
April 29th of 1996, a day that would change Australia forever. Martin Bryant went on a killing spree where he killed 35 people in the tourist site of Tasmania, Australia. This prompted the Australian parliament to react in just twelve days with a plan to prohibit automatic and semi automatic guns in Australia. Japan is known as a country with one of the strictest gun control policies. The only gun that is even available for a Japanese citizen is a shotgun and even then you have to go through a process to possess one. In Great Britain, you have to be a police officer or a member of the armed forces to own a gun; which is why Great Britain has the reputation of having some of the strongest gun control laws in the world. All of this leading to one main question, what are the effects of gun control laws in these three nations? 

Australia used the tourists massacre of 1996 to create a legal policy on firearms. After the massacre the government implemented the National Firearms Agreement (NFA) which resulted in more than 700,000 weapons being surrendered to the Australian government. This agreement created a federal ban on the import of all firearms and parts to those firearms. In 2002 a few years after the NFA was created Australia activated the National Firearm Trafficking Policy which increased the border protection to help eliminate the illegal trade of guns into Australia, along with activating new laws for having the possession of a firearm. After a school shooting in 2002 Australia made the laws of handguns stricter while also enacting a National Handgun Buyback Act in 2003 resulting in 70,000 hand guns being bought back as a result of the act. According to public polls in Australia, 90 percent of the people were in favor of all the laws that were being created for a protective measure for citizens. 

The effects of these laws stated above have been studied over the years with many statistics regarding the different aspects of gun ownership and violence in Australia. In 1988 an AIC report stated that a third of all reported murders in Australia were committed with firearms. The report stating "the single most common cause of death among homicide victims ...  guns substantially increase the probability that death rather than injury will be the end result of a firearm attack." The report states statistics on firearm related deaths between 1991 and 2001 the statistics show there were 629 fire arm deaths in 1991 compared to 333 in 2001, a 47 percent decrease in firearm deaths. ("Firearm Deaths" loc.gov) As the report goes on it explains the effects on suicide rates from firearms; it explains that the percentage dropped 65 percent after the Australian Firearms Buyback. Authors of the study stated that they found "key studies based on time series data have agreed that there has been a significant fall in the number of firearm suicides and firearm homicides have declined substantially." ("Non-government studies" loc.gov) 

Gun control in Japan has been implemented since the sixteenth century. After World War II-gun control in Japan became very strict so much so that many civilians in Japan have never seen a firearm in their life. The process of getting a gun-possession permit is very time consuming for a Japanese citizen, in order for a person to own one they must also pay a tax along with going through the process of getting a permit. In 1899 was when Japan first issued gun control into their government. In 11 short years this law was completely redone, it banned the sale of guns and explosives, it made the transfer, transport, and manufacturing of guns only allowed under government license. Although it was regulated citizens were still able to possess guns. After World War II in 1946 the Japanese Government issued the Imperial Ordinance Concerning the Prohibition of the Possession of Guns and Other Arms. This ordinance banned the possession of swords and firearms by citizens unless it was a hunting gun that was accompanied with a license. In 1958 the law was changed to prohibit the carrying of guns and swords regardless if the gun was licensed. This was a result of the spike in gang fights where guns were being used. Since 1958 the law has been amended a few times only making the restrictions on guns tighter. 

The overall effects of the gun control ban have been proven over time even though many citizens have never seen a gun the effects of not having them are still shown. The crime rate is low in Japan compared to that of other countries, but the crime rate involving guns is particularly low having gone down over the past ten years. Suicides in Japan are very common and have one of the highest suicide rate among any country. The suicide rate by handgun is very low, as guns are not on the six major ways of committing suicide in Japan. This particularly has to do with the difficulty of maintaining a gun in the country. Many non credible sources have tried to claim that the suicide rate would be higher if the use of guns were permitted, although there has been no lasting research on this claim to date. There is no demand among the Japanese people for the government to relax on their gun policy as they have never seen a gun so most are not familiar with them. In a statement on the Law of Controlling the Possession of Firearms and Swords states that "the reason for the restrictions on gun is that they are inherently dangerous to people; therefore, to protect the safety of the people, the possession and use of guns must be restricted." ("Perception" loc.gov) There is not much more discussion in Japan to change the laws and no discussion on why the guns are so heavily controlled. 

Michael Ryan in 1987 used two high-velocity semiautomatic rifles and an assault rifle that he lawfully owned to kill 16 people before killing himself in what is now referred to as the Hungerford Massacre. As a direct result of this shooting the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 was passed throughout Great Britain. The 1988 Act banned the ownership of high-powered, self-loading rifles while also banning burst-firing weapons. This act also imposed stricter standards for being issued an ownership certification for a shotgun with more than two bullets in the magazine. In 1996 ten years after the Hungerford massacre a man walked into an elementary school in Scotland and opened fire killing 16 children and the teacher. He had lawfully held the firearms for twenty years prior to this shooting. This shooting prompted the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 which prohibited the private ownership of handguns in Britain. 

The statistical numbers from The Law Library of Congress show that the number of firearm offenses had been slowly falling and in the year 2010/2011 the number had decreased 13 percent from the previous year. The number has been falling for many years the handgun ban from the Firearms Act in 1997 showed a big improvement in hand gun shooting deaths steady falling every year until 2010/2011 where the number decreased 17 percent from the previous year. The effects of the Hungerford Massacre resulting in the first Firearms (Amendment) Act showed an increase in security for obtaining a license, while also showing a change in the people's attitudes towards guns for civilians. After the school shooting in Scotland the public became overwhelmingly opinionated about what they believed in for gun control. They tried to persuade the ban to be on all firearms for the civilian population. The efforts of the Amendment Acts have shown decrease over the years in civilian murders by hand guns and shot guns. 

Australia and Great Britain have many things in common when it comes to their gun control laws. It took mass shootings for them to crack down on the civilians use of guns. Australia used the buyback effort to clean up the use of automatic weapons from civilians which generated a positive outlook from the citizens according to reports. Great Britain amended their constitution several times in order to assure safety for the citizens. Japan has used gun control for centuries to the point where many civilians don't know what a gun looks like or how to use one. The efforts of all three nations have had their statistical effects on the countries in their own way. While the use of statistics can not explain all the effects on gun control it does give some clarity to the situation. 

