Malcolm Turnbull won't back strict Australian gun laws for U.S.

By S.A. Miller - The Washington Times - Friday, February 23, 2018

During a White House visit Friday, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that he would not recommend his country’s severe gun control measures to President Trump.

“You have an amendment to your Constitution which deals with gun ownership. You have a very, very different history [with guns],” Mr. Turnbull said during a joint press conference with the president.

Mr. Turnbull said that it wasn’t his place to advise Mr. Trump on gun control.

“We certainly don’t presume to provide, you know, policy or political advice on that matter here,” he said. “I will focus on our own political arguments and debates and wish you wise deliberation in your own.”

Australia adopted tough gun laws after a shooting massacre in 1996, banning automatic and semi-automatic rifles and mandating a massive firearm buy-back program in which citizens surrendered all weapons rendered illegal by the ban.

Advocates for tougher gun-control laws in the U.S. often argue for an Australian-style response to mass shootings.

Pressure for new gun-control measures intensified following the shooting last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 students and teachers.

Mr. Trump has proposed expanded background checks to help keep firearms out of the hands of the metal ill, raising the age to 21 to purchase a rifle and clearing the way for teachers to carry concealed handguns in school.

The president also has vowed to defend the Second Amendment.