In the wake of yet another horrible American school shooting, this time in Oregon, US President Barack Obama has spoken out about gun control, praising Australia for the effectiveness of our laws in this area, and lamenting that his own country “should be ashamed” of its efforts thus far.
In an online Q&A session, which was intended to be on the subject of student debt, Obama said that the failure to pass gun control laws is the biggest frustration of his time in office. “Our levels of gun violence are off the charts,” he said. “There’s no advanced, developed country that would put up with this.”
He singled out Australia’s approach for praise. “Couple of decades ago, Australia had a mass shooting, similar to Columbine or Newtown,” he said, in reference to the Port Arthur massacre. “Australia just said, well, that’s it, we’re not doing, we’re not seeing that again, and basically imposed very severe, tough gun laws, and they haven’t had a mass shooting since.”
In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2013, Obama proposed a tightening of US gun laws, the terms of which included the tightening of loopholes in background checks and the banning of assault weapons (which really seems like a no-brainer), as well as improving school safety and access to mental health services.
As yet, there have been few meaningful changes made, and Obama recently said that politicians on both sides of the house are “terrified” of America’s National Rifle Association and its ability to influence elections. Needless to say, in the wake of Obama’s most recent declaration, pressure groups are already flipping out at the prospect that the President is coming to take away all of their guns.
In related news, everything is still terrible.
via Sydney Morning Herald
Photo: Getty Images Pool
