Less than one week after a massacre at two mosques killed 50 people in New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a ban on the sale of assault rifles and military-style semi-automatic weapons. The law is expected to be in place by April and a buyback programme will also be introduced.
In 1996 a gunman went on a rampage in Port Arthur, Australia, killing 35 people and wounding 23 - the deadliest shooting in Australian history. The result in Australia, too, was fundamental change to gun laws. The National Firearms Programme Implementation Act of 1996 restricted the private ownership of semi-automatic rifle and shotguns. The government there also initiated a mandatory firearm buyback scheme.
In the United States - where perhaps the world's fiercest debate on gun control rages - the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) has often used what happened in Australia in the 1990s as a warning of what could happen in the US.
On March 25, the Al Jazeera Investigations Unit releases its latest film, “How to Sell a Massacre” - a 3-year investigation into the pro-gun lobby, which reveals secrets and connections that some don’t want exposed. On this episode of The Stream, an in-depth look at this groundbreaking film.
On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:
Philip Alpers @GunPolicyOrg
Editor, GunPolicy.org
Professor, School of Public Health, University of Sydney
Peter Charley @AJIunit
Executive producer, Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
aljazeera.com
Sina Brown-Davis @uriohau @AKPeaceAction
Founding member, Auckland Peace Action
aucklandpeaceaction.wordpress.com
Read more:
New Zealand just banned military-style firearms. Here’s why the U.S. can’t. - Washington Post
The ban of military-style semi-automatics will cost millions - here is how the Australians did it - Stuff
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