Good Thinking Down Under : Sweeping crackdown on firearms is shaping up in Australia

Less than two weeks after a gunman massacred 35 people in the Australian island state of Tasmania, the government has ordered an immediate ban on the importation of most rifles and shotguns and fostered a consensus that is expected to lead to a sweeping crackdown on gun ownership, possession and sales.

The action grows out of agreements among officials of the states and territories, which under Australia’s constitution have most of the responsibility for gun control, and the federal government. The officials have promised to seek the necessary legislation as soon as possible, with the objective of assuring that the same tough and uniform firearm laws are on the books throughout the country.

What it all means, says Prime Minister John Howard, is that “this country has decided not to go down the American path. It has decided to go down another path. Ours is a culture of peaceful cooperation.”

Handguns have long been illegal in Australia, but paradoxically virtually all other guns have been readily available. Soon, if officials have their way, and they should, all military-style rifles as well as self-loading and pump-action shotguns will be banned, with mandatory jail sentences for illegally possessing the most dangerous weapons. Some exceptions on gun ownership will be made for farmers. The government expects to spend millions of dollars buying up hundreds of thousands of prohibited weapons.

Australia has its own gun lobby, the Sporting Shooters’ Assn., which raises the claim--familiar to Americans--that the proposed control measures would only harm the law-abiding while doing nothing to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. A still-horrified public doesn’t think so. Polls show 85% to 90% of Australians want tougher gun control laws. There seems to be an excellent chance they will get them. Perhaps Australia will soon set an example the United States can learn from.