I wanted to know what the gun laws were like before 96 and actually I found out that Tassie used to allow ownership of full autos all the way up until 1996. I couldn't find much information because it's all buried by the post-96 stuff and I had to use wikipedia. But Tassie was unique in this regard because every other state was still fairly restrictive on paper.
As far as the Port Arthur massacre is concerned, I think it's a load of shit. A small town in Tasmania buys a morgue truck a short while before the massacre and then after their investment pays off they sell it. Then there's the class of medical students nearby training to treat gunshot wounds and the only available police officers get called away from where the shooting ends up happening.
Interestingly there was also a remark made by Barry Undsworth, a NSW politician, that sounds a bit sketchy.
>There will never be uniform Gun Laws in Australia until we see a massacre somewhere in Tasmania.