Debate over guns flares 20 years after shootings
By Associated Press In Port Arthur, Australia | China Daily | Updated: 2016-04-25 09:08
Carolyn Loughton still carries a bullet in her shoulder from one of the world's worst mass shootings that killed her daughter 20 years ago and galvanized Australia to drastically clamp down on guns.
Loughton threw her body over her 15-year-old daughter Sarah, but could not save her from a gunman with two semi-automatic assault rifles who methodically took headshots in a Port Arthur, Tasmania, cafe on April 28, 1996, killing 35 people.
In response, the Australian government severely restricted ownership of semi-automatic firearms, pump-action shotguns and other rapid-fire weapons. It also bought back nearly 700,000 guns from the public at a cost of $390 million.
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