Remembering Port Arthur Massacre

On April 28, 1996, Martin Bryant drove.He drove his yellow Volvo.He drove his yellow Volvo, with a surfboard strapped to the top, to Port Arthur, Tasmania. He had already killed two people, the owners of a nearby B&B.

Bryant carried a sports bag of guns and ammunition. He began firing a semi-automatic rifle first in a cafe, then the gift shop and parking lot. He shot a mother and her two daughters, aged six and three, as they tried to escape down a side street.

Bryant then shot four people in a passing car. He took a hostage and returned to the B&B.

The killing did not stop at the Port Arthur historic site. As Bryant left in his car, he took a man hostage and brought him back to the Seascape B&B where his rampage started that day. Bryant stayed there for 18 hours while police tried to draw him out.

Every time they advanced toward the inn,Bryant fired at them.They needed help, so they called in a bulldozer.They did not need the bulldozer. Bryant set the house on fire. He then ran outside with his clothes on fire and burns on his body that needed hospitalization.Martin Bryant ate lunch at the Broad Arrow Cafe at the Port Arthur historic site just before his rampage.

Martin Bryant ate lunch at the Broad Arrow Cafe at the Port Arthur historic site.After eating, he stood up, pulled a gun from the bag, and started shooting. The Broad Arrow Cafe saw most of the deaths.Martin Bryant kicked off his spree by murdering Sally and David Martin, owners of the Seascape Bed and Breakfast. Bryant went to their property and shot them first before moving to Port Arthur.

The Daily Mail calls the murders a possible act of retribution. Others suggest the owners refused to sell the inn to Bryant's father, who committed suicide in 1993.

Martin Bryant started his spree by murdering Sally and David Martin, owners of the Seascape Bed and Breakfast. Bryant went to their property, shot them first, then moved to Port Arthur.

Bryant left school early and got a disability pension after a psychological evaluation.Daily MailMartin Bryant was given 35 life sentences, including 1,035 years without parole. He serves his time in the Risdon Prison Complex, Hobart, Tasmania. Since 1996, he has reportedly assaulted more than four people in the prison.Some suggest this was an act of retribution.Others suggest the owners refused to sell the inn to Bryant's father years earlier.The owners committed suicide in 1993..

In the attack, 28-year-old Martin Bryant was unemployed. He had been...Some described Bryant as a loner.He was said to have the IQ of an 11-year-old.Bryant left school early. He received a disability pension after a psychological evaluation..

Bryant had money. He inherited a large sum when a close friend and reported lover, a lottery heiress, died in a car crash. Bryant was in the car, and many think he caused the accident because he was...known to grab the wheel.while she was driving.

Martin Bryant received 35 life sentences, including 1,035 years without parole. He now serves his time at the Risdon Prison Complex in Hobart, Tasmania. Since 1996, he reportedly...assaulted more than four people in the prison.Bryant served 35 life sentences and more than 1,000 years without parole, including guards, and showed no character growth or critical thinking after his pre-murder days.

In a 2016 piece forViceDr. Matthew Beard of The Ethics Centre reported thatBryant was morbidly obeseHe was depressed and tried to kill himself more than once.

One murky part of the case involved where and how Martin Bryant got his weapons.One theory stateshe traveled the world to get weapons after inheriting a lot of money from a close friend.

Bryant told investigators he hadbought the gun with cashfrom a local Tasmanian dealer.

John Howard, Australia's prime minister during the attack, hadonly been in office for 57 days.. Before his election, his party was the opposition in the Australian government for 13 years. People opposed the new firearm laws. Over 3,000 people showed up at a public address to voice their opinions.Howard wore a bullet-proof vest.

Despite opposition to the restrictions, however,the new gun control laws passed in weeks.These laws included a national firearm registry, a 28-day waiting time for gun purchases, background checks, requiring a "justifiable reason" for a gun, and a huge temporary buyback program.

By 2015, more than 1 million semi-automatic weapons, about a third of the country's firearms, were sold back to the government and destroyed. The BBC reported these actions cut the number of gun-owning households in Australia in half.

In 1987, a 19-year-old Bryant met Helen Mary Elizabeth Harvey, who was 54. Harvey's grandfather began a gambling empire. At age 28, Harvey quit her job to live with her mother on their family estate in New Town. Bryant saw their grounds were overgrown, so heknocked on Harvey's doorHarvey first hired Bryant as her gardener. His job quickly changed to other tasks, and soon he lived at the house as her close friend.

