Mass Shootings and Gun Control by Police: Comparing Australia and the United States

Frederic Lemieux; Tim Prenzler; Samantha Bricknell

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-84518-6_2

Back

Mass Shootings and Gun Control by Police: Comparing Australia and the United States

Book chapter

Peer reviewed

Mass Shootings and Gun Control by Police: Comparing Australia and the United States

Frederic Lemieux, Tim Prenzler and Samantha Bricknell

Guns, Gun Violence and Gun Homicides, pp.29-52

Palgrave Studies in Risk, Crime and Society, Springer International Publishing

2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84518-6_2

Files and links (1)

url

http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84518-6_2View

Published Version

Abstract

Gun homicides

Gun regulation

Gun suicides

Mass shootings

National Firearms Agreement

Police officer safety

Mass shootings and other gun-related crimes represent a major threat to peace, security and well-being around the world. This chapter uses a comparative case study analysis of firearms regulations and associated long-term trend data in Australia and the United States to demonstrate the potential for governments to make large reductions in gun-enabled violence. The approach—as an application of southern criminology—highlights the major gains made in Australia in contrast to the extensive and increasing rates of gun-related harms in the United States. Following the infamous Port Arthur Massacre in 1996, Australia relinquished its laissez-faire colonial era gun laws and adopted a comprehensive license-based regulatory system aimed at restricting gun ownership and optimizing safety. The results provide valuable lessons for harm minimization in both the global north and global south under a variety of diverse social and economic conditions.

Details

Title: Mass Shootings and Gun Control by Police: Comparing Australia and the United States
Authors: Frederic Lemieux (Author) - Georgetown University
Tim Prenzler (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Samantha Bricknell (Author) - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Contributors: Wendell C Wallace (Editor) - University of the West Indies
Publication details: Guns, Gun Violence and Gun Homicides, pp.29-52
Series: Palgrave Studies in Risk, Crime and Society
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date published: 2022
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-84518-6_2; 10.1007/978-3-030-84518-6
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99605106602621
Output Type: Book chapter

Metrics

557 Record Views