Australian mass murders

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Several massacres occurred in Australia leading up to firearms licensing laws in 1996 after the Port Arthur massacre, one of the deadliest lone wolf massacres in history. Most major gun massacres in Australia occurred before 1996.

Contents

[edit] Mass deaths

  • Cullin-La-Ringo massacre - Horatio Wills and party killed by aboriginals at Cullin-La-Ringo Station in Queensland in 1860. 19 dead. Police, native police and civilians killed 60 to 70 aboriginals in response.
  • Coniston massacre - Over 50 aboriginal people killed in the last Aboriginal massacre. The motive was revenge for the killing of dingo hunter Frederick Brooks.
  • Milperra massacre - Two biker gangs, Comancheros and the Bandidos, engage in a shootout in a hotel carpark, killing 7 people, including an innocent teenage girl. Only one defendant was acquitted on the murder charges.
  • Hoddle Street massacre - Armed with 2 rifles and a shotgun, Julian Knight fatally shoots 7 people and wounds another 19 before surrendering to authorities.
  • Queen Street massacre - Armed with a sawn-off shotgun, Frank Vitkovic roams the Australia Post building killing 8 and wounding 5. When the weapon was finally wrestled from him, he committed suicide by jumping out of a nearby window.
  • Surry Hills massacre - Paul Anthony Evers killed 5 people with a 12-gauge shotgun at a public housing precint. [1]
  • Strathfield massacre - Wade Frankum kills 7 and wounds seven with a large knife and an assault rifle before turning the gun on himself when he realised he could not escape.
  • Port Arthur massacre - Armed with 2 semi-automatic assault rifles, Martin Bryant kills 35 people around Port Arthur and wounds 37 before being caught by police the next day following an overnight siege.
  • Childers Palace Fire - June 2000, Robert Long started a fire at Childers Palace backpackers hostel that killed 15 people.
  • Josef Schwab - 1987, Schwab shot dead 5 people in and around the Kimberlys in Western Australia. [2]

[edit] Murders over an extended period of time

[edit] Fewer than 5 deaths

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • Whiskey Au Go Go fire - Fire in club kills 15
  • Mack Truck murders - Truck driver deliberately crashes truck into a hotel, killing five and badly wounding 16.
  • Russell Street Bombing - 23 wounded when a car bomb ignites outside a Police Building. One of the wounded, a female police officer, died later of injuries from the explosion.
  • Sydney Hilton bombing - Two garbage men killed and 12 injured by a bomb planted in a garbage bin. A police officer who was wounded dies later.

[edit] Effects on firearm laws

  • Port Arthur Massacre - Semi-automatic rifles and pump action/self-loading shotguns were banned from civilians, and ammunition capacity restricted to 5 rounds in magazine-fed rifles. Licensing is also introduced, and both a firearms license and a buyers permit are necessary to legally purchase a firearm. Furthermore, an acceptable reason must be stated on the permit for buying the weapon, and a minimum 28 day "cooling off" period must be enforced before the issuing of the license.
  • Monash University shooting - Pistols restricted to .38 calibre and magazine capacity restricted to ten rounds maximum unless under special circumstances. Furthermore, pistol barrels are restricted to a minimum of 120 mm (4.72 inches) and revolver barrels to a minimum of 100 mm (3.94 inches) to make pistols harder to conceal.

[edit] Killers

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1], Sydney Morning Herald, October 21, 2002
  2. ^ More facts about killer, Kimberly Echo, March 15, 2007