The last mass shooting here in Sydney was at a western suburbs shopping centre about 20 years ago by a guy called Wade Frankum (do a spoonerism on his name to get the problem) and he killed his first victim in the coffee shop in the shopping centre with a bowie knife.
I’d rather face a nut holding a knife over a gun any day. I read that the last gun related mass murder in Australia was at Monash University October 2002, Huan Yun Xiang a student shot his classmates and teacher killing two and injuring five. Thats at least 10 years ago. Australia’s stricter gun controls appear to be working quite efficiently. What I’ve managed to find out about your gun restriction is that they are not as stringent as you make them out to be and that there are nearly 1 million gun owners. And by the way what would be important to me is Australians are allowed to own and use firearms for hunting just not with handguns.
I personally would have no problem with Australia’s gun laws. Firearms in Australia are grouped into Categories with different levels of control.
Category A: Rimfire rifles (not semi-automatic), shotguns (not pump-action or semi-automatic), air rifles, and paintball markers. A "Genuine Reason" must be provided for a Category A firearm.
Category B: Centrefire rifles (not semi-automatic), muzzleloading firearms made after 1 January 1901. Apart from a "Genuine Reason", a "Genuine Need" must be demonstrated, including why a Category A firearm would not be suitable.
Category C: Semi-automatic rimfire rifles holding 10 or fewer rounds and pump-action or semi-automatic shotguns holding 5 or fewer rounds. Category C firearms are strongly restricted: only primary producers, occupational shooters, collectors and some clay target shooters can own functional Category C firearms.
Category D: Semi-automatic centrefire rifles, pump-action or semi-automatic shotguns holding more than 5 rounds. Functional Category D firearms are restricted to government agencies and a few occupational shooters. Collectors may own deactivated Category D firearms.
Category H: Handguns including air pistols and deactivated handguns. This class is available to target shooters. To be eligible for a Category H firearm, a target shooter must serve a probationary period of six months using club handguns, and a minimum number of matches yearly to retain each category of handgun.
Target shooters are limited to handguns of .38 or 9mm calibre or less and magazines may hold a maximum of 10 rounds. Participants in certain "approved" pistol competitions may acquire handguns up to .45", currently Single Action Shooting and Metallic Silhouette. IPSC shooting is approved for 9mm/.38/.357 handguns that meet the IPSC rules, but larger calibers are not approved for IPSC handgun shooting contests. Category H barrels must be at least 100mm (3.94") long for revolvers, and 120mm (4.72") for semi-automatic pistols unless the pistols are clearly ISSF target pistols: magazines are restricted to 10 rounds. Handguns held as part of a collection were exempted from these limits.
Category R/E: Restricted weapons: machine guns, rocket launchers, assault rifles, flame-throwers, anti-tank guns, Howitzers, artillery, etc. can be owned by collectors in some states provided that these weapons have been rendered permanently inoperable. They are subject to the same storage and licensing requirements as fully functioning firearms. Certain Antique firearms can in some states be legally held without licences. In other states they are subject to the same requirements as modern firearms.