United States

Why Australia's Gun Buyback Program Is So Unlikely in the US

Australia is a source of inspiration for some in America, but not exactly a policy model

After a gunman killed 35 people at an Australian tourist site with an AR-15 rifle and high-capacity magazines in 1996, a conservative government led the country’s states in passing a sweeping new restrictions on firearms, NBC News reported.

Gun violence and gun suicides plummeted, and no similar attacks have occurred in Australia since. The move has beecome an inspiration for those Americans seeking stricter gun laws, yet almost none of the major U.S. violence-prevention groups or elected federal officials are advocating anything similar.

"I haven't seen any serious proposal like that in the United States," said Adam Winkler, a law professor at UCLA and author of "Gunfight: The Battle Over The Right To Bear Arms In America."

There are millions of guns already available in the U.S. already, and advocacy groups don't want to feed the perception that they plan to take guns away from people in a country where gun ownership is written into the founding document.

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