Howard's gun laws hit right balance: Labor

Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh believes there is no need for tighter gun laws after the "horrendous" fatal shooting of a police worker in Sydney.

Dr Leigh says the gun laws brought in by former Liberal prime minister John Howard struck the right balance.

"John Howard's gun buyback saved lives .. the United States could do worse than look to the leadership of John Howard and (his deputy) Tim Fischer in the late 1990s in standing up to those who said our gun laws were all right," he told Sky News.

Dr Leigh says he hopes there isn't a backlash against the Muslim community over the shooting by a 15-year-old boy of Iraqi-Kurdish background who was born in Iran.

He said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has acknowledged the importance in working with the Muslim community.

"We have to be very very careful about demonising a community of hundreds or thousands of Muslim Australians for the evil of a few abhorrent souls," he said.