In
“Massive study of Australia's gun laws shows one thing: they work” by Fiona
Macdonald, she outlines how in the past twenty years, Australia has had no mass
shootings after enacting a law that prohibited citizens of the country from
owning a “rapid fire gun” and punishing anyone in possession of one after the
law was passed with jail time. To give the citizens further incentive to give
up their guns, the government began buying back any guns that citizen had at
market price. Since the law was enacted in 1996 after a mass shooting in Tasmania,
gun ownership in the country has decreased by 75% and gun related deaths have
also decreased an average of 5% each year. However, the US still fails to believe
that having tighter gun control will reduce the rate of homicides committed
each year even though Australia has proven that it will. She says that “experts
are predicting that around 30,000 people will be killed - or kill themselves -
with guns in the country this year” which is a horrifying number and a harsh
reality that we unfortunately are told to deal with. If stronger gun laws are
passed in the US, this number can and will decrease and countless lives will be
saved. This is a reality that I am happy to live with.
Macdonald, Fiona. "Massive Study of Australia's Gun Laws Shows One Thing: They Work " 2016. Web.
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