US must pursue gun reforms: Abbott

Tony Abbott believes the United States must "get its house in order" and pursue gun reforms after a deadly mass shooting at a church in Texas.

At least 20 people, including children, have been killed in a massacre during a Sunday church service in a small town in Texas. The gunman is also dead after fleeing the church in a vehicle.

"America is a great country but in this particular area I think they've got a lot to learn from us," the former prime minister told 2GB radio on Monday, praising John Howard's 1996 gun laws which followed the Port Arthur massacre.