In Australia, guns really aren't a political issue in the same way they are in the United States - we have a different history. Supporting the right to own firearms really isn't a conservative issue here. In fact, most dedicated shooters I know, are socialists because it's seen very much as a working class past time.
Having said that... Australia's laws on guns aren't as good as those of most of the United States, but are nowhere near as bad as those of the United Kingdom. You have to be licenced, and firearms have to be registered, but basically an Australian citizen, as long as he doesn't have a criminal record, can get a basic firearms licence very easily, and higher level licences (required to own handguns, semi-automatics, etc) without too much difficulty. It starts to get complicated if you want automatic weapons, but even that can be done.
With a population of around 20 million, there are probably somewhere around 5 million legally held firearms in private hands in Australia, so we're nowhere near disarmed.
For various reasons, Australia's gun laws have been misrepresented overseas. It really isn't that bad, though it certainly could be better.