Gun ownership figures revealed 25 years on from Port Arthur massacre
There has been a significant shift in the country鈥檚 gun culture
Australia's response to the Port Arthur massacre should be looked at by the United States as an example, Sydney experts say, while warning against complacency as new figures show people who own guns have bought more.
New University of Sydney figures on gun ownership in Australia:
- Australian civilians now own more than 3.5 million registered firearms, an average of four for each licensed gun owner.
- The proportion of Australians who hold a gun licence has fallen by 48 percent since 1997.
- The proportion of Australian households with a firearm has fallen by 75 percent in recent decades.
- Data indicates that people who already own guns have bought more rather than an increase in new gun owners.
Gun control expert Adjunct Associate Professor Philip Alpers from the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, revealed the figures on the eve of the 25th聽 anniversary of gun control since Port Arthur.
An opinion piece in the by the Head of the School of Public Health, Professor Joel Negin outlined the importance of continuing vigilance.聽 A recently published perspective, co-authored with Associate Professor Alpers in the high-impact 聽also discussed this point.聽
A University event, , discussed the impact of Australia鈥檚 post-1996 response and the future of fire-arm prevention.
Associate Professor Philip Alpers, a specialist in firearm injury prevention, says:
鈥淚n the wake of John Howard鈥檚 gun reforms, the risk of an Australian dying by gunshot quickly fell by more than half 鈥� and it鈥檚 stayed that low for 25 years.
鈥淚n those same years, there鈥檚 also been a significant shift in the country鈥檚 gun culture.鈥澛�
In new figures published yesterday by the university-hosted project , Associate Professor Alpers reported: 鈥淭he proportion of Australians who hold a gun licence has fallen by 48 percent, as each year a smaller segment of the population decide they need a firearm.鈥�
In 1997, the year after the Port Arthur massacre, Australia had 6.52 licensed firearm owners per 100 population. By 2020, that proportion had almost halved, to 3.41 licensed gun owners for every 100 people.
鈥淎lthough several states and territories still refuse to release their firearm licensing data, we know that today about 868,000 Australians have a current gun licence,鈥� says Associate Professor Alpers.
In 1997, the federal firearm buyback campaign reported that 1.2 million Australians were licensed to possess firearms.
鈥淭his doesn鈥檛 mean Australians own fewer guns,鈥� he says.
鈥淕overnment figures show that imports of modern firearms for private owners fluctuate between 65,000 and 116,000 each year. But even after 25 years of importing well over a million new guns since the firearm buybacks, the rate of registered firearms per 100 population has only risen by 1.7 percent.鈥�
In the same period, the country鈥檚 population grew by 40 percent, from 18.2 million to 25.5 million.
Australian civilians now own more than 3.5 million registered firearms, an average of four each. Private gun owners also hold an estimated 260,000 illegal firearms in the 鈥済rey market鈥� of undeclared weapons.
鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that those who already own guns have bought more, while those who don鈥檛 own guns are becoming more numerous. Polling confirms this, with the proportion of Australian households with a firearm falling by 75 percent in recent decades.鈥�
Australia鈥檚 firearm policy response instigated by the Port Arthur Massacre on 28 April 1996, remains an example of the significant impacts and possibilities of firearm injury prevention.聽
Greatest examples of public health policy in action
Global health and policy expert Professor Negin says: 鈥淎ustralia remains an exemplar of what committed public health action can achieve in terms of reducing firearm violence.鈥�
鈥淚n the days and weeks after the Port Arthur massacre, public health researchers were integrally involved in the advocacy that led to the dramatic new firearm regulations that emerged.聽
鈥淭he policy changes after Port Arthur represent one of the greatest examples of public health policy in action - a multi-pronged policy response encompassing strengthened gun-owner licensing, firearm registration, safe-storage policies, and suicide-prevention programs.
鈥淭he changes contributed to a critical reduction in firearm violence 鈥� reductions that have been sustained over the past 25 years.鈥�
Vigilance needed to keep gun laws from eroding in Australia
Rebecca Peters AO, who played a critical role in Australia's gun law reforms, is an alumna of the University, was the first director of IANSA, the international civil society movement against gun violence, and has advised and consulted on gun laws in many countries as part of the UN small arms process.聽
鈥淓very week we hear of mass shootings in the USA and wonder at that country鈥檚 inability to address its gun violence problem,鈥� she says.
鈥淏ut many young people aren鈥檛 even aware that Australia used to have mass shootings, and that assault weapons were widely owned here.聽
鈥淲e changed that landscape by adopting policies based on evidence rather than ideology. In doing so, we honoured the victims and survivors of Port Arthur and the previous tragedies.
鈥淗owever, the very success of our guns laws means that no one worries about them anymore. This makes them vulnerable to erosion as finely-balanced parliaments look to do deals with minor parties.聽
鈥淭he gun lobby鈥檚 financial and political power has expanded over the past 25 years, and there is no watchdog to keep them in check. So for me, pride in our gun laws and solidarity with the victims is tempered by anxiety over the future.鈥