Alpers, Philip and Zareh Ghazarian. 2019 ‘Australia's 'Perfect Storm' of Gun Control: From Policy Inertia to World Leader.’ Successful Public Policy: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand. J. Luetjens, M. Mintrom and P. 't Hart, Eds (Chapter 9), pp. 209-10. Canberra: ANU Press. 1 January

Relevant contents

In the 15 years preceding gun law reform, Australia saw 14 mass shootings in which a total of 117 people died. In the 20 years that followed, no mass public shootings occurred (see Alpers 2019).

In the same two decades after gun law reform, the rate of fatal shootings that claimed fewer than five victims—that is, the majority of gun deaths—also showed a downward trend. But, as Figure 9.1 shows, that trend had been apparent for several years before the new firearm legislation was introduced.

Figure 9.1 Rate of all gun deaths in Australia, 1987–2016 (per 100,000 people)
Source: Alpers et al. (2018b).

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