Should US Learn Gun Control From Australia? Twitter Thinks So

A day after a shooter went on a killing spree in Las Vegas on Sunday, Twitter users called for stricter gun control laws in the U.S., citing the case of Australia, where such laws have succeeded in curbing mass shootings substantially.

The hashtag “#GunContolNow” (first started by Twitter user Chz54321, according to Who Said It First) was trending on Twitter around 5.20 a.m. EDT, with thousands tweeting their opinion and support for the initiative.

The implicit understanding was that had there been stricter gun laws, the shooting which left 59 people and hundreds injured could have been prevented.

While many solutions to the gun problem were provided, there was one that resonated the most with people — the fact that Australia had done a much more admirable job with their gun laws, compared to the U.S.

The eye-opener for the people Down Under was a mass shooting in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996, that left 35 people dead and 23 injured.

The country's liberal leader at the time, former Prime Minister John Howard, immediately set in motion a process to implement tougher gun laws.

As a result, there was a massive buyback of one-fifth of the total number of weapons in circulation at the time in the country, Slate reported.

Private sale of guns were prohibited, all kinds of guns have to be individually registered to the user’s name and a gun buyer had to present a viable reason for making the purchase (self-defense is not counted as a good enough reason).

Even though Australians were initially opposed to the reforms, the same laws have received overwhelming public support over the years, after statistics showed that there was a significant drop in gun-related crimes since they were implemented.

According to the Washington Post, homicides by firearm reduced by 59 percent, between 1995 and 2006; gun-related suicides plunged by about 65 percent after the buybacks; and there has been no mass killings on Australian soil ever since the gun laws were reformed.

Australia Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Tuesday that her country is prepared to work with the U.S. government and lend their expertise in bringing about a change in gun laws that will benefit the country in the long run.

"What we can offer is our experience," Bishop said Tuesday, Channel News Asia reported. "But at the end of the day it's going to be up to the United States legislators and lawmakers, and the United States public, to change the laws to ensure this type of incident doesn't happen again."

James Carouso, the acting US ambassador to Australia, admitted his country could learn from Australia on gun policy.

"Every time one of these things happens, US analysts always point to what happened in Australia, and point out that your murder rate with guns has gone down drastically, and you haven't had the repeat of this sort of mass murder," Carouso said. "I think certainly a lot of observers in the US look to the Australian example."

However, the White House has already made it clear that it is not interested in revisiting the long-waging gun debate in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a news briefing that “there’s a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country.” She added that it would be “premature” to “discuss policy.”

“This isn't a time for us to go after individuals or organizations,” Sanders said, Independent reported. “I think that we can have those policy conversations, but today is not that day.”