Thank you, John Howard, for Australia's gun laws.

‘Thank you, John Howard. In 1996 you made a tough call and we’re all safer because you did.’

For the 381st time this year I have found myself silently thanking Australia’s former Prime Minister.

Because yesterday, according to ShootingTracker.com, the United States experienced its 381sth mass shooting for 2015. Yesterday a husband and wife, wearing combat clothing and armed with assault riffles, inexplicably opened fire at a centre for people with developmental disabilities in San Bernardino, murdering 14 people and wounding 17 others. Police are saying their goal was to commit a mass atrocity.

I’m not the first person to point out there have been more mass shootings in America in 2015 than there have been days of the year. (And just to be clear –ShootingTracker.com defines a mass shooting as an incidence where at least four people are killed or wounded by gunfire, including perpetrator/perpetrators.)

381 MASS SHOOTINGS in less than a year.

And you know what? All I can think is ‘Thank God for John Howard.’

Because whatever you think of Howard, his prime ministership or the Liberal party – we all owe Australia’s 25th Prime Minister a vote of thanks for the courage and foresight he showed nearly 20 years ago.

In April 1996 a lone 28-year-old gunman entered the historic Port Arthur tourist site (a former penal colony) in Tasmania and shot dead 20 innocent people in the first 90 seconds. That gunman (whom I refuse to name) went on to murder a total of 35 people, seriously wounding 18 others. Reports later revealed he was able to purchase his semi-automatic assault weapon from a gun dealer without holding the required gun licence.

Overnight Prime Minister Howard took action. He knew such an atrocity must never happen again in our country.

Watch Prime Minister Howard discuss his decision regarding gun control:

Howard made the brave and – let’s be clear – unpopular move to take on the gun lobby. He introduced a government gun buy back scheme which saw the government buy back (and destruction) of more than 700,000 Australian owned guns. And he essentially forced the states to sign an agreement for nationwide gun law reforms.

“The National Firearms Programme Implementation Act 1996, restricts the private ownership of semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic shotguns and pump-action shotguns as well as introducing uniform firearms licensing.”

We have not had a single mass shooting since that very day. We are a safer country because of that call.

Our children can go to school, students can wander around their university campuses, our families can go to church or to the mall or the cinema knowing that the chances an armed assailant is going to turn up is all but impossible.
Prime Minister Howard made that possible.

Australia isn’t perfect. We all know that. We have much to do in truly valuing and respecting our indigenous communities. We have incredible work to do in the area of male violence against women and children. We struggle to show the compassion needed towards those in detention. We have a serious issue with alcohol. I could go on.

But by God we got something right and it’s this.

So thank you, Prime Minister Howard.

In 1996 you made a tough call that changed our nation and we’re all safer because you did.

Gregg Aussie-Stilton

As an Aussie living in the USA, I am always seeing the Australian news reports and often asked by many of my Australian friends if I am scared living in the USA with all the guns and people getting killed every day. First of all let me say this don’t believe what you see or hear from the media. “But what about the statistics there are so many deaths we don’t have any mass shootings in Australia not any more since we took all the guns away” Hmmm interesting statements yet there are still plenty of gun related deaths in Australia. Many of the shooting deaths in the USA are from specific areas which most reasonable non criminal people stay away from. Thank fully I live in the North West a gun toting state with very little crime.

The problem with statistics are that they are skewed as to who and what purpose they are presented, be it news or political agendas. For example the media tells us there have been 355 Mass shootings this year in the US where in fact the Mass shootings have been closer to a handful I believe 6 if you include WACO and the police were the shooters in that case.

For information a “mass shooting” is classed as anything over four people injured or killed.

Stats need to be more than just simple numbers they need to consider many other factors for example in the US there are 350 million people, living in the same land mass as Australia which has only a population of 24 Million. The USA has approximately 18% living below the poverty line that is almost 3 times the population of Australia. As result crime is significantly higher here than in Australia or many other countries for that matter. Yet this never plays a part in the assessment of statistics. Raw numbers are what sells newspapers and promotes agendas, not the sad story behind it.

We also need to consider terrorists acts, the USA is the world super power as a result it has more effect to create a terrorist plot in the USA then in Australia simply because the effect is far greater. Although Australia has seen its fair share of terrorists plots in reality an attack on Australia has a small impact on the world .And in reality Australia is hardly a threat, internationally to ISIS or similar religious fanatics simply due to size and economics.

Guns are not issue this is demonstrated by the simple fact that most of the terrorist events and most of the shooting deaths take place in states were there are very strict gun controls, and in many instances mass shootings are in NO GUN ZONES. Criminals and terrorists don’t care about laws that is why they are criminals.

There have been over 30,000 deaths as a result of a motor car this year. Should we change the law? Many of those accidents are the result of Cell phone use, should we ban Cell phones.

I am glad I can carry a gun if I wish. I hope never to have to use it for my own protection or the protection of a family member or friend. But if I do I know I will have at least been given a fighting chance to do something rather then curl up in a ball and be killed.