Govt rules out weaker gun control

The Tasmanian Government says it has no intention to water down gun control measures. The National Coalition for Gun Control had raised concerns that a Tasmanian Government review of the Act could see an end to the 28-day cooling off period for the purchase of second and subsequent weapons. The review has been underway for almost two years.

A spokesman for the Police Minister says no decisions have been made, but there will be no change to any arrangements agreed to by the Council of Australian Governments.

Well, saying that the rules won't be changed is a a funny way to say that no decisions have been made.

But aside from that... we're talking about a waiting period almost a month long excplicitly called a "cooling off period". It's the same sort of thing that I call a victimization period, because it means that the people who need a gun for self defense (something that is no longer considered a valid reason to own a firearm, btw) will be prevented from getting one, but the people who need a firearm to commit a crime (ie, criminals) will be able to get one immediately on the street. The victimization period is the time between the illegally-acquired firearm being available to the criminal and the legal firearm being available for self-defense.

Truly, though, gun control is a thoroughly irrational issue. This gun control group is protesting about eliminating the waiting period for the second and subsequent purchases, in a country which already has extremely strict gun control that doesn't seem to be helping control crime much at all. If the existing gun control laws work so well at making sure only those who can be trusted have guns, why have a waiting period at all? Why get worked up about eliminating the waiting period for someone who already owns at least one gun?

The answer is simple. It's not about guns; it's about control.