Australia's Gun Laws

My friend, an actress from LA, was in Sydney to shoot a crime show. 

She told me that the show's gun handler had supplied the weapons for most blockbuster movies filmed in Australia.  

I remembered that guns were not allowed in the country and asked her if the gun handler would sit and talk with me about Australia's gun laws. 

He agreed.

Forensic Magazine

When I met with him, he told me about a gun shop in my neighborhood! 

I was so surprised because I passed the shop at least once a week but never knew it sold weapons, even with the signage outside the store that read, 'Buy Guns Here' like in the US.

I had believed the rumors I heard about firearms not being allowed in Australia.  

And why wouldn't I? Gun violence in Australia is very low, and mass murder is extremely rare.  

The shop's associate set me straight and told me that Aussies do have guns, just not the types that quickly kill large numbers of people.  

Collection of weapons.

But that wasn't always the case!

In 1996, Australia's guns laws tightened, almost overnight, when a lunatic with an AR-15 rifle with a 30-shot magazine opened fire, killing 35 people and injuring 23 in a cafe located in Port Arthur, Tasmania.

Port Arthur's historical site includes the ruins of a large prison.

The gunman selected the town for the attack because of its brutal history and popularity.

 

It was a 19th-century penal settlement, now a historical site attracting many tourists.

 

The death scene following the massacre was so horrific that it shocked the nation. 

Everyone on the scene, including police officers and medical staff, needed counseling. 

It wasn't the first mass shooting in the country - there were 13 in the decade leading up to it; however, it was the deadliest. 

The newly elected Prime Minister, John Howard, who had only been in office for six weeks, was compelled to find a solution to gun violence so nothing that horrific would ever happen again.  

Former Prime Minister John Howard

Prime Minister Howard called a meeting with his staff just hours after the massacre to discuss gun control. 

His strategy was to strike while the iron was hot and act on the issue with national support.

In Australia, the federal government can regulate the importation of firearms, but gun laws fall under the country's states and territories.    

The three levels of government work together.

So, Howard worked with state governments and National Party members to develop a National Firearms Agreement (NFA).

The ruling lobby was the gun lobby, but they did not have the same power as America's National Rifle Association (NRA). 

And although folks living in rural areas didn't want gun reform, the shockingly massive loss of life caused them to have a change of heart.  

This helped.

In Australia, gun ownership is a conditional privilege - not a right.  

Because of this, the agreement passed quickly and was made into law just 12 days after the Port Arthur killings.  That's less than two weeks!

The agreement called for an immediate ban on fully & semi-automatic rifles, military-style guns, magazines, and pump-action shotguns with some exceptions such as police or military use. 

In 2002, there was a subsequent agreement on importing handguns based on caliber, barrel length, and capacity.  

For private citizens, banned guns cannot be imported, owned, sold, resold, transferred, manufactured, or used anywhere in the country.

Australia banned semi-automatic weapons

The agreement also included a national buyback program.

The Australian Constitution mandates the Commonwealth to compensate folks for their private property.  As a result, people were paid market value for guns.  

The country's Medicare (universal healthcare) tax increased to pay for the guns. 

In conjunction with the buyback, a national firearms amnesty ran for 12 months so folks could come forth to sell their unregistered weapons without being penalized.    

Between October 1996 and September 1997, the Australian government confiscated and destroyed over 650,000 guns - making it one of the largest buyback programs in history.   

A second buyback was held in 2003, in which 68,727 more guns were retrieved and destroyed.

Australia's gun buyback - 1996

Under the new agreement, the requirements for getting a firearms license were strict. 

First and foremost, applicants must prove to the Commissioner of Police that they have a "genuine reason" for buying a gun. 

Self-defense and protection of property were not "genuine reasons." 

