Here’s how five countries have reduced gun violence

March 1996. A man explodes at a school in Scotland, UK with four guns. He killed 16 children and their teacher. About a month later, it was also the horror in Australia. A shooting killed 35 people and wounded 23 in the quiet village of Port Arthur, Tasmania.

These massacres have shaken these countries to an extent that significant changes have been made to their gun laws. London and Canberra want to partially disarm their populations. All arms ownership is prohibited for citizens of the United Kingdom, except Northern Ireland.

Australia also generally bans all weapons that have more than two rounds in the firing system. So since then, there have been no more mass killings; same in England, except for terrorist attacks. But that is another mattercomment by Francis Langlois, professor of history at Cégep de Trois-Rivières and specialist in firearms.

In Australia, 650,000 weapons were returned to the state after the Port Arthur massacre. The gun suicide rate dropped 57% and the gun suicide rate dropped 42% in the seven years following the 1996 shootings, according to Australian government data.

Recently, New Zealand also implemented significant arms restrictions after the bombing in Christchurch by a right -wing gunman that killed 50 people on March 15, 2019. Six days later, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a ban on semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles in the country.

The example of Israel

Restricting access to guns saves lives, Francis Langlois summed up.

This is the case of Israel, which has a lower homicide rate than Canada: 1.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2019, compared to 1.95 for Justin Trudeau’s country in 2020. However, this small Middle East country has many weapons in circulation due to its geopolitical situation.

Before issuing a license to carry a firearm to a citizen, the State requires that he or she check “yes” to a whole series of conditions: minimum age, tests proving good physical and mental health, absence of criminal record and possession of only one firearm at a time. The sale of each bale was also carefully recorded.

In Israel, the ban on soldiers carrying their weapons into service during long vacations has also been in effect since 2006. Two military studies conclude that this measure alone has lowered the suicide rate between of 40 and 57% per year in the army.

” There is a full protocol for storing weapons. […] [Les militaires] must lay down their arms. They can be accessed in case of an attack. But if I’m depressed, someone will ask: why do you want your guns? “

Safer metropolises

The specialist also points out that media coverage of recent mass killings and the distressing ease of obtaining weapons in the United States sometimes make us forget that some cities like New York, Washington and Philadelphia are safer than in the 90s. At that time, it was not uncommon for stray bullet kill innocent young victims in Harlem or the Bronx.

” Despite what they say, whether you’re in Montreal, Toronto, Philadelphia or New York, we live in a safer society than in the 90s. Yes, gun crime has increased since the pandemic, but we need to keep that in perspective. “

Prevention, the key

Although it is easy to get a gun on the black market, the Big Apple has been able to reduce the number of its homicides approximately four times in 25 years by focusing more on preventing more than social workers, in particular.

Events or programs were also organized, such as soup kitchens where the police participated to establish relationships between the authorities and the communities, Francis Langlois explained.

[Les décideurs] They were like, “OK, is this where people meet to shoot each other? Well, we’ll put up lights or we’ll make a park. And we’ll have press conferences when there’s a shooting with [des victimes]local pastors, police … We will show that we are not afraid “said the expert, who is a member of the Observatory in the United States of the Raoul-Dandurand Chair on Strategic and Diplomatic Studies at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM).

Some studies show that violence is viralMr. Langlois explains, that is, murder often leads to revenge and so on.

” Let the criminals negotiate with themselves, let them do evil deals, that’s one thing, but avoid shooting. And if you shoot, well, shoot each other, but try not to get any wild bullets. There are many programs to meet these people. “

sequential effect

Efforts made in American metropolises have produced a domino effect of positive consequences, believes Mr. Langlois. Recent studies show in particular that children’s academic outcomes have increased in recent years in New York’s poor neighborhoods, previously plagued by violence.

However, higher levels of education also help reduce crime. There are now other ways for these more educated youth than following in the footsteps of Bad peopledirected by Mr. Langlois.

” Even though they have never seen a gun, young people were busy surviving on the streets in the 90s. Their parents kept them at home for fear of stray bullets. “

We need to divert people who will be criminals; this is nipping the bud problem. Gun violence is going viral. It brings revenge. So we must undo the conditions that cause this violence.said the specialist.

And the Centaur strategy?

Francis Langlois also sees Centaure very well, this technique has been deployed since 1^eh October 2021 to effectively address gun violence. Provided, however, that crime suppression is also accompanied by effective prevention of young people in vulnerable situations.

We are not the simple victims or witnesses of a phenomenon that is progressing and helpless. Bagkos, underlined the specialist. Centaure results can be measured in middle termFrancis Langlois predicts: Ideally, the federal government and neighboring governments in other provinces should also ride.

In collaboration with Tommy St-Yves