The former prime minister and architect of Australia's restrictions on gun ownership, John Howard, says gun control laws should be strengthened, not weakened.
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Asked about the controversy surrounding the Adler shotgun, which some Nationals MPs have been pushing to allow access to, Mr Howard said the country's current system of controls had worked to make the country safer.
"My position as you might expect on gun laws is I don't want to see any weakening of any kind in the prohibitions that I introduced and which may have been added since 1996," said Mr Howard, speaking after an event to mark the 100th anniversary of his alma mater, Earlwood Primary School.
"Now, as to how the government of the day deals with the current issues that's a matter for the government of the day but my principle as everybody would accept and expect is I don't want to see any weakening of our gun laws," he said.
"They are respected around the world as being very effective. They have made Australia a much safer country and I just don't want to see any weakening and, where the opportunity might arise, they could even be strengthened."
Asked later if he had any comment to make about the Adler in particular, which is currently listed in a non-restrictive category of firearm but which remains subject to a ban on use, Mr Howard would not expand on his comments.
He also declined to comment on the fraught relationship between two of his successors as Liberal leader and prime minister – Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.
Tension between the two escalated this week amid claim and counter-claim about whether they would be willing to relax restrictions on the Adler. Both have said they oppose access to the weapon.
"I have no comment at all to make," said Mr Howard. "I wish both of them well and I think Mr Turnbull is doing a very good job as Prime Minister."
At Earlwood, which Mr Howard attended before moving on to Canterbury Boys High School, the former prime minister was surrounded by former and current students, all eager for a picture with the country's second longest-serving prime minister.
As prime minister, Mr Howard introduced restrictive gun legislation following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
