Follow Australia’s example and ban assault weapons

Last May, I visited Port Arthur in Australia as a tourist. It is a former penal colony on the island state of Tasmania, where the British sent their convicts to serve their prison sentences in the 18th century. It is a fascinating place, attracting more than 300,000 tourists in 2016.

But there is much more to Port Arthur. It was the scene of a horrific mass shooting that claimed the lives of 35 people; 18 others were injured. A plaque at Port Arthur describes the mass shooting.

The shooter used an AR-15. Many more would have died had it not been for the shooter’s poor marksmanship. But like any shooter who uses a semi-automatic weapon, spraying hundreds of bullets into a crowd in a matter of seconds guarantees a deadly outcome.

Australia had some mass shootings before Port

Arthur. There were 14 of them — where five or more people were killed — between 1971 and April 28, 1996, the day of the Port Arthur massacre. There hasn’t been a mass shooting since Port Arthur 22 years ago. Australians said enough is enough.

The anti-gun control movement in the United States repeatedly says that gun control measures sought by the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and others would not have stopped the massacre there. Really. How can they say that with any certainty? Common-sense control measures appear to have stopped the shootings in Australia.

So, what did Australia do?

It took just 12 days for the government to ban semi-automatic weapons. It prohibited their import and sponsored a massive buyback program with generous terms. In 2002, the government followed up with a number of handgun buyback programs. Last year, more than 26,000 unregistered, illegal or unwanted firearms were turned over during a three-month national gun amnesty program, according to USA Today.

Australia also limited the magazine capacity for handguns. It imposed a 28-day waiting period to acquire a handgun. In 2014, Australia’s murder rate fell to less than 1 killing per 100,000 people. That is one-fifth the rate in America. And just 32 of those Australia homicides were committed with guns.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has offered to share with the U.S. her country’s two decades of experience with gun law reform that dramatically lowered gun violence deaths.

The Parkland students are clearly listening. Are Congress and the president listening as well?

MICHAEL DIAMOND, BOYNTON BEACH