PolitiFact Fail: Hillary Clinton Did Say Australian-style Gun Ban ‘Worth Considering’

During a campaign trail town hall at Keene State College, Hillary Clinton said the Australian gun ban was “worth considering” in the U.S.  Yet when the NRA highlighted Clinton’s statement, PolitiFact said the NRA’s claim was “mostly false.”

Here is a video of Clinton’s Keene State town hall. At the 1:43 mark she follows her own comments on Australia’s gun ban by saying, “I think it worth considering doing it on the national level, if that could be arranged.”

PolitiFact admits that “Australia banned semi-automatic and self-loading rifles as well as shotguns. The government offered a one-year grace period during which it would buy back the firearms at fair-market prices.” They also admit that those who refused to turn in their guns during the “grace period” became “subject to strict penalties” if caught with the firearm later.

In other words–the buyback was not voluntary. Australians had up to a year to turn in their guns, thereafter those who possessed them were criminalized.

Yet even after admitting this, PolitiFact points to the fact that Clinton also mentioned “Cash for Clunkers” while speaking at Keene State–and because “Cash for Clunkers” was a voluntary program, they suggest Clinton was talking about a voluntary national-buyback.

They quoted Clinton spokesman Josh Schwerin, who said, “Of course Hillary does not support national mandatory gun buyback programs, including those modeled after Australia’s program. She was discussing voluntary buyback programs, which are drastically different than what occurred in Australia and are regularly run by cities across the America.”

But the irony is lost on the NRA and others who watched the Keen State town hall. After all, Clinton’s statement that Australia’s gun ban is “worth considering” came about a minute after “Australia’s a good example, Canada’s a good example, the UK is a good example” of how “stricter gun laws” were implemented following a high profile gun crime.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.