Chris Lane Shooting Sparks Aussie Tourist Boycott, Gun Control Comparisons

[Robb]

The seemingly random shooting death of a young Australian man on a baseball scholarship in the United States Friday has sparked a heated debate on gun control on the far side of the Pacific Ocean, where one Australian politician has urged his fellow citizens to “think twice” before visiting the U.S.

Though the case of 22-year-old Melbourne native Chris Lane only made headlines in the U.S. on Tuesday, it has dominated the nightly news and graced the cover of nearly every paper in Australia for days -- despite a major election just weeks away. On Monday, Australia’s former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fisher, a noted advocate of gun control in his homeland, urged Aussies to boycott the U.S. until it changed its attitude on guns.

“Tourists thinking of going to the USA should think twice,” he told Australia’s Herald Sun. “This is the bitter harvest and legacy of the policies of the NRA that even blocked background checks for people buying guns at gun shows. People should take this into account before going to the United States.”

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The swift changes pushed through by the conservative prime minister, who would go on to become one of George W. Bush’s closest allies, have long been held up as an international gold standard. According to Fischer, they sent Australia down a different path than the U.S. He believes that because of the gun reform law, you are now 15 times more likely to be shot dead in the U.S. per thousand people than in Australia.

Read More: http://www.ibtimes.com/chris-lane-shooting-sparks-aussie-tourist-boycott-gun-control-comparisons-1393155