On April 28, 1996, a gunman, Martin Bryant, ate lunch in a seaside café in Port Arthur, Tasmania, then murdered 35 people and injured an addition 23 more. This was one of the worst mass shootings in Australian history, and led the country to make immediate change. The nation was so horrified and outraged that they enacted some of the most exhaustive firearm laws in the world. The number of mass shootings in Australia since the gun laws were enacted dropped from 11 in the years prior to the shooting, to zero in the years since. So, why year after year of mass shootings in the United States followed by thousands of deaths have we not changed our laws on guns yet?

“We have an opportunity in this country to not go down the American path” former Australian Prime Minister John Howard said before he drastically changed Australia’s gun laws. (bbc.com) According to Philip Alpers, a professor at the Sydney School of Public Health who has done numerous studies on the effects of Australia’s gun control laws on the country, claims that one of the biggest reasons the gun laws may not be as effective in the United States is due to the cultural mindset. "I don't for a moment think it would happen in the US," he says. "Australia already had a pre-disposition to doing something about it." (bbc.com)

Conservatives refuse to alter gun laws because of their belief in their second amendment right. But anyone who uses the basis of a phrase written 226 years ago to put their needs before the protection of the people in their country simply condones these egregious actions. “The challenge in bringing change is that the debate over gun rights isn’t really about guns at all. It’s about what they represent: cherished freedoms, a reverence for independence.” (time.com) Many conservatives cite James Madison in the Federalist Papers that “the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” (nytimes.com) At this point, we should be, because we’ve trusted them and they have caused great harm. Our founding fathers would almost certainly modify the amendment if they knew that more than twice as many Americans just last year died at the hands of their neighbors than soldiers did in battle during the Revolutionary War. (nytimes.com)

Time Fischer, who was Prime Minister Howard’s deputy in 1996 and prevalent in getting the National Firearms Agreement passed, argues the US should create similar gun laws to Australia’s. "Of course all mass shootings are a bridge too far," he says. "But there is going to be one that really tips the balance." (bbc.com) How is the biggest mass shooting in modern American history not too far? "When Australia had a mass killing - I think it was in Tasmania - about 25 years ago, it was just so shocking the entire country said: 'Well, we're going to completely change our gun laws'. And they did, and it hasn't happened since," former President Barak Obama said in 2015. (bbc.com) How can we continue to follow the Constitution with the idea that it’s meant to protect our freedoms, if these freedoms aren’t protecting our lives?