Right To Keep and Bear Arms - Australia

Australia

There is no right to own firearms that is recognized or upheld by the government of Australia. Gun laws are not as extremely tight as e.g. Japan, but much tighter than in the USA. Receiving a license depends on the discretion of police as to need and appropriateness, and therefore a privilege rather than a right. The law strictly forbids ownership for the explicit purpose of self-defence. The exceptions are of course security guards and police. Carrying weapons on the person is strictly illegal, even if the owner is licensed — there is no such thing as a 'carry permit'. A genuine reason must be given when applying for a permit, and several valid categories such as sport, hunting or collecting are specified (excepting self-defence). As with most other jurisdictions persons with criminal convictions cannot acquire a permit.

Historically, controls on firearm ownership have usually followed major crimes which resulted in public outrage. This resulted in an incoherent collection of regulations — following the fact that Australia is a federal country. Legality varied wildly between jurisdictions, approaching American latitudes in places like Queensland and Tasmania. The current licensing and permit regime was enacted following the Port Arthur massacre (Australia), and has largely converged all jurisdictions to a similar standard. The present pressures on gun law legislation in Australia arise from organised-crime activity, particularly the drug trade. Australia has been an agrarian country for much of its history, and therefore there is a significant population of gun owners.

See also - Australian mass murders for a list of major crimes which impacted on gun legislation.