Chilling lesson in rapid fire weapons

AUSTRALIA could learn lessons from the Las Vegas shooting massacre, Tasmanian gun control advocate Roland Browne says.

Mr Browne says Australia needs to implement a ban on rapid fire handguns because the only way to protect society is to “take them out of people’s hands”.

“The lesson from Las Vegas is that you cannot pick who is going to commit mass murder with a gun,” he said.

‘Typically, the perpetrators have no prior convictions, no mental health history and that has been shown in the US, Australia, Norway and at Dunblane in 1996.

“The only way is to take rapid fire weapons out of society and that has happened in Britain and Europe.’

“Those semi automatic rifles [in Las Vegas] did precisely what they were designed to do, they have no other use.”

Mr Browne, a prominent voice after the Port Arthur killings in 1996, said semiautomatic handguns that shoot up to 10 rounds were still legal in Australia for target shooting, if you joined a club.

“That is the major shortcoming from 1996,” he said.

Last year, an attempt to lift a ban on the rapid fire Adler shotgun was defeated in the Senate.

Mr Browne, a Gun Control Australia office holder, said there were still 8000 Adler type rapid fire shotguns in circulation — all of which were imported since 2015 as a result of a deal between shooting groups and NSW Senator David Leyonhjelm.

Tasmanians handed in almost 2000 firearms in the recent national amnesty between July and September 30 including two military-style semi-automatic rifles.