You guys got the media slanted version. I don't know the particulars of the post Port Arthur gun control thing but there are tons of guns in Aus. My neighbor has 2 rifles. There are plenty of gun shops. For $200 a farmer will give you written permission to shoot on his land. With that letter you can buy a rifle or shotgun, own it, and never shoot on his land. If you join a gun club you can buy.
Pistols are tough. High capacity stuff, semis, and autos are probably hard or impossible. Shotties can't be pump action but there are levers. Crossbows are, hilariously, illegal. Laws are more prohibitive but whoever told you there was a 100% confiscation and a firearm ban is pulling your leg.
Frankly, it's better. If someone gets shitty you get punched in the nose. How wonderfully Mayberry. Imo there are cultural co-factors which cause US gun violence, over and above simple access to guns. Besides, the genie is out of the bottle in the US. There are so many guns that you have to have one too, or you're screwed. I'd have one if I lived there.
Australian government overstep being tolerated has more to do with the disposition of the people than a lack of guns. While not universal, there's a general sense that the government is competent and not at all out to screw you. Don't believe that myself, but whatever. Also, again not universal, I've observed a peculiar knee jerk compliance here. If people are told something is a rule, they just abide by it. Gov rule, workplace rule, you name it. If you ask why it's a rule, or if it's justified, they just get confused. "But it's a rule, and rules are rules!" That guy is gonna pick your cotton. They don't ask why. Just doesn't occur to them as a question. It doesn't seem like they feel everyone has to pull together in a united effort. More like questioning a man made rule is as nonsensical to them as questioning physics. It's fucking bizarre, but it has nothing to do with guns or a lack of guns. It's a mindset. Hard to put a finger on it but it's a non-Yankee, commonwealth, know-your-place, social stratification, unquestioning acceptance of authority as valid and wiser thing. I observed a similar phenomenon in the UK.
The young might grow out of it but the middle aged and elderly are very well trained.