A don't believe the guns buy back prevented so much as a single killing.
But tougher gun laws may have?
I mean, A SLR, still needs to be aimed and at a vital organ.
And that's not always easy!
As some who probably have never ever held or used any class of firearm, propose; if simply owning a firearm make one a merciless killer, then we'd all run and hide from the police!
And think, Gun crimes by police persons, match the bog standard average!
The Hoodle st massacre, was carried out by a trained soldier, armed with a bolt action rifle! Ditto Washington?
No one knows, when somebody trained to kill, is going to crack, or perhaps, already has!
However, an experienced firearms dealer, can see them coming a mile away!
Control freaks always seem to think, that some new law or prohibition will work; even though there are countless examples, where that is blatantly shown to be false! [Alcohol, abortion.]
The largest effect of the new tougher gun laws, was to make the law abiding firearm owner, far less ready to assist the authorities, for fear of somehow becoming implicated or involved.
After all this time, perhaps its time for a rethink, that as a first consequence, doesn't automatically, make the law-abiding firearm owner, the central problem!?
Switzerland was never attacked during WW11, according to German war-room documents, because they the Swiss just had too many guns in too many homes.
I believe that remains the case, and that gun crimes there, around the median average!
Rhrosty.

"Tough gun laws"?

'Tough' against whom though, certainly not 'tough' against the criminals who predictably are unaffected by the redundant bureaucratic mess of 'gun control'. All the 'gun control' does is inconvenience, irritate and introduce a raft of new high taxes for the respectable, law-abiding police-certified good citizens who seek and obtain licences and would never offend anyhow. Honestly, when will politicians like this fellow stop sledging the law-abiding and take action against the offenders?

<POLICE are seizing guns at an unprecedented rate amid deep alarm at the number of illegal firearms in the hands of criminals.

The rate of people caught illegally carrying and using guns in Victoria has jumped by 30 per cent in the past decade as black marketeers cash in.
..
In recent days, guns have been seized from members of the Finks and Outlaws motorcycle gangs.>
[Sun Herald, June12,2014]

and
<Many of the guns being seized are found by specialist squads such as the anti-bikie Echo taskforce, the armed crime taskforce and the Santiago taskforce, which was started after dozens of non-fatal shootings linked to crime families.

Some of those pictured were confiscated from Hells Angels motorcycle gang members in a major blitz on the outfit last October.>
[SunHerald,June162014]

Must be 'embraced' and 'celebrated' as part of that 'diversity-we-have-to-have', eh what?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-18/melbourne-police-target-middle-eastern-gangs/5327324

The Victorian police apparently do not agree with Andrew Leigh's positive spin on Howard's 'gun control' as being effective at all against offenders and their illegal weapons and their crimes, of course. In the Vicpol police reports, albeit hysterical as usual, there is a pointer to where the gun crime problems are coming from too, namely Middle Eastern gangs of criminals involved in stand-over and drugs. Do something about them, Mr Leigh, or does your own rigid political correctness prevent you from even identifying the real criminals?

to be continued..

continued..
Of course the leftist 'gun control' activists - who are alleged to have links with astroturfing foreign interests (eg that currency billionaire) who interfere in the social and political life of other countries, and the 'more-diversity-at-all-costs' mob are trying desperately to blame farmers for thefts committed against them. Blame farmers for crimes committed against them?! That is nasty spin.

However the real truth is that very, very few of the illegal firearms in unlicensed hands come from thefts from private licensed owners. It is very rare indeed for a crime to be committed with anything stolen from a licensed owner, as in a private citizen. Criminals prefer the new scarey, 'gangst' guns they import themselves. Even where thefts from 'private owners' have occurred -and most are from official sources such as the police themselves and park rangers have happened there have been allegations that the information could have come from lapses in police security - from police computer records including gun registry details.

What you are forever doing Mr Leigh is conflating the crimes of the criminals and their illegal firearms (which are being illegally imported to order), with the respectable, licensed, law-abiding citizens who are farmers, target shooters and the like. That is obvious and shameful, Mr Leigh. Be aware that law-abiding, respectable citizens can think independently and they vote.

According to Wikipedia in an article on Australian Massacres,
there was one massacre by fire before 1996, the Whisky Au Go Go nightclub fire in which 15 people were murdered.

Post the Gun Laws there were three massacres by fire resulting in the deaths of 36 people.
see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_in_Australia.

Quite obviously the Gun Buy Back resulted in more murders by fire.

How astonishingly simple. The author believes that something is so and derides any opposing view, even peer reviewed academic study. No wonder he is a now a politician.

A look through past items published on this forum show nothing more inventive than the expected party lines, neatly toed.

I can show categorically that all people who die in Australia had consumed water. Clearly the water in our society is leading to all death and as soon as water is banned, death will stop soon thereafter. How ridiculous.

The author fails to note several factors; media involvement, the capture of the person accused, changes in attitude to mental health care and as has been pointed out, the fact that numerous multiple shootings have taken place since 1997.

Unfortunately for the author, the clear involvement of criminals in the majority of crime involving firearms doesn't seem so scary as portraying any of our fellow citizens as killers in waiting. This cheap vote grab must stop.

The ONLY good thing johnny coward did.
The deniers can deny it all they like but the fact remains that there has not been a single gun massacre, let alone the dozens we use to have, since the gun buyback.
Well done johnny.