For Walter Mikac, whose wife Nanette and two little girls were gunned down in the massacre at Port Arthur, Tasmania, almost two years ago, the tough new Australian gun laws that followed were a personal, as well as a political victory.
For Mr Mikac they meant that his family had not, perhaps, been wiped out in vain; that the horror of that bright autumn day in April, 1996, when 35 people were killed by a lone gunman as they visited the ruins of the old penal colony could not be repeated.
This week, Mr Mikac stood on the steps of the State Parliament in Melbourne, surrounded by flowers, by tearful supporters and fellow massacre survivors, by representatives of unions, church and community groups and pleaded with the Victorian government not to renege on those hard-won laws; not to ease their tough requirements - requirements enshrined in a national agreement that Prime Minister John Howard fought so hard for - to appease farmers and ensure the government retains crucial country seats at the next state election.
'I feel like someone has put a knife into the same wound and twisted it a few times,' said Mr Mikac.
'I think that this is just giving society the wrong message when it comes to firearms.' South Australian Ray Ncander, whose wife was shot at Port Arthur, backed Mr Mikac saying of the Victorian plan: 'We'll be back to square one. It was a wasted effort.' But they were pleas which, despite the gun agreement's broad community backing and the fervent support of Mr Howard, fell on deaf ears. After a 90-minute meeting with the state's Police Minister, Bill McGrath this week, Mr Mikac declared Mr McGrath had tried to 'raise hell and high water' to justify amending the legislation, but his arguments were illogical and would weaken the national agreement.
With Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett announcing a taxpayer-funded advertising blitz to sell the changes - a move he said was needed because of 'misinformed and devious' media reporting - Mr Mikac has himself turned to the voters in frustration.