Feb. 1, 2026
"TWELVE DAYS THAT CHANGED A NATION: AUSTRALIA'S GUN REFORM & THE LESSON AMERICA WON'T LEARN - PART 2"
Reid Carter concludes the Port Arthur special with the political miracle that followed the massacre. May 10, 1996: Twelve days after thirty-five people died, Prime Minister John Howard announces the National Firearms Agreement. Ban on semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. National registry. Mandatory buyback. His own coalition nearly revolts. He wears a bulletproof vest to address angry gun owners. But Howard doesn't back down. Result: 650,000 guns destroyed. In the eighteen years before Port Arthur, Australia had thirteen mass shootings. In the twenty-nine years since, effectively none. Gun suicide down 57%. Gun homicide down 42%. It worked. America refuses to learn.
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WEBVTT
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Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm read Carter. Sunday, February first,
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twenty twenty six. Last weekend, Australians celebrated Australia Day, barbecues, beaches,
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fireworks over Sydney Harbor. A nation marking its history. But
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history isn't just celebration. Every nation has chapters. It would
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rather forget. Moments that test what a country is made of,
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Tragedies that force a people to look in the mirror
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and decide who they want to be. We've been exploring
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Australia's harder chapters these past two weekends. Azaria Chamberlain, a
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mother wrongly convicted thirty two years to clear her name
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and now Port Arthur. Yesterday we covered the massacre itself.
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April twenty eighth, nineteen ninety six, A gunman walked into
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the Broad Arrow Cafe and killed twenty people in ninety seconds.
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Killed fifteen more across the historic site. A mother and
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her two daughters, ages three and six, shot dead at
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a toll booth. Thirty five murdered, twenty three wounded, the
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deadliest mass shooting in modern Australian history. Today, what happened next?
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And this is where Australia's story diverges from Americas. In
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most countries, a massacre like Port Arthur would spark debate.
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Politicians would offer thoughts and prayers. Advocates would demand change,
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the gun lobby would resist, the media cycle would move on.
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Nothing would happen. That's what happens in America. Sandy Hook, Parkland, Uvalde,
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Las Vegas, Virginia, Tech Columbine, thousands of dead children and
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concert goers and worshipers and shoppers, and nothing changes. Australia
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chose differently. May tenth, nineteen ninety six, twelve days after
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Port Arthur, Prime Minister John Howard stood before the nation
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and announced the most sweeping gun reform in Australian history.
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Ban on semi automatic rifles, ban on semi automatic shotguns,
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ban on pump action shotguns, National Firearms Registry, uniform licensing
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across all states, twenty eight day waiting period for purchases,
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mandatory buy back of newly prohibited weapons. His own party
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nearly revolted. Rural voters threatened to abandon him. Gun owners
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showed up at rallies wearing t shirts with targets on them.
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He wore a bulletproof vest to address one crowd. He
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did it anyway. Within a year, Australia had bought back
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and destroyed over six hundred fifty thousand firearms, removed them
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from circulation forever, melted them down, gone, and it worked
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for nearly three decades. In the eighteen years before Port Arthur,
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Australia had thirteen mass shootings. In the twenty nine years
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since a handful, the pattern of regular massacres stopped. Gun
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suicide rates dropped fifty seven percent. Gun homicide rate dropped
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forty two percent. Thousands of Australians are alive today who
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would be dead if those guns were still in circulation.
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Then six weeks ago Bondai Beach, fifteen people murdered at
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a Hanaka celebration, a terrorist attack, the deadliest mass shooting
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since Port Arthur. Australia's response, Prime Minister Albinizi announced the
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government would consider even stricter gun laws because that's what
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Australia does. When people die. They act one massacre, one response,
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laws that work, and when tested, a nation that recommits
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rather than retreats. I'm read Carter, this is celebrity trials today.
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Part two. How Australia changed its gun laws in twelve days,
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the political courage it required, the results it achieved, and
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the question that haunts every American school shooting, why can't
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we do that? Here? This is the lesson America refuses
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to learn. John Howard became Prime Minister of Australia on
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March eleventh, nineteen ninety six, seven weeks before Port Arthur.
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He was a conservative leader of the Liberal Party, which,
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despite its name, is Australia's center right party. His coalition
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government included the National Party, which represented rural interests, farmers, graziers,
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people who used guns for pest control, for hunting, for
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protection on isolated properties. Gun owners were part of Howard's base,
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not all of them, but a significant portion. The rural
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voters who helped put him in power were the same
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people most likely to own firearms. Howard himself wasn't a
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gun enthusiast. He'd grown up in Sydney urban middle class,
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didn't hunt, didn't shoot, had no personal connection to gun culture.
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But he understood the politics gun control was a minefield.
