Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has offered Australia’s help to the United States in relation to gun legislation following the latest in a long line of mass shootings.
Bishop says the country can ‘share our experience’ with America after the success of the implementation of strict gun laws by then-Prime Minister John Howard as a reaction to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
‘Under John Howard, we implemented the national firearms agreement. This prohibited semi-automatic and automatic weapons. We had that national gun buyback scheme,’ the Foreign Minister told Sunrise.
‘We can share our experience.’
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has offered Australia’s help to the United States in relation to gun legislation following the latest in a long line of mass shootings
Las Vegas resident Stephen Paddock opened fire on a country music festival with an arsenal of high-powered rifles on Sunday night, killing 59 and injuring over 500
Bishop’s comments come after Las Vegas resident Stephen Paddock opened fire on a country music festival with an arsenal of high-powered rifles on Sunday night, killing 59 and injuring over 500.
Australia experienced its own horrific mass shooting at the hands of Martin Bryant in 1996, when he took the lives of 35 people at a popular tourist sight in Port Arthur.
Both Bryant and Paddock used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle during their respective mass murders.
Pictured: The man who took the lives of 59 innocent people at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night
Both Bryant and Paddock used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle (pictured) during their respective mass murders
Following the Port Arthur massacre, Australia swiftly introduced blanket gun bans on any automatic and semi-automatic weapons, and the nation has not experienced a mass shooting since. Bishop believes that precedence can help the US.
‘At the end of the day it’s going to be up to the United States legislators and law makers, and the United States public, to change the laws to ensure this type of incident doesn’t happen again,’ she said.
Last week Australia concluded a three-month gun amnesty that allows its citizens to turn in weapons no-questions-asked.
During the period more than 26,000 unwanted or unregistered guns were handed in to police. Anyone caught with an illegal gun faces up to 14 years in prison and a fine of up to $280,000.
‘At the end of the day it’s going to be up to the United States legislators and law makers to change the laws to ensure this type of incident doesn’t happen again,’ she said
Former New South Wales Premier Bob Carr was less gentle with his choice of words following the atrocities of the Las Vegas shooting, saying these kinds of incidents are a ‘political choice’
Former New South Wales Premier Bob Carr was less gentle with his choice of words following the atrocities of the Las Vegas shooting, saying these kinds of incidents are a ‘political choice.’
‘Every Republican enjoys endorsement of NRA and living with mass shootings is a political choice,’ Carr tweeted after the attack.
‘Europe and Australia made a different choice: respect for life above right to universal gun ownership.’
He also appeared on Sky News on Tuesday to reaffirm his stance against the US’ lax stance on firearm ownership.
‘There are two things you can say with certainty: gun laws in America will not be tightened and there will be massacres like this again,’ he said.
‘It is part of American culture, it is why America is different, it is American exceptionalism and it extends from the Second Ammendment which has been interpreted by their Supreme Court as giving universal gun ownership rights.’