Description

Mass shootings like those that frequently occur in the United States were ended in Australia after the 1996 massacre at Port Arthur when 35 people were killed and 23 wounded. The Australian government moved swiftly to tighten gun control. It banned automatic and semi-automatic firearms, adopted new licensing rules, set up a national firearms registry, and introduced a 28-day waiting period for people wanting to buy guns.It also bought and destroyed more than 600,000 civilian-owned firearms. Since then there have been no mass shootings in the country. Tim Fischer was the deputy prime minister of Australia at the time, and the man charged with implementing the gun controls despite widespread opposition.He tells us an effigy of himself was hung in one rural town, but the measures had an effect. "When I go to the USA, I now make them squirm. You only live so long on the earth and I'm no longer polite about it, I say: 'You have a duty to stand up to the NRA'."