According to the Firearms Act, 1996, acceptable reasons include:

• Recreational hunting/vermin control

• Vertebrate pest animal control

• Business or employment

• Primary production

• Rural occupation

• Animal welfare

• Sport/target shooting

Actress & Acting Coach Gloria Garayua, at target shooting practice for her latest project.

Shooting Clubs that sponsor recreational target shooting, practice, and competitions are a big part of the Australian culture for gun owners.

Some of the other requirements for getting a license are listed below:

• Applicants must be 18 years of age or older and fit the criteria for being a fit and proper person. 
• New license applicants must complete an accredited firearms safety training course. 
• Must have a separate permit for each firearm purchased, and restricted weapons licenses require more scrutiny.
• License approvals are subject to a 28-day or more extended waiting period - just in case the potential gun owner needs to cool off. 

Firearm Licence

Once approved, applicants can purchase guns from a licensed firearm dealer, who notifies the Firearms Registry. 

Each gun purchased must have a separate registration certificate. 

All guns, including BB guns, must be kept unloaded and locked in cabinets for safe storage. 

And, gun owners must store ammo separately from firearms.

While transporting firearms, guns must be temporarily incapable of being fired. 

Disarmed  Glock 19 

The associate at the gun store told me a story about someone on a back porch cleaning a gun - a neighbor saw him and became alarmed. 

Seeing someone with un for any reason can lead to legal problems in Sydney. 

Firearms must be kept out of the general public's viewing sight at all times to eliminate the possibility of theft or causing undue panic.  

Failure to comply with any of the above-outlined measures or a charge for any offense, large or small, will result in license suspension - a gun owner's worse fear.  

I do realize that gun violence can and does happen everywhere. 

But one thing is certain, Sydney, Australia, is a safer place to live because of its strict gun laws.

Sydney's Central Business District

According to FactCheck.Org, gun-related homicides and suicide rates drastically dropped in the two decades since Port Arthur. 

Other analyses have reported an 80% decline in gun-related suicides. 

In an article written by professors from the University of Sydney that BMJ Journals Online published, gunshot deaths declined at 3% per year before the reform and 6% after.

Guardian Graphic - Source: ABS, Leigh & Neill 2010

But, say it ain't so - there are more guns in Australia today than in 1996.  

The difference is that there are fewer gun owners but more guns per owner.  

Most Aussies praise Howard for creating stricter gun laws. He served four terms in the office and is Australia's second-longest-serving leader. 

His lasting legacy will always be his decisive and quick action on gun control.   

V is for Victory.

During an interview with the former Prime Minister to mark the 20th anniversary of the Port Arthur tragedy, he said:  

"I thought, 'For heaven's sake, what's the point of being in office when you can't do something significant.'"  

Stricter guns laws . . .

Weapons banned . . .

Guns locked-up for transport . . . 

I am NOT in Kansas . . . I am in OZ! 

Huntsman Spider

It's a well-known fact that Australia is infamous for its spiders, and with good reason. 

They're pretty scary looking, have shiny hairy bodies and eight legs!

Unless trapped behind a glass enclosure, even fearless Aussie children, like my grandson, is a bit leery of them.

I hadn't intended on capturing a Huntsman spider on this day. 

But if you read many of my posts, you know that I just let life happen when I'm in Sydney, and something astonishing usually does.

Grandson looks at a Huntsman with suspicion.    

It was a warm Spring afternoon, and our doors were wide-open. 

For some reason, Aussie homes don't have screen doors, which I don't understand since this is Australia. 

I would want screens around everything!

While walking past the open doorway, I noticed a Huntsman spider on the top of the roller blind.  

I've developed a special knack for spotting critters I don't want to see.  

I knew a Huntsman spider flattens its body to get under doors and windowsills, and because our door is near a window, I was able to figure this one out.

Door open - no screens!

I surprised myself and didn't panic . . . this time. 

After all, this was not my first dance with a Huntsman. 

Once I woke up in the middle of the night to discover one getting ready to crawl up the wall.  

