In Victoria, in the last few weeks there has been a spate of public shootings, mostly with handguns. This has occurred despite the fact that handguns are the least common of the guns in shooters hands.

Handguns are proliferating in Australia. We now import almost 10,000 handguns each year. Handgun controls are quite inadequate and Australia may take the American path unless greater restrictions on handgun ownership take place.

In the USA, handguns have been readily available for over a century and this has meant that there are many such pistols and revolvers; it has also meant that there is a very high number of gun tragedies.

Not surprisingly, there are often attempts by authorities in the US to place constraints on handguns. Recently, in the state of Pennsylvania, attempts have been made to establish a State Handgun Standards Commission. The Commission would require that each handgun be personalised so that it can only be fired when operated by that handgun’s authorised user. Furthermore all handguns would have to be capable of being personalised.

This would mean that millions of handguns which are at present in American homes would be no longer be legal and would be liable for confiscation by the police.

This is one of the most important moves made by American politicians in the direction of handgun control, yet the American gun lobby group, the NRA, is strongly opposing such a technological advance. We would expect the large gun clubs in Australia to also oppose such advances.

The curious thing about the gun lobby is that public safety is never considered as important as the free access to guns.