Handguns, recently seized by police on the streets of Yemen's capital Sanaa
Handguns, recently seized by police on the streets of Yemen's capital Sanaa and roads leading to it, are seen stored at a security force base in Sanaa May 5, 2013. Reuters/Khaled Abdullah

Several arguments have cropped up regarding concern over gun violence in Australia. While half of the nation is arguing that they need a “common-sense gun legislation,” the other half says, “stop being so vague; what you want is a large-scale ban on private ownership of guns, and we won’t let you.”

The gun-control side is much more willing in terms of places like Australia, US and the UK. Even though there are confiscation programmes to stop the crime, several media reports, after a recent speech by Obama, said Australia’s gun laws weren’t necessarily the cause of drops in crime.

In July 2015, the National Rifle Authority published a piece titled 'Australia: There Will be Blood' in its America's 1st Freedom newsletter. The article is about the Australia's buyback as a "mass confiscation" that has allowed access of guns to criminals, leaving everyone else defenseless.

An Alternet.org report said that under Australia’s reformed gun regulatory scheme, a licenced firearm owner is required to be reevaluated every five years, and in case the authorities discover any “reliable evidence” of a mental or physical barrier to responsible gun ownership, the licence is revoked immediately.

Practice of tighter regulation on gun dealers, universal background checks on gun owners, safe storage requirements in home and a 10-year prohibition on possessing guns for anyone convicted of domestic violence, assault or similar offenses might decline the crime rates in different parts of the country.

A blog from Patheos Web site said investing in “Smart gun” technology could be a smarter policy as such weapons can fire only with a fingerprint or a PIN. Apart from that, microstamping can be adopted as it has bullet casing that can be traced back to a particular gun. Therefore, there is a need of liability insurance for guns, as one does for their cars.

In 2013, firearms (excluding BB and pellet guns) were used in 84,258 nonfatal injuries (26.65 per 100,000 U.S. citizens) and 11,208 deaths by homicide (3.5 per 100,000), 21,175 by suicide with a firearm, 505 deaths due to accidental discharge of a firearm, and 281 deaths due to firearms-use with “undetermined intent” for a total of 33,169 deaths related to firearms (excluding firearm deaths due to legal intervention). Therefore to narrow it down, the suicides exceed homicides by a mere 2:1 ratio, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

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