Matt Damon says he doesn't think 'sensible' US gun control will happen 'in my lifetime'
A reporter from Stuff asked Damon about gun control, and the Oscar-winning actor used Australia as an example of how to go about having successful gun laws.
"You guys did it here in one fell swoop and I wish that could happen in my country," Damon said.
Damon was referring to the mass shooting in 1996 in Australia that killed 35 people, which led to the passing of the strict gun law called the National Firearms Agreement and Buyback Program passed just 12 days later.
"Obviously mass shootings aren't going to do it. There have been so many of them at this point. Sandy Hook, when those children were murdered, if that didn't do it, you know, I just don't know. Maybe we just need to evolve further before we can have that conversation, I don't know," Damon said. "I wish we could be sensible like that but I don't think that's going to happen in my lifetime."
In Australia, there's a 30-day waiting period for all gun license applications and firearm safety training courses are mandatory.
A study released in June showed that there were no mass shootings in Australia between when the National Firearms Agreement became law and May of 2016. The study also found that "there was a more rapid decline in firearm deaths between 1997 and 2013 compared with before 1997 but also a decline in total nonfirearm suicide and homicide deaths of a greater magnitude. Because of this, it is not possible to determine whether the change in firearm deaths can be attributed to the gun law reforms."
Watch Damon talk about gun control at the two-minute mark of the video below:
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