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After 521 mass shootings in 477 days, gun activist argues regulation would not prevent 'daily' attacks like Las Vegas

A woman sits on a curb at the scene of the shooting in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A woman sits on a curb at the scene of the shooting in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A prominent supporter of gun rights has said gun regulation would not prevent attacks like the tragedy in Las Vegas, and argued that if pro-regulation arguments were correct there would be mass shootings ‘daily to the tune of thousands’.

There have been 521 mass shootings in the past 477 days in America.

Yesterday at least 58 people died and 515 were injured in the devastating Las Vegas Shooting, when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd at a music concert from his hotel window.

Mark Walters, an outspoken advocate of the right to bear arms and the host of Armed American Radio told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme that gun control was not an effective way of preventing such massacres.

He said: ‘Look, human beings have been slaughtering each other since the dawn of time. If it’s not a gun then it’s something else.

This undated photo provided by Eric Paddock shows him, left, with his brother, Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock. (Courtesy of Eric Paddock via AP)
This undated photo provided by Eric Paddock shows him, left, with his brother, Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock. (Courtesy of Eric Paddock via AP)

‘But there’s truth to your argument in this sense: if you outlawed all guns there would be no gun crime. If we outlawed all automobiles there would be no drunk driving accidents.

‘We could go down this path all day long. Here’s what I would submit to you and this is the difference in culture, there are hundreds of millions of guns in America in the hands of nearly 150 million Americans.

‘If everything you’re telling me is true, we would be experiencing crimes like this daily, to the tune of thousands.’

The broken window through which Stephen Paddock murdered 59 people is seen at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
The broken window through which Stephen Paddock murdered 59 people is seen at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Mr Walters accused Democrats of ‘politicising’ tragedies such as Las Vegas, the worst mass shooting in modern American history.

He said: ‘I just returned from the gun rights policy conference. I gave a speech talking about this very topic, [saying] that we were going to see another event like this and unfortunately, sadly we will see another one.

‘It’s more than likely being planned by some psychopathic lunatic right now and I predict that when that when that happens we will see the immediate calls from the Democrat left screaming politics, politicising, and dancing in the blood of the victims before the bodies are even taken to a morgue, for more gun control in politics.’

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Presenter Nick Robinson challenged Mr Walters that gun control had been effective in both the UK and Australia.

He responded: ‘What you just described in Australia and the UK was not gun control it was confiscation. What happened in Australia was forced confiscation of firearms. They were banned.’

In Australia, following a mass shooting in 1996, the country brought in considerably tougher laws on firearms.

As a result the rates of gun homicide dropped by almost 50% and rates of suicide using guns halved, according to the Journal of Public Health Policy.

Since the attack in Orlando on 12 June 2016, where 49 people were killed by a gunman, there have been a further 520 mass shootings in America.

A mass shooting is defined as four or more people being injured or killed in one single event at the same time and location, according to the gun violence archive.