What is the National Firearms Agreement?
The National Firearms Agreement is an agreement between Australian governments, introduced in 1996 after the Port Arthur massacre, that tightened gun laws. It banned most automatic and semi-automatic weapons and introduced a national gun buyback.
On 28 April 1996, a gunman killed 35 people at the Port Arthur historic site in Tasmania. The tragedy led to calls for urgent gun law reform.
Prime Minister John Howard, newly elected, worked with state and territory leaders to agree on uniform national gun laws within weeks.
What the agreement did
The agreement banned rapid-fire rifles and shotguns, required licenses and registration for all firearms, and required people to show a genuine reason for owning a gun. Self-defense was not accepted as a reason.
A buyback scheme collected and destroyed more than 650,000 firearms. The scheme was funded by a temporary increase in the Medicare levy.
Studies show that Australia has had far fewer mass shootings since 1996. The National Firearms Agreement is often cited internationally as an example of gun control. Howard faced strong opposition from some rural voters and wore a bulletproof vest at a rally in Sale, Victoria.