Tony Rundle, who was sworn in as Tasmania's premier weeks before the Port Arthur massacre occurred in 1996, shared his views on the issue following another school shooting in Texas last week.

"For people outside looking at America, we just shake our heads in disbelief at what the public will tolerate there with the massacre of innocent children and the stealing of their lives," he said.

"It's difficult to see that anything is going to change.

"I have just been watching Donald Trump speak at the National Rifle Association conference in Houston and his speech was quite appalling.

"He was saying that the right to bear arms is something he would always support and the shooting was nothing to do with the proliferation of guns but it was to do with mental health and they should be looking at mental health and he said there should be more guns.

"In other words, armed guards at all American schools but of course he is in denial as it it just politics to him."

Former El Paso, Texas, resident and current Burnie City councillor Ken Dorsey, on Tasmania's north-west coast, called the Republicans thinking "ludicrous".

"They want guns in every classes so teachers can return fire," he said.

"If police can't stop them, the thought of a teacher being able to do it is the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard."

Despite debate about what the founding fathers actually intended for the second amendment when they wrote the constitution, Mr Rundle said there should be no debate now after the latest mass shooting.

"The US constitution's second amendment has been around since 1791 and there has been a lot of debate as to whether or not the founding fathers meant that it should be more to do with the military's right to bear arms rather than individual citizens and that has never been resolved," he said.

"But, surely the founding fathers would never have anticipated that an 18-year-old could walk into a gun shop and buy two military automatic weapons and create such carnage."

While he noted the calls for change from the likes of current President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama, who are both Democrats, Mr Rundle could not see the Republican party representatives following suit.

"Trump and his party are strong supporters of the National Rifle Association and will never, ever do anything that takes away the right to bear arms in America," he said.

"To get the Republicans to actually move its position is just about as impossible as asking the Australian Labor Party to cut it ties with unions."

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Mr Dorsey said while repeat shootings were upsetting, it was impossible to compare the US with Australia.

"It actually upsets me as there is no worse feeling than wondering if your child is getting killed and no one is doing anything to help," he said as he criticised the police that were at the scene.

"The US is a different country, with a different mindset - Americans love their guns.

"You can't put Australian values on Americans as they don't think the same.

"They will never have them completely banned like they do here.

"I don't know what the answer is."