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U..S Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz wrong about Aussie gun laws: Aussie opposition leader

Xinhua, January 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Australian opposition leader on Thursday slammed controversial comments about Australia's gun laws made by U.S. presidential hopeful Ted Cruz, labeling them unfounded and offensive.

Bill Shorten took aim at comments made by Cruz earlier this week, in which the Republican hopefull said the introduction of strict gun laws in Australia had resulted in an increase in sexual assaults and rapes against women.

"After Australia did that (gun buyback program), the rate of sexual assaults, the rate of rapes, went up significantly, because women were unable to defend themselves," Cruz told a television talk show earlier this week.

But on Thursday, Shorten, a Labor leader, said enacting the laws was "indisputably the right thing to do", praising the Liberal Howard government for the scheme.

The buyback came as a result of the Port Arthur Massacre, which was a deadly rampage that resulted in the deaths of 35 people in Tasmania in 1996. The Australian government announced it would enact stricter gun control in the wake of the deadly disaster.

"Twenty years after the chilling tragedy of Port Arthur, along with many Australians, I regard gun law reform as John Howard's finest achievement in office," Shorten said.

"Contrary to (Cruz's) comments, reducing the number and restricting the availability of semi-automatic weapons did not lead to an increase in the rates of violent crime, rape or sexual assault."

Shorten urged the Republican to further study Australia's gun laws and not use them as a "misguided defense" of gun laws in the United States.

The topic of gun reform has been fiercely debated by all sides of the U.S. political landscape, and will likely be a major talking point heading into this year's election.

Shorten said the U.S. citizens deserved to know the truth instead of accepting unfounded claims by candidates such as Cruz.

"Americans deserve to know the truth that the reforms to Australia's gun laws are working and lives are being saved," Shorten said.

A Washington Post "fact check" column backed up the Labor leader's claims, indicating there was no significant change in the number of sexual assaults following the gun buyback in 1996 in Australia. Endit