After Las Vegas Massacre, Advocates Look to Australia's Successful Fight to Curb Gun Violence

Source: www.truth-out.org --- Wednesday, October 04, 2017
In aftermath of the deadly shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night by 64-year-old Stephen Paddock that left 59 people dead and 527 others wounded, we look at calls for gun control and how Australia worked to change its culture of gun violence after a massacre 20 years ago -- and won. In April of 1996, a gunman opened fire on tourists in Port Arthur, Tasmania, killing 35 and wounding 23 others. Within 12 days of the attack, Australia's conservative government announced a bipartisan deal to enact gun control measures. There has not been another mass shooting in Australia since. We speak with Rebecca Peters, who led the campaign to reform Australia's gun laws after the Port Arthur massacre and is now an international arms control advocate and part of the International Network on Small Arms. TRANSCRIPT AMY GOODMAN : This isDemocracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman, with Juan González. JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We turn now to the aftermath of the deadly shooting in Las Vegas as new details emerge about how 64-year-old Stephen Paddock carried out Sunday night's massacre at a country music festival, which left 59 people dead and 527 others wounded. Leaked photographs from the crime scene on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel show Paddock's body on the floor near what appears to be a hand-written note on a table. It's not known what's written on that paper. The photos also show a number of assault rifles strewn a ...

from Australia http://ift.tt/2yYuPf9