Policy Memo: Reviewing Australian Gun Laws After Christchurch Shooting

This policy memo addresses the need for scrutiny and revision of Australian gun laws and policies in the wake of the Christchurch mass shooting. It begins by defining the problem, highlighting the National Firearms Agreement of 1996 and the impact of mass shootings. The memo then analyzes the issues, including the effectiveness of current gun laws, the presence of unregistered firearms, and the role of far-right extremism in Australia. It cites various studies and statistics to support its arguments. The memo also discusses the historical context of gun violence in Australia and the evolution of gun control measures. Finally, it proposes specific recommendations for the federal and territorial governments, such as restricting the number of licenses issued, revising sanctions, and targeting repeat offenders, to help reduce gun violence and prevent future mass shootings. The memo aims to inform policymakers and promote a safer Australia.

Running head: POLICY MEMO
Policy Memo
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Memo title......................................................................................................................2
Problem Definition.........................................................................................................2
Issue Analysis.................................................................................................................2
Proposed Recommendations..........................................................................................4
Bibliography...................................................................................................................5

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Memo title
To: The Australian Government
Subject: Policy recommendation as to the mas shooting at Christchurch, Australia
Date: 2 September, 2019
Problem Definition
Referring to the March 2019 mass shooting in Christchurch that killed and injured
more than 50 people, it could be stated that the Gun laws and policies of Australia needs
scrutiny and revision. Gun laws within the territory of Australia, which includes importation
of guns are controlled by federal government. The National Firearms Agreement, framed in
1996 primarily guides the gun laws in Australia. However, the high profile mass shootings in
the last two decades points out at the lucid firearm policy of the federal government that
needs to be revised. Therefore, this policy memo would be comprising of certain facts and
figures about the current gun/firearm policy in Australia along certain recommendations to
prevent the issues related to gun policy.
Issue Analysis
As stated by Chapman (2013), the impact of the gun laws in Australia indicates that
the Australian firearms laws have been effective to reduce mass shooting, armed crimes and
gun suicides. On the other hand, different studies gives dissenting view of the effectiveness of
firearm policy in Australia (Large and Nielssen 2010). As held by McPhedran and Baker
(2011), the common mass in Australia has been asking for stricter gun policy that would
abstain people from getting hold of a firearm for without a valid permit or a legal
justification. Nonetheless, as per the estimated data and records there are around 260,000
unregistered and illegal firearms in Australia which includes assault rifles. However, to the

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contrary, deaths caused by firearms in Australia since 1991 to 2001 was less by 47%
(Mouzos and Rushforth 2003). Suicide with firearm accounted for 77% of the deaths as it
went from 389 in 1995 to 147 in 2005; while firearm homicide accounts for 15% of the total
number (Mouzos and Rushforth 2003). On an average 4,195 guns were stolen every year
since 1994 to 2000 while it decreased to 1526 from 2006-2007. Even though these data
suggest that with the reduction of illegal handling of guns a reduction in firearms related
crime has been evidenced, yet the present number of mass shootings occurring every year is
still a concern and calls for the revision of the gun policy (Harding 1981). As stated by
Bricknell (2008), these stolen guns have been connected with the actual criminal activates or
have been found in the custody of criminals recently. It has been pointed out that trading of
pistols and semi-automatic pistols could be in the black-market for a cheap as 10 to 20
thousand dollars (Bricknell 2008).
Australia has been a part of extreme-right violence since the 19th century which is
evident through a number of events. One such would be the Crolulla riots that encouraged the
right-wing extremist to attack the Lebanese muslin men from the suburbs of Sydney (The
Conversation 2019). Right-right activists received unspoken support from the general
population of the country in regard to issues like environmental problems, overcrowding of
the city, competition in the job market created by immigrants. Violence has been a way of
solving issues by the far-right extremists over the years. Ideas like Antipodean Resistance and
Lads Society have been propounded by the Australian far-right wing extremists. Their core
requirement is authoritarianism, exclusionary nationalism and anti-democracy leading to
violence and conflicts within the country that has used arms and ammunition as an instrument
to establish their agenda (The Conversation 2019).
As for Australia, its gun laws have always been meant for restricting mass shooting,
for which firearm suicide and homicide had faded away from the attention of the policy

