In March 2018, Victorian police were to be armed with military-style semi-automatic rifles to combat terrorism and rising armed crime. [113] Prime Minister John Howard pressured states to adopt as national firearms agreement the proposals on the Weapons Act made in a 1988 report of the National Committee on Violence,[40] which led to the non-binding National Firearms Agreement (NFA) between the Commonwealth and the states and territories, since the Constitution of Australia does not give the Commonwealth direct authority to: Enact firearms laws. In the face of opposition from some states, Howard threatened to hold a national referendum to amend the Australian constitution to give the Commonwealth constitutional power over firearms. [41] The National Firearms Convention included a ban on all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and shotguns, as well as a licensing and property control system. From 1984 to 1996, several murders caused public concern. The Milperra massacre in 1984 was a significant incident in a series of conflicts between various « outlaw biker gangs. » In 1987, Melbourne witnessed the Hoddle Street Massacre and the Queen Street Massacre. In response, several States required the registration of all weapons and restricted the availability of self-loading rifles and shotguns. In the Strathfield massacre in New South Wales in 1991, two people were killed with a knife and five others with a gun. Tasmania passed a Firearms Buyers Act in 1991 to obtain a licence, although enforcement is weak.

Gun laws in Tasmania and Queensland have remained relatively relaxed for long guns. Section 51(xxxi) of Australia`s Constitution requires « just conditions » (financial compensation) for forcibly acquired property, so the federal government introduced the Medicare Levy Amendment Act in 1996 to increase the projected cost of A$500 million through a one-time increase in the Medicare tax. The « arms buyback programme » began on 1 October 1996 and ended on 30 September 1997. The Australian National Audit Office reported that the system had forcibly acquired more than 640,000 firearms, many of which were semi-automatic rifles and shotguns (which were restricted due to the 1996 legislative changes) or old, old and dysfunctional firearms. [48] Between 1991 and 2001, the number of firearm deaths in Australia decreased by 47%. Firearm-related suicides accounted for 77% of these deaths, followed by firearm homicides (15%), firearm accidents (5%), firearm deaths as a result of legal intervention and undetermined deaths (2%). The number of suicides involving firearms declined steadily from 1991 to 1998, two years after the introduction of the Firearms Ordinance in 1996. [76] Rick Casagrande, an importer, told the Guardian Australia that the description of one of the Verney-Carron weapons as close to semi-automatic speed was « completely inaccurate » and said it was similar in speed and action to the Adler A-110.

In 2006, Weatherburn stressed the importance of actively monitoring the illegal gun trade, arguing that there was little evidence that the new laws had helped in this regard. [92] New South Wales MP David Shoebridge disagreed with Casagrande, saying the Speedline had faster action than the Eagles and should be classified in Category D alongside semi-automatic firearms, which are effectively banned. The Port Arthur massacre took place in 1996, when the gunman armed with two semi-automatic rifles opened fire on shopkeepers and tourists, killing 35 people and wounding 23. This mass murder horrified the Australian public and changed Australia`s gun laws. States issue firearms licenses for a legal reason, such as hunting, sport shooting, pest control, collection, and for farmers and farm workers. Licences must be renewed every 3 or 5 years (or 10 years in the Northern Territory and South Australia). Full licence holders must be 18 years of age. The federal government suspended imports of the Eagles in 2015 after they were classified as a Category A weapon, the lowest possible classification. It has since been classified as Category B, the type used by most hunters and sport shooters. Shooting clubs have existed in Australia since the mid-19th century. Their main concern is to protect the viability of hunting, collecting and targeting sports.

Australian shooters see their sport as permanently threatened by increasingly restrictive laws. They argue that they have been scapegoated by politicians, the media and anti-gun activists for the actions of criminals who typically use illegal firearms. Their researchers found little evidence that the increasing restrictions have improved public safety, despite the high costs and strict regulatory barriers imposed on shooters in Australia. [121] [122] The Howard government held a series of public meetings to explain the proposed amendments. At the first meeting, Howard was wearing a bulletproof vest visible under his jacket. Many shooters have criticized this. [42] [43] [44] Some gun owners applied to join the Liberal Party to influence the government, but the party excluded them from membership. [45] [46] A lawsuit brought by 500 shooters seeking to become members ultimately failed in the South Australian Supreme Court. [47] Gun Control Australia President Samantha Lee said both weapons had capabilities closer to a semi-automatic firearm than a traditional lever or bolt gun and should be banned. On Wednesday, ABC reported that a new type of fast-lever rifle, the Speedline, from the French gun manufacturer verney-Carron, has been available in Australia as a Category B firearm since 2017. In 2015, the importation of the Adler A110 lever gun into Australia sparked controversy.

The firearm itself could hold up to 7+1 shot (perhaps 10+1) in its magazine, a relatively high capacity for a shotgun, and its ability to fire relatively fast follow-up shots as a leveraged firearm. However, the problem with the Eagle A110 that caused the most controversy was that it was a Category A firearm, making it accessible to almost all licensed shooters. [57] This led to an import ban on A110 shotguns with a capacity of more than 5 cartridges (up to 5 rounds were still approved for import). Lever guns with a magazine capacity of more than 5 rounds were later reclassified as Category D firearms. [58] Some older firearms (usually flint black powder muzzle loading firearms manufactured before January 1, 1901) may be legally held in some states without a license. [18] In other countries, they are subject to the same requirements as modern firearms. [19] In August 2015, New South Wales Premier Mike Baird and Police Secretary Troy Grant announced a tightening of bail and illegal firearms laws, creating a new offence for possession of a stolen firearm punishable by up to 14 years in prison and introducing an investigation and reward system for illegal firearms.