How much gun ownership was there when Australia significantly changed their gun laws?

Asked by JLeslie (65444) August 22nd, 2016 from iPhone

From what I understand, years ago, after a mass shooting in Australia, the government changed the laws to severly curtail gun ownership. It was, and is, considered to be overall successful at decreasing gun ownership, and believed to have kept gun crime to a minimum.

I have said in the past that when you live in a place full of guns, you start to understand why people in those communities say things like, “I need a gun for protection.”

I feel like there is a tipping point where it feels impossible (I’m saying feels, as in the perception is) to roll back the gun ownership. Once too many people in a community have them, and the gun crime is fairly prevalent, and you know people illegally own guns, then can you really reduce the gun ownership out of the hands of the bad guys and the good guys?

Don’t get me wrong, I much prefer living in a community that is not gun oriented. I’ve lived in both, and my choice is low gun ownership, and an absence of gun talk.

So, what I wonder is, was Australia past the tipping point as I perceive it, and they still were able to get rid of the guns? Or, did they have low ownership at the time to begin with?