It's sad only true — in America, we can hardly go a few weeks without news of a mass shooting. Some companies are responding by severing ties with the National Rifle Association, but gun control comes at a slow pace because some politicians get big entrada contributions from the NRA. However, one land's sweeping gun police changes provide a blueprint for how things could alter in the Usa.
Australia and the United states of america take wildly dissimilar processes when it comes to getting a gun. Here'southward a quick comparison. We'll hash out the one reason Australia made gun law changes in favor of gun control, and how buying a gun is drastically different in each land.

The ane reason Australia has strict gun command laws

Port Arthur Massacre australia
After the attack, the government sprung into action. | William West/AFP/Getty Images
  • Port Arthur Massacre of 1996
  • 53 people killed or wounded

The Port Arthur Massacre in April of 1996 is the consequence that prompted Commonwealth of australia to completely rewrite its gun laws. Acting solitary and using automated and semi-automatic guns, Martin Bryant killed 35 people and wounded 18 during a rampage in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia. Bryant'southward killing spree happened on Apr 28, 1996, he was apprehended the next 24-hour interval, and he was sentenced on Nov. 22, 1996.
Next:Before and after

Australia'due south gun command laws and then…

Australia gun buy back
Things were pretty similar to how they are in the U.S. | Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
  • More than 400 firearm suicides in 1994
  • Estimated iii.v million firearms at the fourth dimension

Earlier the Port Arthur Massacre, the gun laws in Australia were similar to how they currently are in the United states — lax and disparate. There were no country-wide laws . Each of Australia's states and territories had their own laws about buying and legislation. In 1994 alone, there were more than 400 suicides and 90 deaths from firearms in Commonwealth of australia.
Next: Commonwealth of australia made quick, sweeping changes later Port Arthur.

… and now

Australia gun buy back
There hasn't been a mass shooting since 1996. | William W/AFP/Getty Images
  • Sweeping Australian gun law changes in 1996
  • More than 640,000 firearms surrendered in a buyback programme

By the end of 1996, the gun laws in Australia were totally different. Automatic and semiautomatic rifles, too as pump-action shotguns, were completely banned. Australians surrendered more than than 640,000 guns every bit function of a buyback plan. Not only that, but the new law prohibited "the sale, resale, transfer, ownership, industry, and use" of the banned guns.
Next: Let's do a two-step dance.

Buying a gun in the U.S. is piece of cake

Guns on wall
Individual sales is a huge loophole. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images
  • In lots of states, information technology's a two-step process
  • Sometimes, there is but 1 stride

Despite all the gun violence in the United States, it's still not very hard to get your hands on a gun. It's commonly a two-pace process:

  • Pass a groundwork check
  • Go buy a gun

However, roughly 40% of American gun owners avoid the background check. How? Through private sales . I of the big loopholes in American gun laws is that private sellers don't have to do background checks. At gun shows or similar events, someone who wants to purchase guns tin can get every bit many every bit they want immediately. Fifty-fifty a 13-twelvemonth old who can't legally own a gun tin can get one at a gun show, as this video shows.
Next: The laws in America are all over the place.

There aren't whatever uniform gun control laws in the U.S.

Man sighting a rifle at a gun show
Laws vary widely state to state. | Ethan Miller/Getty Images
  • States write their own laws
  • Gun laws in America are all over the map, literally.

In the states with the loosest gun laws , such every bit Arizona, Wyoming, and Mississippi, yous don't need a permit to purchase or comport guns. For case, in Kansas college students at public schools tin carry curtained weapons in class.
On the other stop of the spectrum, yous accept states like California and New York where guns are highly regulated. Since states create their own laws, similar to Australia's old method, y'all have some states with restrictive gun laws or laws that let police force take guns from certain people.
Next: Getting armed downward under is not easy.

The way information technology works in Australia

They actually brand sure people are able to handle guns. | Scott Olson/Getty Images
  • You accept to join a club first
  • The groundwork check is very rigorous

Under Commonwealth of australia's current gun laws, prospective gun owners need to join and regularly attend a hunting or shooting club before they tin can fifty-fifty call back about buying a gun. Another selection is proving you are a firearms collector, but that's only the showtime of the procedure. According to the New York Times , Australians also have to:

  • Attend a firearms safety course
  • Pass a written and applied exam
  • Testify they have gun storage that meets regulations
  • Laissez passer a rigorous background check that looks at criminal history, domestic violence, restraining orders, and arrest history.

Interviews with family unit or community members are also role of the background cheque process in Australia.
Next:  Our Australian gun-buying journey is just beginning.

Only wait, there'southward more than to it

gun range shooter practicing
Yous have to wait at least 28 days. | Scott Olson/Getty Images
  • You need a very specific permit
  • So y'all wait weeks

Afterwards y'all join a hunting society, nourish a safe course, pass the written and practical tests, set your storage measures, and pass a background check, there'due south still a lot more you lot have to practice before buying a gun in Australia. Yous have to apply for (and receive) a permit, just the let is specific to the type of gun you plan on buying. Then, later waiting at least 28 days, yous tin head out and buy the gun you're permitted to buy.
Next: In terms of the gun-buying process, the U.Due south. is not keeping good company.

The U.South. is keeping sketchy company

Rebels in a truck waving guns in the air
Nosotros are about similar to Yemen. | Saleh Al-Obeidi/AFP/Getty Images
  • Only i other country makes it as piece of cake to purchase firearms
  • In most places, information technology'due south a lot of work to get a gun

As nosotros discussed on folio 4, buying a gun in the U.South. is a two-step procedure. It might be a one-step process, depending on where you live and who you're buying from. The New York Times reports that Yemen is the only other country where buying a gun is every bit easy equally it is in the U.Southward. All information technology takes to purchase a gun in Yemen is money and a person willing to sell yous a gun.
Most of the world is similar Australia when it comes to gun control laws. Buying a gun is a long process and owning a gun is a privilege, non a right. In Germany, police can search a gun owner's habitation at any fourth dimension to check that guns are beingness stored properly. Chinese citizens tin can't have guns at home, they accept to be stored at a shooting range.
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