US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has drawn fire from the US gun lobby after she said Australia’s gun buyback program was worth considering.

Ms Clinton was asked at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire about how Australia responded to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.

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“Australia managed to take away tens of thousands, millions of handguns and in one year, they’re all gone. Can we do that?” a man in the crowd asked Ms Clinton on Friday.

Ms Clinton said the Australian success came after the government offered a “good price” for guns in the buyback.

“I think it would be worth considering doing it on the national level if that could be arranged,” Clinton said.

The National Rifle Association’s chief lobbyist Chris Cox responded by describing Ms Clinton’s “extreme views” as “completely out of touch with the American people”.

“The real goal of gun control supporters is gun confiscation,” Mr Cox said.