Australian officials agreed to stricter gun control
New laws prompted by Port Arthur massacre
May 10, 1996
Web posted at: 10:35 a.m. EDTCANBERRA, Australia (CNN) -- National and state officials in Australia agreed Friday to tough new gun control laws in the aftermath of Australia's worst shooting massacre by a single gunman in modern times.
Prime Minister John Howard announced the agreement banning semiautomatic rifles, shotguns and machine guns, and setting up a national gun registration process. The ban covers the import, ownership, sale, resale, manufacture and possession of the weapons.
The agreement came 12 days after a gunman went on a rampage at the colonial prison ruins in Port Arthur, Tasmania. Thirty-two people were shot to death at the popular tourist site and three others were found dead in a fire at a nearby cottage where the gunman fled. Martin Bryant has been charged with one of the deaths, and more charges are expected.
The massacre prompted a ground swell of support for stiffer gun control laws, but state and national officials had some difficulties coming to agreement. The Australian constitution gives states the authority to enact gun control legislation, but Howard's government pushed for an agreement in which all states would enact the same measures.
"This is an historic moment for all Australians still reeling from the fatal shootings at Port Arthur," Howard said Friday.
The ban on imports of the outlawed weapons will take effect immediately, Howard said. State and territorial governments will initiate a buy-back program, and the federal government may provide some funds.
"(The agreement) will result in the surrender of hundreds of thousands of weapons," the prime minister said.
Farmers who can prove they need low-powered semiautomatic rifles to control pests will be allowed to own them.
"But you don't automatically have (the gun) because you are a farmer," Howard said.
Opinion polls in Australia since the Port Arthur massacre showed overwhelming support for stricter gun laws, and may have helped overcome opposition.
But John Tingle, vice chairman of the Shooters Party and a legislator from New South Wales, said that the new laws will not prevent another massacre.
"The central thing to it all is the assumption that because they've decided to bring in these laws people will fall in line," he said.
But Howard said that the new gun registration and licensing plan will do just that.
"(It will ensure that) only those people who are fit and proper with a genuine reason a need for a firearm will have access to one," he said.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Funerals begin for Australia massacre victims - May 3, 1996
- Australia mourns victims of massacre - May 1, 1996
- Survivor recounts massacre - April 30, 1996
- Gunman kills at least 34 in Australia - April 29, 1996
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