It seems counterintuitive that — against a background of measures that were meant to curb gun ownership and a landscape in which legislation has become consistently tighter — we now have more guns.

What do the stats say?

Again, pre-1996 figures are not available, and not all states release historic or current information.

This mirrors the distribution of the Australian population in general: in other words, where there are more people, there are more guns.

Source: The Conversation / ABS

Does this mean we are awash with firearm crime?

This suggests there is little relationship between levels of legal gun ownership in Australia and levels of firearm violence and misuse.

Who owns guns and why?

Again, though, statistics tell only part of the story. There are many unexplored nuances. For instance, anecdotal evidence — which is sometimes all we have to work with — suggests multiculturalism has played a role.

Research from the United States, with its very different approach to firearms, may not apply here (for example, owning guns for self protection is explicitly prohibited in Australia but common in the US).

In a disrupted and uncertain world, where cost of living is a concern for so many, it is unsurprising that various forms of self-sufficiency – whether that is bread making, growing vegetables, fishing or hunting – are attracting interest.

The law of unintended consequences?