Part 3/8:
In response, the Victorian Labor government has taken seemingly superficial steps. Parliament recently enacted a ban on the sale of machetes in hardware stores, shifting responsibility onto shopkeepers to remove them from shelves. However, this proved ineffective—criminals quickly turned to online marketplaces to acquire these weapons with swift home deliveries.
Further complicating matters, the government announced that from September, it would make it illegal to carry such weapons in public. Yet, this law would only come into effect four weeks later, with no clear explanation for the delay. It’s unlikely that teenagers actively involved in gang violence, often from dysfunctional or out-of-home care backgrounds, will heed this law.