Tough gun laws in Australia eliminate mass shootings
Study finds legislation effective in wake of 1996 massacre
By Meghan Rosen
Australia has seen zero mass shootings in the 20 years since it enacted strict gun control laws and a mandatory gun buyback program, researchers report June 22 in JAMA.
Key to this success is probably the reduction in people’s exposure to semiautomatic weapons, Johns Hopkins University health policy researcher Daniel Webster writes in an accompanying editorial.
“Here’s a society that recognized a public safety threat, found it unacceptable, and took measures to address the problem,” Webster says.