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Previous attempts at national reform had failed. Tasmania had blocked
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proposals repeatedly. The gun lobby was organized, vocal and politically connected.
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Conventional political wisdom said, don't touch guns. It's not worth
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the fight. You'll lose rural seats, you'll fracture your coalition,
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You'll hand your opponent's a weapon to use against you.
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Then Port Arthur happened. Howard was at a function in
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Sydney when the news came through. Initial reports were confused
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mass shooting in Tasmania, casualties unknown, situation ongoing. As the
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night went on, the scale became clear. Twenty dead, then thirty,
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then thirty five children among the victims, families destroyed. Howard
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would later describe it as a pivotal moment, the kind
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of event that clarifies what leadership means, the kind of
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tragedy that demands a response beyond thoughts and prayers. He
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made a decision that night. Australia's gun laws would change,
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not incrementally, not eventually, idiately, comprehensively. He would spend whatever
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political capital it took. I knew that I had to
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do something about it, Howard said later. I knew that
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I had to grasp an opportunity that tragically, this awful
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event had given us an opportunity. That's the word he used.
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Thirty five people dead, and the Prime Minister saw an
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opportunity not to score political points, not to position himself
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for the next election, an opportunity to save lives, to
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prevent the next Port Arthur, to do what previous leaders
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had failed to do. Seven weeks in office, his government
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still finding its feat and John Howard decided to take
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on the gun lobby, his own coalition partners and decades
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of political inertia. That's leadership, rare, uncomfortable, necessary. May tenth,
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nineteen ninety six, twelve days after Port Arthur, John Howard
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convened a special meeting of the Australasian Police Minister's count
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representatives from every state and territory, the people who would
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have to implement whatever reforms were proposed. Howard came with
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a comprehensive plan, not suggestions, not starting points for negotiation,
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a plan, the National Firearms Agreement. Here's what it included. First,
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a ban on semi automatic rifles and semi automatic shotguns
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for civilian use. These were the weapons used at Port Arthur,
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weapons designed to fire rapidly, to kill efficiently. There was
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no legitimate civilian need for them that couldn't be met
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by other firearms. Second, a ban on pump action shotguns
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another rapid fire weapon, another tool of mass killing. Third,
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strict limitations on who could own firearms. Genuine reason required
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self defense would not be considered a genuine reason. You
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could own a gun for farming, for sports, shooting, for
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professional pest control, not because you wanted one. Fourth, national
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registration of all fire arms, every gun tracked, every transfer recorded,
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no more anonymous cash sales. Fifth uniform licensing across all states,
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background checks, safety training waiting periods, a twenty eight day
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cooling off period between applying for a license and receiving it.
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Sixth safe storage requirements guns locked in approved safes, ammunition
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stored separately, regular inspections, and seventh, the most controversial, a
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mandatory buyback of all newly prohibited weapons. The government would
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purchase at fair market value every semi automatic rifle, semi
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automatic shotgun, and pump action shotgun in the country. Owners
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would be compensated, then the weapons would be destroyed, not
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voluntary mandatory turn them in or face criminal penalties. The
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price tag approximately five hundred million Australian dollars, funded by
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a one time levy on income taxes every Australian taxpayer
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would contry tribute to buying back the weapons. Howard presented
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this plan to the police ministers. Most supported it, but
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there was one significant holdout. Tasmania, the state where Port
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Arthur happened, the state that had blocked gun reform for years,
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the state with the weakest gun laws in the country,
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even after thirty five of their own people were murdered.
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Tasmania's representatives hesitated, worried about the political backlash, worried about
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rural voters, worried about the gun lobby. Howard was furious.
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He told them directly, if Tasmania doesn't agree, the federal
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government will act anyway. We'll find constitutional mechanisms to force compliance.
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This is happening with or without you. Tasmania agreed. On
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May tenth, nineteen ninety six, Every Australian state and territory
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signed on to the National Firearms Agreement, twelve days after
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Port Arthur, unanimous agreement on the most comprehensive gun reform
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in Australian history. That's how long it took. Twelve days,
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Not years of debate, not decades of incrementalism, twelve days
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from massacre to agreement, but agreement was just the beginning.
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Now Howard had to sell it to his own party,
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his own voters, his own coalition partners, who represented the
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rural communities most affected by the changes. That's when things
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got difficult. The gun lobby mobilized immediately. In Australia, as
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in America, there were organized groups of gun owners who
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saw any regulation as an attack on their rights. The
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Sporting Shooters Association of Australia, various hunting clubs and rifle associations.
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They had members, they had money, they had political connections.
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They were not happy. Rallies were organized across the country.
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Thousands of gun owners gathered to protest the reforms. They
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carried signs, chanted slogans, they wore t shirts with targets
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printed on them. The message was clear, we vote, we're angry,
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and we're coming for you. Howard's own coalition partners were nervous.
