Late in February 1999 four died and over a dozen were injured with gun wounds. Understandably, this spate of shootings made people question the success of the post-Port Arthur gun law reforms.

GCA president John Crook commented ‘The recent gun tragedies remind us that there are loopholes in our gun laws and parliaments should address these weaknesses in the interest of public safety. We ask that guns be more difficult to obtain legally and that access to handguns be greatly restricted, said Mr Crook.

‘There is no value in some of proposals put forward’ said Mr Crook. ‘We reject the idea that an amnesty is of any value; shooters who misbehave should be fined and jailed,. ‘It is pie in the sky to start talking about referendums on gun laws and it is irrational to say that the post-Port Arthur gun laws are worthless,.

‘The gun lobby argument that the Port Arthur gun laws were a waste of effort and money is nonsense, said Mr Crook. ‘The evidence suggests that, in the broad perspective, the new gun laws are working.

In the 11 years prior to the new gun laws 12 people died each year in multiple death shootings whereas in the two and a half years since the new gun laws this has halved to six deaths per year.

‘Stricter gun laws are effective, said Mr Crook ‘We only need look at the greatly reduced total gun death rate since the improved gun laws of 1988-93 to assure us of that,. ‘ In the 1980′s on average 680 people died from gun wounds each year, from 1995-1997 the figure was 480, a 40% reduction, despite an increase in population,.