What Australia Did To Prevent Mass Shootings, And How The U.S. Could Learn

These countries have very different societies. Many of these countries are not as large as America, nor do they have the freedoms we have. America is a country where we are very "spoiled' when it comes to personal rights, and trying to restrict anything in America is hard to do. It's like when you tell a child they can no longer have a lollipop when they are used to always having a lollipop. You may be trying to help prevent cavities, but the child is going to throw a fit.

In America, gun ownership is a RIGHT.

Facts:

1. Approximately 3.6 in 100,000 people are killed with a weapon in America annually. There are 1.0 in 100,000 people are killed with a weapon in Australia annually.

2. There are approximately 12,000 gun related MURDERS in America annually.
3. Of these 12,000, approximately 280 are rifle related murders.
4. Of these 12,000 approximately 308 are shotgun related murders.
5. Knives are used to murder more people thank shotguns and pistols combined.
6. 5,000 - 8,000+ murders are committed with a pistol.
7. More than 50% of all gun related murders are also gang related.

I have a hard time understanding why anyone would think that restricting or banning semi-automatic rifles would have any impact on this 12,000.

*In 1966, a man committed a mass shooting at Texas University when he killed 17 people using a bolt-action hunting rifle.

*In 2016, a Japanese man killed 19 people with a steak knife. Max effective range: the length of an arm.

I believe that if you allowed Americans to purchase automatic, military grade weapons, we would see little to no effect on the average number of murders or the number of murders using these weapons. I believe most Americans would remain law-abiding.

Those who are disturbed enough to murder anyone, no less many people indiscriminately, are going to regardless of any gun laws.

You can make or purchase explosives very easily. For $50 right now, I could buy a binary explosive large enough to take out an entire car. A steak knife is another option to create a lot of damage. There are almost more cars than people in America - cars have been used in terroristic attacks. Cars, by the way, are responsible for the deaths of 33,000 American deaths a year. 1/3 of those are alcohol related. This is 3x the amount of gun related deaths.

The point is. In America, you cannot stop murderers. You can make it seemingly "more difficult" - but at the end of the day, all you are doing it taking away the ability to protect yourself and others. Taking away a tool that is only as dangerous as the person using it (much like a car).

For those who want to restrict how fast a gun can shoot, I counter that with this argument. A car only needs to go as fast as the speed limit. We cannot legal exceed this speed limit which is 55MPH-70MPH depending on the highway. Why then, do almost all cars have the ability to go 100mph+? Why do we have sports cars that can go 3 or 4 times the speed limit? You do not see anyone calling for a ban on Mustangs after the driver uses it to speed - or when the driver uses it to plow into a crowd of people. We go after the DRIVER.

Why then do we go after the weapon instead to the SHOOTER?

Might be able to stop mass shootings, but someone will find another way to take out a massive amount of people.