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The National Party, which represented rural interests, faced intense pressure
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from constituents farmers who used rifles for pest control, hunters
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who saw the buyback as government overreach, communities where guns
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were part of daily life. Some National Party members threatened
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to vote against the reforms to break from the coalition
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to bring down the government rather than support the gun laws.
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Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fisher, leader of the National Party,
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became a crucial ally. He understood the politics, knew his
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party was divided, but he also understood something else. If
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the coalition didn't act, port Arthur would define them. They
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would be the party that let children die and did nothing.
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Fisher worked to keep his party in line, made the
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case that responsible gun ownership wasn't being threatened, that farmers
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would still have access to the tools they needed, that
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the buyback targeted weapons designed for mass killing, not legitimate
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rural use. It worked barely. The coalition held together, but
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the anger didn't go away. June nineteen ninety six, Howard
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traveled to Sail, a rural town in Victoria, to address
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a public meeting about the gun reforms. The crowd was hostile,
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thousands of angry gun owners signs calling him a traitor
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chance demanding he backed down. Howard wore a bulletproof vest
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under his suit let that sink in the Prime Minister
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of Australia wore body armor to address his own citizens
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because he was pushing gun reform. Because the anger was
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so intense that his security team feared someone might try
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to kill him. He didn't back down, stood at the
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podium in that vest and made his case. Explained why
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the reforms were necessary, why thirty five dead bodies demanded action,
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Why the right to own a semi automatic rifle did
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not outweigh the right of children to survive a day
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at school. The crowd booed, they heckled, they called him names.
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He kept talking, finished his speech, left under heavy security.
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That's political courage, not the courage of rhetoric. The courage
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of standing in front of people who might want to
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kill you and telling them they're wrong. Howard would later
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describe the gun reforms as the achievement he was most
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proud of, more than the economic reforms, more than the
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tax changes, more than anything else he did in eleven
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years as Prime minister. I hate guns, he said. I
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don't think a lot of people understand this. Exposed to
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this evidence of what rapid fire weapons can do, I
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don't see any civilian need for them. They're designed to
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kill people, designed to kill people. That's what semi automatic
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rifles are for, not hunting, not sport, killing humans efficiently,
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Australia decided civilians didn't need them. America still has. The
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mandatory buyback began in October nineteen ninety six. Owners of
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newly prohibited weapons had twelve months to surrender them. Compensation
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was set at fair market value. If you owned a
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semi automatic rifle worth five hundred dollars, you got five
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hundred dollars, no haggling, no penalties for those who complied.
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Police stations and collection points across the country began accepting firearms.
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Lines formed. Gun owners, some angry, some resigned, some supportive,
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brought in their weapons. The scale was staggering. In the
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first twelve months, six hundred forty three thousand firearms surrendered.
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Semi automatic rifles, semi automatic shotguns, pump action shotguns, weapons
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that had been legal the day before Port Arthur, now prohibited,
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now destroyed. Some were collector's items, antique weapons passed down
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through generations, historic pieces with sentimental value. Their owners received
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compensation but still grieved their loss. Most were just tools
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of potential destruction, mass produced rifles, shotguns bought for no
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particular purpose, weapons sitting in closets waiting to be used
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or stolen or misused. All of them destroyed, melted down,
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cut apart, rendered permanently inoperable, removed from circulation forever. The
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total cost approximately five hundred million Australian dollars, funded by
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a one off medicare levy. Every taxpayer contributed. Every Australian
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paid a small amount, so that six hundred fifty thousand
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guns could be destroyed. By the time the buyback concluded
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in nineteen ninety seven, Australia had removed approximately one fifth
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of its total firearms from circulation, one in five guns gone.
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But the buyback was just one part of the reforms.
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The registration requirements meant that remaining weapons could be tracked.
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The licensing requirements meant that new who purchases would be scrutinized.
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The storage requirements meant that guns would be secured, not
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left accessible to children or thieves. The entire system changed,
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not just the number of guns, but the culture around them.
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Owning a firearm became something that required justification, documentation, responsibility,
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not a casual purchase, not a right to be exercised
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without oversight. Compliance was high. Most gun owners, even those
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who opposed the reforms politically turned in their prohibited weapons.
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The penalties for non compliance were severe, and the social
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pressure was intense after Port Arthur. Harboring illegal weapons wasn't
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just criminal, it was shameful. Some weapons remained hidden, some
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owners refused to comply. The black market didn't disappear entirely.
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No law eliminates all crime, but the overwhelming majority of
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semi automatic weapons were removed from Australian society permanently, irreversibly.
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That was the point, not perfection reduction, making it harder,
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