Reactions

Shooting shows America's "gun culture" is a negative

(AP)
Updated: 2007-04-17 14:55

SYDNEY, Australia -- The leader of Australia - where a lone gunman went on one of the world's deadliest killing sprees 11 years ago - said Tuesday the university shooting in Virginia showed that America's 'gun culture' was a negative force in society.

Prime Minister John Howard staked his political leadership on pushing through tough laws on gun ownership in Australia after Martin John Bryant, armed with a bagful of automatic weapons, went on a killing spree in the tourist resort of Port Arthur in southern Tasmania state on April 28, 1996. Thirty-five people died.

Howard on Tuesday said the Virginia university shooting was a tragedy of a kind he hoped would never be seen again in Australia.

"You can never guarantee these things won't happen again in our country," Howard told reporters.

"We had a terrible incident at Port Arthur, but it is the case that 11 years ago we took action to limit the availability of guns and we showed a national resolve that the gun culture that is such a negative in the United States would never become a negative in our country," he said.

He offered his sympathies to the victims of the Virginia shooting and their families.

The new gun laws, which banned automatic weapons and handguns and toughened licensing and storage restrictions, were unpopular among farmers and other gun owners that are key supporters of Howard's conservative coalition.

Experts say the laws have probably helped keep violent crime rates down, though shooter's proponents say their is no proof the laws have made Australia safer.