatic and automatic
In Australia and America, gun control laws are very different, therefore, the populations of the two countries have different mindsets regarding gun control and violence. America’s gun control laws are based on history while Australia is more open to changing their laws. Because America’s gun control laws are stated in the Bill of Rights, the government is more reluctant to change them. Therefore, gun violence is more prevalent in the United States due to the higher prevalence of guns in general. However, Australia has altered its gun control laws as a result of a mass shooting and has not had any ever since.
The rise in cases of gun violence and related incidences of assault has drawn the public to the issue of guns and gun control. Such has been evident within the spheres of politics especially with the last election period seeing the incumbent president Donald Trump suggesting on stringent gun control laws. However, despite the acknowledgment of the need to have better gun laws, much ground and consensus has never reached. Such, to an extent, contributed to the current lack of political goodwill within the country to have the necessary legislations enacted to facilitate the same on the controls (Grandy 23). Of the guns under question are the assault rifles. Like the military weapons, assault rifles have a destructive potential to causing
In about every nation, gun control has always been an issue of controversy. Gun control laws are quite different from country to country, each possessing different requirements, specifications, and ordinances, so on and so on. What will be examined are the specified gun control laws in three international countries, ranging from Canada, Australia, and Japan, as well as a comparison and contrast of the the similarities and unique differences toward American gun control laws and those in other countries, and finally, the effects of having loose gun control laws. Unlike America, these countries possess stricter laws regarding gun control.
Guns in the U.S has been a problem for many years now. So much so that America is what comes to mind when people think about guns. America is the most known nation in the world when it comes to firearms, with citizens owning about an astonishing 270 million of the world’s 875 million firearms(Marshall). That is thirty percent on the world registered firearms. The reason why Americans own so may guns comes down to the second Amendment, which claims, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” (Rauch) This grants the citizens from America the right to own and buy firearms. Since this amendment is vague, it comes down to
On a seemingly normal day on the 29th of April 1996, an average looking 28 year old male, Martin Bryant, ate lunch and approached a café in Port Arthur, Tasmania. The man pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag, relentlessly killing 35 innocent people and injuring another 23. The Port Arthur massacre was a pinnacle turning point in Australia’s history as the prime minister of the time, John Howard, introduced the National Firearms Agreement, banning all semi-automatic and automatic rifles alongside pump action shotguns http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/port-arthur-massacre-shooting-spree-changed-australia-gun-laws-n396476. Ever since the introduction of the National Firearms Agreement, Australian citizens have not been victims of mass shootings
This week in our reading we focused on Chapter 1 of the SSM 200 course text, Gun Laws and Legislation. While this isn’t the most exciting subject to be reading about it’s an area ANYONE in the firearms industry needs to be well educated in. With the current political environment having so many anti-gun players shaping and forming red tape, violating any laws/regulations can have very serious legal ramifications.
Gun control, also known as firearm regulation is the set laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification or use of firearms by civilians. The United States federal government should increase the amount of security amongst the sales of these weapons and to also do everything in their power to get as many illegal guns off the street. According to the statistics found by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the government should ban all use of guns/firearms. In the year 2013, there were 73,505 nonfatal firearm injuries, 11,208 homicides, 21,175 suicides, 505 deaths due to accidental or negligent discharge of a firearm and 281 fatalities due to firearms used with “undetermined intent”. A total of 106,674 lives could have been saved if there were a prohibition on firearms.
Federal and state gun control laws in the United States regulating the sale, manufacture, possession and transport of firearms. Although each state has the authority to enact their own gun control laws, federal and state laws impose restrictions on the ownership, use and types of weapons that are legal. In addition, cities, counties and municipalities may have their own restrictions on use, possession and sale of
Within the last couple of months, gun control and gun control laws has been seen all over the news and all over social media. I decided that topic would be perfect for this essay While scrolling through Facebook, I came upon this meme and I knew right away it was the right meme for this paper. Within the last couple of months, we have had about two major mass shootings and they have had a huge impact over the nation. Society is wondering why the government is not doing much and why we are not seeing any changes with these laws. Most people are saying that we need to have stricter gun laws, but would that really change anything?
Besides Britain, other countries have worked on limiting rifle and weapon use and have received better and successful results by doing so. Australia is an excellent example. In 1996, a “pathetic social misfit,” as a judge, killed 35 people with a spray of bullets from semiautomatic weapons (Gun Challenge). Within weeks, the Australian government was working on gun reform laws that banned assault weapons and shotguns, tightened licensing and financed gun amnesty and buyback programs. At the time, the prime minister, John Howard, stated, “We do not want the American disease imported into Australia.” The American Journal of Law and Economics reported in 2010 that firearm homicides in Australia dropped 59 percent between 1995 and 2006. There were 236 gun deaths in Australia in 2011, compared to 32,163 gun deaths in the United States. According to the Gun Challenge article written in 2012 by the New York Times magazine, gun deaths are even expected to increase to 34,000 by the year 2015 .This is more than auto-related deaths per year in the United States.
Many countries have implicated stricter gun control laws which has in fact, caused there to be less acts of gun violence. For example, Australia has the National Agreement on firearms which has prohibited semiautomatic and automatic assault rifles. and has implicated a law forcing everyone to register and get a license to purchase a firearm. Unfortunately, these restrictions were enforced due to the most tragic mass shooting in the nations history. The Port Arthur massacre of 1996, where a man killed 35 innocent people and wounded almost 2 dozen others. Now, Australia has less than three hundred people killed per year. That is an outstanding number compared to the 32,000 people killed each year in the United States by
More gun control laws should not be enforced because; gun control laws, trying to ban “assault rifles” infringe upon the right to own a gun for hunting and sport and also, strict gun control laws do not work in the U.S.