AUSTRALIA, shocked by the country's worst massacre in modern times, yesterday sought to bring gun laws more in line with some of its tougher Asian neighbours.
The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, pledging to lead the fight for stricter laws, ordered an emergency meeting of state and national police ministers next week to review gun laws after 34 people were killed by a gunman in the island state of Tasmania.
"I will do everything humanly possible and the federal government will do everything humanly possible to get an effective tightening of the gun control situation in this country," the Prime Minister told reporters after a church service for the massacre victims.
"It is the worst case of mass murder by an individual in Australian history," said Mr Howard, who will visit survivors tomorrow.
Unlike neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea, where the public is banned from owning guns, Australia's state controlled gun laws allow wide access to a range of weapons, including machine guns in some areas.
Malaysia tightened some controls in mid April and New Zealand toughened its gun laws in 1992 after a gun mad loner killed 13 men, women and children in a 24 hour rampage through the seaside village of Aramoana in 1990.
India bans assault weapons and Thailand officially outlaws automatic weapons, although they are freely available through the country's borders with Cambodia, Burma and Laos.
Japan is examining its regulations on all weapons since the gas attack on Tokyo subways in March, 1995, which killed II people and made about 5,500 ill.
In the wake of Sunday's massacre, in which the gunman used two high powered rifles, Australian gun control groups renewed their campaign for tighter national controls but stopped short of demanding a total ban, which is widely accepted as impossible.
Previous efforts to tighten laws have foundered on Australia's federal political system, which limits the powers of the national government. Gun laws fall under the control of the six state governments.
"The gun laws are as weak, of course, as the weakest link in the chain, which happened to be Tasmania," said Mr Simon Chapman, convenor of the New South Wales state Coalition for Gun Control.
"Down there, you can own fully automatic machine guns if you describe yourself as a collector. Anyone can walk in and get a semi automatic weapon."
Federal and state police ministers tried to draft uniform gun laws at a meeting last November but failed to agree on details and the need for a national gun register.
The federal Attorney General, Mr Daryl Williams, who will present a proposal for tighter controls at next week's ministerial meeting, said yesterday Australia needed stricter laws, with tougher limits on the types of guns allowed.