I'm an Australian gun owner. I've been shooting for about 25 years.
Back in the 1996 a fellow named Martin Bryant killed 35 people and injured another 21. He went on a shooting spree in Port Arthur, Tasmania. I believe this incident still rates as one of the worlds largest mass shootings in recent years.
Tasmania had about the laxest gun laws in the country at the time and it was fairly easy to source a semi automatic center fire rifle that Bryant used so effectively. The rest of the county had already pretty much banned these firearms without a special permit. A move that I agree with to a certain extent since an AK47 or an M16 is pretty much an overkill for hunting.
After Bryant's rampage at Port Arthur there was a public outcry and shouts about banning guns. This was beat up by the press to great effect. Especially when they put a bunch of red neck pro gun people in front of the cameras who also happened to have a load of dodgy nationalist political views as well. The end result was that most regular folks thought us shooters were a bunch nut cases if these people are representative.
The government decided despite mass protests from shooters to tighten up the laws and make them uniform for the whole country. This meant a ban on all semi automatic fire arms and pump action shot guns. They then instigated a buy back program where you had to hand in your fire arm and were financially compensated.
I handed in a Pump action shot gun and 2x semi auto .22 rim fires. The pump gun was great for duck shooting, general rabbit hunting and the odd go at trap shooting. The .22 rifles were great rabbit rifles.
I never replaced the shotgun as to get a reasonable Under Over 12 gage was about $2K at the time and they only gave me $500 for my old shotgun.
It was sad to see guys handing in old browning semi auto shot guns that their grand fathers had owned and handed down. Knowing that later these heirlooms would be crushed and destroyed, the small financial compensation doesn't cover it.
It was a sad time for me and many other responsible shooters as the image of our sport was irrecoverably damaged. Even when our shooters are winning golds at the Olympic games 2 months after Port Arthur and the Commonwealth games 2 years later The media reports are awkward and uncomfortable. The Australian public still thinking we were all gun toting crazies.
I'm was a keen competition target shooter and in the years since I've seen so many target clubs fold and disappear. Many of these are clubs had been in operation for more than 100 years. Lack of new shooters coming through and loss of safety zones behind rifle ranges has seen the sport dwindle.
A fire arm was never an option for home defense in this country. The laws even before Port Arthur were pretty strict on that front. The storage requirements for fire arms and ammunition have always been strict. Having your gun in a locked gun safe with the ammunition in another locked box meant that running to grab your rifle was not a quick and easy thing to do and shooting an invader in your home could be construed as premeditated. Better to keep a cricket bat under the bed or a 9 iron in the wardrobe.
So all the honest responsible shooters handed in their firearms but we still have gun related homicides. I think this is because the type of people who commit gun related homicides are not the type to have a legally registered fire arm let alone hand it in when asked.
I don't worry about those people though since they spend most of their time shooting each other.
For more info on Port Arthur have a read of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Ar...cre_(Australia)
There's also some good info on the history of gun laws in Australia here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Australia
Cheers