The ‘Myth’ of Firearms Legislation? The Gun Control Measures in the United States vis-à-vis Australia

Anotace: Conventionally, gun rights advocates have sought to claim that stricter firearms legislation “does not hit the target” (Charles Cooke) and that the success of Australia’s prohibitive firearms regime in particular, is a “myth” (Ryan McMaken). Nonetheless, as this article will seek to demonstrate, such contentions rest on false presumptions. Legislation in Australia has proven strikingly efficacious and assumptions of the inherent inapplicability of such laws to America are exposed as largely unfounded. The Australian model of rigorous checks and limitations, coupled with the role of civil society actors in utilising major incidences of firearms-related violence to seize the normative initiative and present the nation with stark choices over the future direction of its society, is here posited as the key to passing successful legislation on guns.