that most recently banned unchecked and rampant gun ownership; Australia.
(there was no door to door search in Australia, BTW)
First, start with a Guns Buy-Back program. Fund the buy-back through a one time cost increase of a particular program.
In the state of Victoria, figures show Victorians have handed in 18,814 guns to be destroyed — easily exceeding the Victorian Government's prediction that 10,000 guns would be given up. 15,184 replacement pistols were imported. The buyback is a joint initiative by the federal and state governments. Victorians have handed in more guns than shooters in any other state, 40% of the 46,072 weapons collected nationwide. Shooters have also handed in 228,063 gun parts.
Almost $60 million compensation has been paid nationwide.
One government policy was to compensate shooters for giving up the sport. Approximately 25% of pistol shooters took this offer, and relinquished their licences and their right to own pistols for sport for five years; in Victoria it is estimated 1/3 of people surrendering firearms took this option. (wikipedia)
Then there's gun amnesties as a follow up;
In New South Wales there have been three gun amnesties in 2001, 2003 and 2009. 63,000 handguns were handed in during the first two amnesties and over 4,323 handguns were handed in during the third amnesty. During the third amnesty 21,615 firearm registrations were received by the Firearms Registry. The surrendered firearms were all destroyed.
The US saw a significant reduction in guns violence during the tenure of the assault weapons ban; it was effective.
Creating stronger laws, rock solid enforcement for registration and ownership, including specific age limits and criminal and mental welfare checks, would in the very least be a HUGE step in the right direction. I really don't see why it's such a big deal to create reasonable laws and expect people to comply with them, when it's for the benefit of the general public.
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