Florida gun massacre: ‘We have a great deal to thank John Howard for’

As the US reels from yet another gun massacre, Donald Trump will meet with Malcolm Turnbull — and one irrefutable fact.

Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz in court after a massacre that left 17 dead last week.

Malcolm Turnbull has responded to the shooting of 17 people at a Florida High School last week by saying that “nothing speaks more eloquently” on gun control than former prime minister John Howard’s leadership after Australia’s Port Arthur massacre.

The Prime Minister’s carefully-worded comments come as he prepares to meet with US President Donald Trump next week.

In a White House speech on Wednesday, hours after the Florida massacre, Mr Trump emphasised school safety and mental health while avoiding any mention of gun policy.

The shooting was the 19th school shooting in the United States in 2018, and the 30th mass shooting (defined as involving five or more fatalities) over the same period.

The-then Prime Minister John Howard, wearing what appears to be a bulletproof vest, tries to placate hostile pro-gun rally in regional Victoria in 1996.

Asked whether he had a message on gun control for Mr Trump, Mr Turnbull said it was a “good question”.

“We don’t tell other countries how to manage their firearms policies, but obviously Australia’s is one of the strictest in the world,” Mr Turnbull said.

“We have a great deal to thank John Howard, and indeed Tim Fischer who supported him as leader of the Nationals at the time, for taking up the leadership challenge after the shocking Port Arthur massacre and introducing our tough firearms laws, which as you know dramatically restricted the range of firearms that are available.

“The United States has a very different culture in respect of guns. It’s a very, very intense political debate there.

“But in terms of policy, nothing speaks more eloquently than the leadership of John Howard and the effectiveness of the laws he put in place more than 20 years ago.”

In 1996, gunman Martin Bryant killed 35 people and wounded 23 when he opened fire on shop owners and tourists in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur using two semiautomatic rifles.

The massacre prompted Mr Howard to ban all semiautomatic weapons and destroy more than a million illegal firearms acquired through a gun buyback.