As our Congress furiously debates gun control, it’s interesting to see what happened in Australia when they banned certain types of weapons in 1996.

John Howard was prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, and in the January 17th edition of the New York Times, he writes about his own experience with gun reform, following a horrific massacre in that country on April 28, 1996, when a psychologically disturbed man named Martin Bryant used a semiautomatic rifle and a semiautomatic assault weapon to kill 35 people in a murderous rampage in Tasmania. Gun ownership is extremely high in Australia, especially in that part of the country.
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Newswise – Despite the many laws that have been passed regarding gunregistration requirements, bans on specific firearms and”zero tolerance” policies for guns in schools, it?s stillnot known if these laws help prevent gun violence. The TaskForce on Community Preventive Services looked through eventsof the last 30 years and concluded that there was”insufficient evidence” to determine whether any of thefederal, state and local gun laws reviewed had an effect ongun-related deaths, violent crimes, suicides and otheroutcomes.
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