Should We Extend The Gun Amnesty After Las Vegas?

Shorten thinks so.


Article heading image for Should We Extend The Gun Amnesty After Las Vegas?

NSW Police

Labor leader Bill Shorten is calling for an extension of the federal government's gun amnesty in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre.

Mr Shorten welcomed the 28,000 firearms handed in during the three-month amnesty but warned there are an estimated 600,000 still on the streets.

"Today I'm calling for a further extension of the gun amnesty," he told the Nine Network on Thursday.

Mr Shorten described the scale of death and destruction at the Route 91 Harvest Festival as almost beyond comprehension and imagination.

"I think every Australian who woke up the massacre in Las Vegas thought thank God we live in Australia with our gun laws," he said.

In addition to the amnesty extension, Mr Shorten also wants to see gun smugglers, who run criminal syndicates bringing illegal firearms into Australia, face up to life imprisonment.

His call comes as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull meets with state premiers and chief ministers in Canberra to discuss beefing up national security laws.

5 October 2017




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