Their relationship was not sexual, but Bryant and Harvey were very intimate. Harvey began ignoring others in her life. Bryant slept in the garage. When Harvey moved downstairs to stay with him, her mother Hilza was alone for long stretches. The house was falling apart, and the old woman could not easily deal with the decay. Thus, she slept in a hard wooden chair, suffering from an untreated broken hip for the last two years she lived.

After Hilza died, her daughter's life got worse. She also died on October 20, 1992. That day, Harvey died in a car accident. The accident also badly hurt Bryant. Many people think Bryant caused the accident because he often grabbed the wheel while being driven.

America's NRA saw Australia's situation as a threat to American gun sales. They fought back with an article titled "Australia: There Will Be Blood." They argued that taking guns from Australian citizens left the people defenseless.

However, statistics after Port Arthur disproved that claim. Australians still legally owned firearms with the right permits. Owners of automatic and semi-automatic guns made illegal could sell them to the government in the buyback scheme.

One pop culture sitewrote an article responding to the NRA's pieceIt was titled: "The NRA reckons Australia’s anti-gun laws are ‘a mistake’; Australia tells NRA to go f*ck itself."

Former Prime Minister John Howard spoke to the nation before the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. He mourned the 35 victims. He pointed out that the firearm laws, a big part of his legacy, worked well to stop more tragedies.

He used the drop in gun-related suicides as strong proof. That rate went down around 74%Gun-related suicides dropped by 74%..

In a country with overTwenty-seven million people., there are about 2.75 million registered firearms and 730,000 licensed owners. They have gun shops, just like America. But applying to own a weapon legally and buying one is much harder.

Therequirements for applying for a gun license, besides needing a reason for the gun, include: being 18 or older, being judged fit and proper, taking a firearms safety training course, and showing paperwork about where you store the weapon.

You can lose a license if you are under 18, have an apprehended violence order, or have had an order in the last 10 years (unless it was canceled). You can also lose it for a "Good Behavior Bond" for a crime listed in the rules, or if you were convicted of a crime listed in the rules in the last 10 years in the current or another state/territory.

When Bryant turned 14, his father Maurice bought him an air rifle for his birthday. This was the most realistic weapon Bryant ever had. His parents later said the gift changed his behavior. With a weapon, one of Bryant's favorite new pastimes was hiding in creek bedsso he could shoot at cars.

Bryant enjoyed firing his rifle into the local bay. Some people recall him shooting a parrot out of a tree. After the bird hit the ground, Bryant approached its body and emptied his air rifle's clip into the carcass.

A report by Simon Chapman, titled "Over Our Dead Bodies," states this.Gun-related homicides dropped about 7.5% yearly since John Howard's firearm reforms.Gun-related homicides dropped about 7.5% yearly since John Howard's firearm reforms.

Statistics from the 20 years since the Port Arthur tragedy show this.The new laws reduced gun violence in Australia, clearly.These laws help keep Australians safer.

The Port Arthur massacre followed a horrific mass shooting in Scotland just over a month earlier.The Dunblane massacre happened at a primary school.A 43-year-old former Scout leader, removed for bad behavior, strapped four guns on and entered the Dunblane Primary School gym.

He shot children and teachers, some at close range, killing over a dozen before shooting himself. Strict UK gun laws followed after Dunblane parents pushed for new laws.

Two police officers stood near Port Arthur on the shooting day. Just before the shooting started, both officersThis attack in Melbourne in 2002 killed two people and injured five.found an alleged heroin stash in Saltwater River, about half an hour from the shooting location.

Other examples include the shooting of an elderly couple and their son by a neighbor after a "minor dispute" in 2014, and the siege of the Lindt Cafe in Sydney, which killed two hostages and the shooter in 2014.

Though shootings dropped sharply after Port Arthur, a few incidents still count as "mass shootings".

These shootings include anattack at Monash Universityin Melbourne in 2002 left two dead and five injured.a farmer shot and killedhis wife, three children, and himself in New South Wales in 2014. This is sometimes the only true mass shooting because of the high victim count.the shooting of an elderly couple and their sonby a neighbor after a "minor dispute" in 2014, and thesiege of the Lindt Cafein Sydney in 2014 killed two hostages and the shooter.