Australia is marking the 20th anniversary of the country's worst mass shooting. The Port Arthur Massacre in 1996 claimed the lives of 35 people, and prompted an overhaul of the nation's gun laws which remain among the strictest on the planet.
Former Australia Prime Minister John Howard and Julie Bishop lay a wreath during the 20th anniversary commemoration service of the Port Arthur massacre on April 28, 2016 in Port Arthur,
Among the hundreds of people at a ceremony in Tasmania to mark the 20th anniversary of the Port Arthur Massacre - was then Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
"I was absolutely horrified - here were 35 men, women and children who had been murdered," Howard said.
In 1996, Martin Bryant, armed with 2 semi automatic rifles, opened fire on dozens of unsuspecting tourists. In the days that followed, Howard focused his attention on gun control.
"I knew that if I didn’t do what I did and do it fairly, quickly and decisively the moment would be gone," Howard said.
Howard convinced state governments to adopt a National Firearms Agreement - which included ban on all semi-automatic rifles, and tighter gun ownership controls. The government also received hundreds of thousands of firearms through a gun buy back program.
"The break through that occurred after Port Arthur was that the 2 parties agreed to act together and that meant the gun lobby would not be able to punish anyone of them electorally because they had acted together," Gun control advocates Rebecca Peters said.
"It is seen as one of the great things my government did and I think it was," Howard said.
To Date - Australia has not seen a single mass shooting since 1996.
Authorities say gun related deaths in Australia have also dropped dramatically during that same period, from about 600 a year down to around 200, and they say it happened despite a constant rise in the nation’s population.
But NSW Member Robert Brown says those heralded gun control laws have gone too far - and vilified the country’s licensed gun owners - including himself.
"I am offended at the thought that I should be cast in the same vein as a criminal with a gun - I’m not, I never have been a criminal and I never will be," Robert Brown with NSW MP said.
Gun control advocates are using the Port Arthur Anniversary to call for a further tightening of laws which they say have eroded over the past 2 decades.
"It really should be a source of real concern for all policy makers in Australia that this gigantic achievement of ours has started to go backwards," Peters said.
People on both sides of the issue agree Australia’s gun laws wouldn’t be as strict - if the country wasn’t forced to suffer a tragedy that remains as painful today for those who remember.
