'Crikey mate, how them gun laws workin out for you?' U.S. media and shooter groups mock Australia's firearm laws in the wake of Darwin tragedy
- US media and pro-gun groups have laughed at Australia's strict gun laws
- CNN, The New York Times and other mainstream US media have also took aim
- 'But I thought the gun laws were working?' a conservative Twitter page jibed
US news agencies, social media users and pro-gun groups have laughed at Australian gun laws in the wake of the Darwin shooting, which left four people dead.
Ben Hoffmann, 45, allegedly went on an hour-long shooting spree across the city on Tuesday night - killing four men and injuring a woman.
'Crikey, mate … how them gun laws workin out for you,' one man wrote on Twitter, taking aim at Australia's strict firearm restrictions, set in place after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
'Australia has the best tightest gun laws on the planet! No shootings happens here anymore mate!' another user jibed.
US pro-gun groups and social media users have laughed at Australian gun laws in the aftermath of Tuesday night's Darwin shooting, which left four men dead
The backlash comes after Ben Hoffmann allegedly went on an hour-long shooting spree across Darwin on Tuesday night
An anonymous person operating the Twitter account 'Colorado Conservative' also took a swipe at Australian gun control.
'But I thought the gun laws in Australia were working??? Next step, we need to make it illegal to kill people!! #GunControlNow #WhyImConservative,' the Tweet read.
Some Australians have also taken aim at gun laws, with Aussie pro-gun group Firearm Owners United posting a piece titled 'NT tragedy: Australia’s ''gold standard gun laws'' fail again'.
'All this has proven yet again is that illegal firearms are accessible to anyone in Australia who wants one, mass killings will continue to happen and police can't protect you from these incidents,' read the website.
An anonymous person operating the Twitter account 'Colorado Conservative' also took a swipe at Australian gun control
Mainstream media also jumped on the bandwagon, with The New York Times reporting that Australia has been 'gradually loosening its gun laws in recent years, and gun sales are increasing'.
The publication pointed out that the number of privately owned firearms in the Northern Territory grew to nearly 64,000 in 2014 from 47,000 in 2007.
CNN posted an article with the headline 'Australia reels from worst rampage killing in decades for a country thought to have solved this issue'.
But despite the backlash from overseas, an Australian gun expert has defended our tough gun laws.
Associate Professor Philip Alpers, the director of GunPolicy.org at the University of Sydney, told News.com.au that statistics can't be ignored.
Prof Alpers said the 12-guage shotgun that accused Darwin shooter Ben Hoffmann allegedly used was an illegal weapon under the National Firearms Agreement, and it should have never made its way to the streets.
Hoffmann, who was known to police and was released on parole earlier this year, was arrested (pictured) after an alleged rampage that lasted about an hour and involved five locations
Northern Territory police commissioner Reece Kershaw said the gun was possibly stolen as long ago as 1997.
Prof Alpers said most of the time police find out that the guns they seize have been previously illegally imported before they're sold to a legal gun owner.
But he said these illegally manufactured guns should have handed over to police during the buyback scheme following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
'That gun (allegedly used in Darwin) should have been handed in and destroyed after Port Arthur by the original owner, but for some reason they have decided not to or neglected to do that,' said Professor Alpers.
Investigators have been at the first crime scene where a shell casing could be seen on ground
He said even though the change of gun laws in the 1996 have decreased gun crime in Australia, it's a game of catch-up from illegal guns still floating around the country.
He said that in the late 90s, Australia was importing a quarter of a million guns a year, which equated to around 3.2 million guns sitting around homes by the 1996 gun amnesty.
He said despite the guns being around for a significant amount of time, they would still be able to work today.
'So, authorities have been trying to mop this up for 23 years by destroying over a million firearms since 1996 - but there's still a long way to go.'
Ben Hoffmann (pictured), 45, allegedly killed four people during a shooting rampage on Tuesday evening and injured one other
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