The day Martin Bryant opened fire at Port Arthur, killing 35 people.

In the time following tragedy, thousands of column inches would be dedicated to the victims and their stories.

When news broke of gunshots at the former convict settlement, The Examiner sent reporters and photographers to the scene and around the state.

What journalists, photographers and camera crews saw when they reached Port Arthur were emergency crews, including a heavy police presence, and “bewildered tourists”.

“Tasmania’s usually folksy wildlife Devil Park yesterday became a bustling police command post within a few hours,” legendary Tasmanian journalist Barry Prismall wrote in his coverage of the event in The Examiner’s April 29 edition.

“The Tasman Highway must have carried half the entire state police fleet… A stream of police vehicles kept arriving at Taranna throughout the afternoon in probably the biggest single incident incident police build-up since the Franklin Dam blockade.”

The same day’s front page read “33 DEAD – gunman holding three hostages – police fear toll will rise”, while comparisons to world’s worst massacre at that time, Dunblane, were drawn.

The Port Arthur site closed for a week following the tragedy.

The Examiner’s editorial the day after the massacre was emotional and heartfelt. 

The same edition was sold to the community for free and offered space in the Wednesday edition so people could submit expressions of grief and condolences.

“What seemed at first to be a nightmare, is real,” the April 30 editorial read.

“Tasmania is now a place associated around the world not with the environmental beauty and charm, but with the massacre of 34 people.

“Our island can never be the same. All of us will feel uneasy. The unthinkable has happened. Can it happen again?”

Almost immediately after the tragedy, the nation’s attention turned to gun law reform.

The Examiner featured several stories featuring politicians calling for change, and gun groups offering their opinion.

Everyone seemed to think in unison – something had to give.

Then-premier Tony Rundle announced the state’s gun laws would be toughened two days after the murders.

The officer in charge of the Port Arthur siege operation that took down Martin Bryant said following the arrest the investigation would be unprecedented due to its size and the death toll.

Twelve New South Wales police crime scene examiners flew to Tasmania to assist.

Australia will conduct its second national gun amnesty since the murders starting July this year.