Changes

In [[Australia]], where gun ownership was less widespread and the gun control measures were less strict, there was an increase in robbery and armed robbery after the gun control went into effect in 1996, but by 2004 these had dropped back to 1996 levels (see chart at right).  A pro-gun group, commenting on the figures up to 2000, were not prepared to attribute even the inital rise to the introduction of gun control.<ref name="Results" /><ref>The "public was immediately whipped into a gun control frenzy by the press" after the "Port Arthur massacre" in Tasmania on April 28, 1996, in which 32 were shot to death and 19 injured.  "Although polls done prior to the massacre indicated that the public was satisfied with the amount of 'gun control' they already had, a major newspaper did a poll just a few days after the massacre (while all minds were "clear") and, not surprisingly, found high levels of support for extreme gun control measures.  This poll would be used forever by the commonwealth government and other gun controllers to claim that Australians supported the new gun laws to come." - [http://www.gunsandcrime.org/aussiegc.html Gun Control in Australia] (by gunsandcrime.org)</ref>  At the same time there is no evidence supporting the promised decrease in crime from gun control.<ref name="Results">[http://www.gunsandcrime.org/auresult.html Results of the Australian Gun "Buyback" & New Gun Laws], October 2001</ref><ref>[http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/azl084v1 Study showing lack of promised benefits from gun control]</ref>

In [[Australia]], where gun ownership was less widespread and the gun control measures were less strict, there was an increase in robbery and armed robbery after the gun control went into effect in 1996, but by 2004 these had dropped back to 1996 levels (see chart at right).  A pro-gun group, commenting on the figures up to 2000, were not prepared to attribute even the inital rise to the introduction of gun control.<ref name="Results" /><ref>The "public was immediately whipped into a gun control frenzy by the press" after the "Port Arthur massacre" in Tasmania on April 28, 1996, in which 32 were shot to death and 19 injured.  "Although polls done prior to the massacre indicated that the public was satisfied with the amount of 'gun control' they already had, a major newspaper did a poll just a few days after the massacre (while all minds were "clear") and, not surprisingly, found high levels of support for extreme gun control measures.  This poll would be used forever by the commonwealth government and other gun controllers to claim that Australians supported the new gun laws to come." - [http://www.gunsandcrime.org/aussiegc.html Gun Control in Australia] (by gunsandcrime.org)</ref>  At the same time there is no evidence supporting the promised decrease in crime from gun control.<ref name="Results">[http://www.gunsandcrime.org/auresult.html Results of the Australian Gun "Buyback" & New Gun Laws], October 2001</ref><ref>[http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/azl084v1 Study showing lack of promised benefits from gun control]</ref>

[[Liberals]] obtained the same political effect in enacting gun control in [[Britain]] and [[Canada]].  In [[Britain]], for example, the enactment of a ban on most handguns by the Conservative government in February 1997 had little effect on the general election later that year with the [[Labour Party]] winning a landslide 179 seat majority, the first time it exceeded 40% of the popular vote in over 25 years. The new government, with cross-party support, soon extended the ban to cover nearly all handguns.

[[Liberals]] obtained the same political effect in enacting gun control in [[Britain]] and [[Canada]].  In [[Britain]], for example, the enactment of a ban on most handguns by the Conservative government in February 1997 resulted in the [[Labour Party]] winning a landslide 179 seat majority in the general election later that year, the first time it exceeded 40% of the popular vote in over 25 years. The new government, with cross-party support, soon extended the ban to cover nearly all handguns.

== Trends ==

== Trends ==