I didn't sleep at all that night!

Huntsman spider with dust on its legs.

Another time I noticed one through the window that appeared to be trying to make its way to the window pane. 

Huntsman spider outside the window.

Huntsman spider on the window.

It's comforting to know that they are non-aggressive unless provoked, and I wasn't about to do that!  

Besides, I've never actually heard of them crawling or dropping down on people - my worse fear!

They have venom, but it's considered low-risk, nontoxic to humans.

 

A bite may cause swelling and minor pain, and an ice pack and a topical anesthetic are all that is needed to treat it.

To avoid the unnecessary stress of dealing with the spider myself, I quickly texted my daughter, who was on her way home from work, to ask her to hurry!

Then, I sat patiently staring at it -  willing it not to move till she came home.

A flattened Huntsman spider.

 

She arrived within minutes, rushed in, and asked where it was. 

Lucky for me, she's a real Huntsman spider trapper!

I was happy to point out its location. 

She pulled the shade down a bit, startling the critter, and it was on the move.    

Huntsman spider crawling down the blind.

Without blinking an eye, she placed a water glass over it, abruptly stopping its descent, slid a piece of cardboard underneath, and captured it in a matter of moments.  

What a pro!

Huntsman spider - captured in a water glass.

The Huntsman is a massive brown hairy spider with a one-inch flat body and eight legs banded and twisted, enabling it to spread them to advance forward and sideways in a crab-like fashion. 

They are often are called crab spiders.  

They molt to grow, and their old skin can be mistaken for the actual spider. 

When they are not inside, they live under loose tree bark and in rock crevices and feed on insects and other invertebrates like mosquitos, cockroaches, and sometimes geckos and small skinks. 

They come inside to grab a couple of common household insects and to escape Sydney's hot summer weather.

Some Aussies like to keep them as housemates because of their passive temperaments and appetite for household pests like roaches - not happening here!

Just looking at them makes me squeamish!

Huntsman spider crawling up our wall.

As their name suggests, they are true hunters.

They do not construct webs to catch prey.

Instead, they stalk their target, run it down, then pounce.

Like all spiders, they are nocturnal and can get into cars at night, so be sure to close car windows and doors.

They hide behind sun visors and steering wheels and scuttle out, startling drivers going 50 miles an hour on the freeway. 

Knee-jerk reactions have caused car crashes.

Huntsman spider - inside of a moving car.

The mere sight of this enormous spider is the stuff of nightmares, and the movie industry made it the star of their 1990 horror-comedy thriller Arachnophobia.

Named after the debilitating fear of spiders and other multi-legged creatures, many people have Arachnophobia, and many more are just plain afraid of spiders and don't know why. 

These eight-legged critters just freak us out!

While filming the movie, the Landcare Research organization in Auckland flew three hundred Australian Huntsman spiders to the set every two weeks. 

They were selected because they're scary-looking yet nontoxic and relatively harmless. 

Fortunately, unlike the movie, only one comes in the house at a time. 

The Movie

Australian Huntsman spiders in the movie Arachnophobia.

There are 1,207 species of the huntsman spider in the family Sparassidae, and 155 of them are in Australia.

  

Spider experts have identified 4,000 other species, with another 8,000 more still a mystery. 

Aussies love their native animals and critters - harming them is never an option. 

They believe that the huntsman spider deserves a place alongside koalas and kangaroos and, therefore, should be treasured. 

So my daughter took it outside to set it free in a nearby bush  - which is the recommended way to remove spiders from the house.

If you swat a pregnant spider,  it could release 200 spiderlings before dying.  

The redback, funnel-web, trap door, mouse, white-tailed, recluse, and tarantula spiders are dangerous and deadly, and if one of those had gotten in the house, this would have been a very different story.

Infamous Huntsman spiders . . . 

Spiders that crawl under doors . . . 

Spiders that hide in cars . . . 

I am NOT in Kansas!