<P> Prime Minister John Howard took the gun law proposals developed from the report of the 1988 National Committee on Violence and convinced the states to adopt them under a National Firearms Agreement . This was necessary because the Australian Constitution does not give the Commonwealth power to enact gun laws . The proposals included a ban on all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and pump - action shotguns, and a system of licensing and ownership controls . </P> <P> The Howard Government held a series of public meetings to explain the proposed changes . In the first meeting, Howard wore a bullet - resistant vest, which was visible under his jacket . Many shooters were critical of this . Some firearm owners applied to join the Liberal Party in an attempt to influence the government, but the party barred them from membership . A court action by 500 shooters seeking admission to membership eventually failed in the Supreme Court of South Australia . </P> <P> The Australian Constitution requires just compensation be given for property taken over, so the federal government introduced the Medicare Levy Amendment Act 1996 to raise the predicted cost of A $500 million through a one - off increase in the Medicare levy . The gun buy - back scheme started on 1 October 1996 and concluded on 30 September 1997 . The government bought back and destroyed over 1 million firearms . </P> <P> Following the National Agreement on Firearms, the number of deaths by firearms in Australia, initially declined slowly . Overall homicides immediately after saw a decrease of less than one per 100,000 persons . Over the medium term homicide by firearm dropped from 1 / 200,000 to 1 / 670,000 . </P>

How many guns in australia before the ban
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