Pro-gun group targets Australia in latest video

The video, posted to the NRA's official YouTube page, takes aim at Australia's gun laws. Photo / YouTube, NRA

America's well-known pro-gun lobby group the National Rife Association (NRA) has targeted Australia in a recent video, in what appears to be a scare campaign.

The video, posted to the NRA's official YouTube page, takes aim at Australia's gun laws and refers to the buyback scheme that was launched after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania.

The shooting spree, which killed 35 people and wounded 23 others, transformed gun laws in Australia. The National Firearms Programme Implementation Act 1996 was founded, which restricted the private ownership of semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic shotguns and pump-action shotguns.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the government bought and destroyed 643,726 weapons in the subsequent buyback.

The buyback has been credited with stopping mass shootings in Australia and reducing gun homicides and suicides.

The NRA video shows clips of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton talking about Australia, over dramatic music, and then claims to tell the viewer what they mean: "When they're talking about Australia they're talking about bans and confiscation."

A clip of Clinton saying, "the Australian example is worth looking at" features twice.

It shows headlines and advertisements that ran in Australian papers, highlighting quotes such as, "personal protection is no reason to have a gun".

The video seems to have struck a chord with its supporters, with YouTube users expressing their views in the comments section.

"Americans would go insane with rage. Not going to happen here without a blood bath," wrote one user.

?Australians have hit back, with one user writing they have "never been more proud to live in Australia where we can see past our own blind self interest and accept regulations that are for the good of the nation".

-nzherald.co.nz