D. Armenta
PlagmanRe: Another American shooting
The following is from CBC news Canada, with AP cited as resource, from December 2006.
There's a reason this doesn't happen in Oz anymore; seems to be some controversy about why though!!
Australia hasn't witnessed a single mass shooting since a massacre 10 years ago prompted nationwide gun law reforms, according to a study Thursday that linked the tough laws with a dramatic reduction in firearm deaths.
The federal and state governments agreed to ban semiautomatic and pump action shot guns and rifles days after a lone gunman went on a rampage at the Port Arthur tourist precinct in Tasmania state on April 28, 1996, killing 35 and wounding another 18.
The massacre was the 13th mass shooting in Australia in 15 years. Mass shootings had killed 104 victims and wounded another 52 since 1981, according to the University of Sydney report published Thursday in the journal Injury Prevention.
The federal government responded to the Port Arthur massacre by funding a gun buyback scheme. More than 700,000 guns were surrendered by Australia's adult population of 12 million.
The study found the buyback coincided with an end to mass shootings and dramatic decreases in shooting deaths in Australia.
"The Australian example provides evidence that removing large numbers of firearms from a community can be associated with a sudden and ongoing decline in mass shootings and http://www.polaccelerated declines in total firearms-related deaths, firearm homicides and firearm suicides," the report concluded.
The report said it could not directly comment on the association between the new gun laws and firearm death rates because of the observational nature of the available data.
Prime Minister John Howard welcomed the report as proof that his gun buyback had been a success.
"Gun-related deaths in Australia are still too high but this study shows that governments and the community can make a difference," Howard said in a statement.
Peter Whelan, president of the Australian lobby group Coalition of Law Abiding Sporting Shooters Inc., said that attributing the improved statistics to the buyback and tough laws was a "gross distortion."
The report ignored factors such as whether Australians were resorting to other methods to kill or commit suicide, he said.
"For example, suicide by hanging has increased dramatically," Whelan told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
But the researchers, headed by Prof. Simon Chapman, a former member of the national anti-firearm lobby group Coalition for Gun Control, found there was no evidence of method substitution in homicides or suicides since guns became more restricted.
The report found that gun-related deaths per capita had been declining 3 per cent annually in the 18 years before the new gun laws were announced. That rate of decline doubled to 6 per cent in the seven years after the new laws were introduced.
The annual reduction in firearm homicides accelerated from 3 to 7.5 per cent annually and firearm suicides, from 3 to 7.4 per cent, the report found.
This post was prompted by this post
--So we know it works..could be a big personal rights/freedoms issue to some people, though.
The question is, how much can man be trusted to play nice till the government steps in and calls the shots?
What do you think?
There's a reason this doesn't happen in Oz anymore; seems to be some controversy about why though!!
Australia hasn't witnessed a single mass shooting since a massacre 10 years ago prompted nationwide gun law reforms, according to a study Thursday that linked the tough laws with a dramatic reduction in firearm deaths.
The federal and state governments agreed to ban semiautomatic and pump action shot guns and rifles days after a lone gunman went on a rampage at the Port Arthur tourist precinct in Tasmania state on April 28, 1996, killing 35 and wounding another 18.
The massacre was the 13th mass shooting in Australia in 15 years. Mass shootings had killed 104 victims and wounded another 52 since 1981, according to the University of Sydney report published Thursday in the journal Injury Prevention.
The federal government responded to the Port Arthur massacre by funding a gun buyback scheme. More than 700,000 guns were surrendered by Australia's adult population of 12 million.
The study found the buyback coincided with an end to mass shootings and dramatic decreases in shooting deaths in Australia.
"The Australian example provides evidence that removing large numbers of firearms from a community can be associated with a sudden and ongoing decline in mass shootings and http://www.polaccelerated declines in total firearms-related deaths, firearm homicides and firearm suicides," the report concluded.
The report said it could not directly comment on the association between the new gun laws and firearm death rates because of the observational nature of the available data.
Prime Minister John Howard welcomed the report as proof that his gun buyback had been a success.
"Gun-related deaths in Australia are still too high but this study shows that governments and the community can make a difference," Howard said in a statement.
Peter Whelan, president of the Australian lobby group Coalition of Law Abiding Sporting Shooters Inc., said that attributing the improved statistics to the buyback and tough laws was a "gross distortion."
The report ignored factors such as whether Australians were resorting to other methods to kill or commit suicide, he said.
"For example, suicide by hanging has increased dramatically," Whelan told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
But the researchers, headed by Prof. Simon Chapman, a former member of the national anti-firearm lobby group Coalition for Gun Control, found there was no evidence of method substitution in homicides or suicides since guns became more restricted.
The report found that gun-related deaths per capita had been declining 3 per cent annually in the 18 years before the new gun laws were announced. That rate of decline doubled to 6 per cent in the seven years after the new laws were introduced.
The annual reduction in firearm homicides accelerated from 3 to 7.5 per cent annually and firearm suicides, from 3 to 7.4 per cent, the report found.
This post was prompted by this post
--So we know it works..could be a big personal rights/freedoms issue to some people, though.
The question is, how much can man be trusted to play nice till the government steps in and calls the shots?
What do you think?
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Should I be accusing you of Anti Australianism for stating the truth? Maybe I should ask one of your compatriots. (Hehehehe)
What you have written is correct but I have the impression that gun owner clubs in the USA are for more influential then they ever were in Oz. Certainly they seem to be richer.
Incidentally, despite my dislike of John Howard post 2001 I do see this as one of his redeeming features. It took real political courage to drive this issue in the way he did and we area safer nation for it. If he had have died of a heart attack after that then people would consider him a great man.
The latest killing spree in the USA seems to have echoed the previous campus killings. Mental illness and liberal gun ownership laws. You may not be able to remove the mentally ill from the world as many are still writing blogs but guns are a different matter.
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Great post.
The gun amnesty did have a positive effect in Australia. Though of course firearms will always be obtainable for criminals who really want them, the mentally ill have a lot harder time.
P.S - I will refrain from discussing the Port Arthur Lone Gunman theory
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Hi JD--Oh, don't leave me hanging; what is the rest of the story about the Port Arthur shootings?
"Everyone should have the right to bear arms" That is leading the poll on Gather.com, a mostly US member site.
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.
Yes, as ably demonstrated by Peter Whelan, president of the Australian lobby group Coalition of Law Abiding Sporting Shooters Inc., there will always be dissenters to gun control no matter where you live.
People in general just really suck sometimes....
btw, you know that radio show I wrote about in my last post? I'm interviewing there tomorrow morning for an internship!!!!!
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.
My first radio gig was as an announcer/programmer for a classical music station; did you have to take the FCC class 3 test?
Awesome, P.! I want to hear all about it.
Funny? Funny how? Funny like I amuse you???
Mum's Word
Great post D. Every other post I have read about the buy back scheme in Australia stated that crime had gone through the roof. And it hasn't.
Love & stuff
Mrs M