Australia’s firearms law: US National Rifle Association targets Australia’s gun buyback law in new video
National Rifle Association, the pro-gun lobby group in the United States, has targeted Australia in its new video. NRA slammed Australia’s gun buyback scheme in 1996, drawing comparison to the efforts in the US to tighten firearms law.
In the almost two-minute video titled “Australia Means Bans & Confiscation,” the NRA criticised US President Barack Obama and current presidential candidate Hillary Clinton when they praised Australia’s gun laws.
“Here’s what President Obama and Hillary Clinton don’t want you to know what they’re talking about when they’re talking about Australia,” the video text reads before showing newspaper articles of the buyback program during the John Howard administration.
The National Firearms Buyback Scheme of 1996 was part of the National Firearms Programme Implementation Act 1996, which restricted the private ownership of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns and pump-action shotguns, and adopted a strict licensing and ownership system. It was introduced following the Port Arthur massacre in the same year, where 35 people were killed and over 20 were wounded when Martin Bryant, a 28-year-old man with intellectual disabilities, opened fire in Port Arthur, Tasmania.
The buyback scheme took over 600,000 firearms made illegal by the new law from citizens in exchange for compensation, which cost the government about $300 million.
In the video, the NRA highlighted phrases in the newspaper clippings and appeared to take exception to the surrender of firearms that were used for protection, as well as to the consequences if one did not comply with the new law.
“When they are talking about Australia, they are talking about bans and confiscations,” the NRA warned in the video, asking viewers to “stop Australia-style gun control from coming to America!”
The video, uploaded on Wednesday in the US, has over 40,000 views and over 600 thumbs down. Some Australians expressed their disapproval on the comment section, saying the buyback program saved the nation from senseless gun killings.
“I love how they use false statistics and show things out of context about Australia and our gun laws. NRA just comes off as ****hurt that Australia is a good example of how strict gun laws actually work,” a YouTube commenter wrote.
“I think somebody is a bit jealous. Jealous that we can send our kids to school or go watch a movie without having to worry about a ‘mentally challenged, white, non-terrorist’ gunman wreaking havoc,” another commenter added.
“When they talk about Australia, they’re talking about thousands of lives saved over two decades in a nation of just 23 million. Imagine how many lives would be saved in the US by sensible gun laws,” another comment reads.
