Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota praised Australia for its strict gun control laws Sunday, even though those measures failed to prevent a deadly terrorist attack.
At least two gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding 40, including a child and two police officers among the victims. Omar told MSNOW host Ali Velshi that Australia had “worked really hard” to enact gun control.
“I mean, we are still recovering from the shooting at Annunciation Church,” Omar said, referencing the Aug. 27 attack on a Catholic Church in the Minneapolis area. “It is a tragedy that this has become a normal occurrence, not just in the United States, but now seeing it in Australia, who’s worked really hard to create gun prevention laws, to prevent the kind of tragedy that took place today.”
WATCH:
Australia passed legislation that required owners of semi-automatic firearms and certain pump-action firearms to surrender them in a mandatory “buyback” following a 1996 mass shooting in Port Arthur, Tasmania, that killed 35 people and wounded 23 others. Many Democrats have cited Australia’s sweeping gun bans as a model response to mass shootings.
Despite the legislation, one of the gunmen who carried out the attack appeared to use a pump-action shotgun with an extended magazine. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed to enact further restrictions in response to the attack at Bondi Beach, according to the Associated Press.
The new restrictions would include a limit on how many firearms a person could own, more review of gun licenses, limiting the licenses to Australian citizens and “additional use of criminal intelligence.”
The Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns, hinted that the Australian state might pass even more stringent laws than the national government, the Associated Press reported.
“If you’re not a farmer, you’re not involved in agriculture, why do you need these massive weapons that put the public in danger and make life dangerous and difficult for New South Wales Police?” Minns said.
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