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makers. For maintaining a ‘no mass shooting’ policy by the federal government, the
definition of mass shooting has been modified by the policy makers (Evershed 2019). It has
held by policy makers that mass shooting refers to the killing or four or more people by an
assassin in one incident. Referring to this concept, it can be stated that Australia has been
experiencing mass shooing since 1996, which has now led the policy makers revise the
definition (Evershed 2019). It is held by statistical record that Australia did not experience
mas shooting before 1987 or after 1996; the decreased number of shooting since 1996 could
be justified by the prevalence of the stricter gun laws, however the absence of mass shooting
before 1987 cannot be traced even though there were sufficient availability of firearms at that
point of time (Bricknell 2008). It could, however be only justified by the situation and need
of the society, as to lesser known societal issues and hatred towards one another.
Since the mass shooting in April 1996 in Tasmania where 35 people were killed, all
eight states and the provinces approved the National Firearm Agreement (NFA) which was
subsequently implemented over all the states with the next two years by way of legislations
and policies. The NFA had banned semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, implemented policies
for buying back the banned weapons and also created a licensing system for buying and
possessing firearms. The NFA made sure to deny permitting the license of holding a firearm
to someone who was convicted in the last five years (Chapman 2013). Following the mass
shooting in 14 February 2018, killing 17 students and staffs in a School in Florida, USA
many states have been vigilant about framing stricter gun laws to protect its innocent citizens
from being a victim of mass shooting, which are often racial or religious discrimination
driven resulting to hate crime (Phipps et al. 2019).
Therefore, even if there are strict gun laws prevalent in Australia at the moment, like
the Firearms Act of 1973 in Western Australia, Firearms Act of 1977 in South Australia,
Australian Capital Territory’s Weapons Act of 1991, Guns Act of 1991 in Tasmania, et

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cetera, it is high time that the government revise the policies that were framed a decade ago;
with time it is recommended that the policies should be revisited and revised as per the
present situation of the society (Large and Nielssen 2010).
Proposed Recommendations
The federal and the territorial government must ensure that:
a) People legally prohibiting from handling guns should be kept away from guns, by
way of several strategies like police verification process for people applying for a firearm
licence, increasing the processing time for granting a license, a background check of the
person applying for licence to check whether his/her current partner has been a convict or not,
and et cetera. In brief, the government must restrict the number of license passed every year.
b) Revision of sanctions and punishment could form a deterrence in the minds of the
illegal firearm holds for being heavily prosecuted.
c) Government should implement evidence based policy as to target those repeated
offenders who have been responsible for homicide and other vicious crimes.

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Bibliography
Australian Capital Territory’s Weapons Act of 1991Bricknell, S., 2008. Firearm theft in
Australia 2006-07. Australian Institute of Criminology.
Chapman, S., 2013. Over our dead bodies: Port Arthur and Australia's fight for gun control.
Sydney University Press.
Evershed, N. (2019). Strict firearm laws reduce gun deaths: here’s the evidence. [online] the
Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2019/mar/20/strict-
firearm-laws-reduce-gun-deaths-heres-the-evidence [Accessed 2 Sep. 2019].
Firearms Act of 1973
Firearms Act of 1977
Guns Act of 1991
Harding, R., 1981. Firearms and Violence in Australian Life: An Examination of Gun
Ownership and Use in Australia. Nedlands, WA: University of Western Australia Press.
Large, M.M. and Nielssen, O.B., 2010. Suicide in Australia: meta‐analysis of rates and
methods of suicide between 1988 and 2007. Medical Journal of Australia, 192(8), pp.432-
437.
McPhedran, S. and Baker, J., 2011. Mass shootings in Australia and New Zealand: A
descriptive study of incidence. Justice Policy Journal, 8(1).
Mouzos, J. and Rushforth, C., 2003. Firearm related deaths in Australia, 1991-2001.
Australian Institute of Criminology.
National Firearms Agreement (NFA)
Phipps, C., Levin, S., Beckett, L., Walters, J., Laughland, O. and Luscombe, R. (2019). 17
confirmed dead in 'horrific' attack on Florida high school – as it happened. [online] the

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Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2018/feb/14/florida-
school-shooting-live-updates-latest-news-marjory-stoneman-douglas [Accessed 2 Sep. 2019].
The Conversation (2019). Right-wing extremism has a long history in Australia. [online] The
Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/right-wing-extremism-has-a-long-
history-in-australia-113842 [Accessed 8 Sep. 2019].