Australia

Sure, they passed laws about this a while ago.  Handguns are verboten in Australia.  But there are still some pretty wild parts of the country, and when you put a human out in the wilderness, they need tools to survive.  But the government is so sure of their gun-banning policies that they will put lives at risk by confiscating handguns from people who need them.

People in that situation know their needs better than the government does, and they won't turn in their guns just for the asking.

This is why we fight registration laws.  When you have such a law, it just gives the government a list of who has a gun they can confiscate.

FIREARM owners in Wodonga, and in fact the whole of Victoria, have been put on notice.  Victoria police will be calling on them in the coming months to check they are complying with the law when it comes to the stage storage of their weapons. And those who are not doing the right thing had better watch out as the penalties for breaking the law are pretty severe.

It seems that police in Australia will be making use of the registration system to go door-to-door, verifying compliance with the safe-storage laws.  if you've ever wondered why gun owners in the United States are so determined to never allow registration, this is an excellent answer: once the police have a list, they are determined to use it.  They aren't looking to catch criminals who are out committing violent crimes; it's much easier to write tickets to honest gun owners who haven't hurt anyone.  And let's not forget this little bit of editorializing by the "journalist":

Those who legally own and use firearms have to know it is not a right, and it comes with a special responsibility to comply with all relevant laws.

In the US, it is a right.  And we intend to make sure it stays that way.

Ravenwood notes that it's inspection time for gun owners down under.  Imagine how much time the police are wasting on these inspections, when they could be persuing real criminals who are really robbing and killing people.  Folks, this is where so-called "safe-storage regulations" are pointing, even if they aren't quite there yet.

Passengers and crew aboard a Qantas airliner today subdued a 40-year-old Australian man who stabbed two flight attendants on his way to the cockpit. A report in the Melbourne Herald Sun says the man, onboard a flight from Melbourne to Launceston, Australia, was armed with two wooden stakes, an aerosol can and a yellow cigarette lighter.

With the support of the Labor Party, the Howard government last week succeeded in pushing through the Australian parliament an unprecedented piece of legislation giving the governmentýs political police the sort of arbitrary power normally associated with fascist regimes or military juntas.

Rare it is indeed for me to post something claiming to be from the World Socialist Website... but here you have it. "Down under" seems to be going bad as fast or worse than the US.

The NSW Government is facing a staff revolt at its police firearms registry amid fears the database containing records of the state's 200,000 gun owners and their million-plus firearms has been corrupted.

There are also growing concerns about the collection of data, and evidence that as much as 60 per cent of the database is inaccurate, according to Shooters Party MP John Tingle.

60% accuracy? That's about how well the BATF does with machine guns. And if your records are wrong you can be charged with a crime. Sounds peachy!

The National Coalition for Gun Control says semi-automatic handguns need to be completely removed from the community. Coalition chairwoman Samantha Lee says the use of a stolen semi-automatic Glock pistol in a gunfight at a Hurstville carpark in Sydney on Sunday shows that legal handguns can easily become illegal guns. Ms Lee says the ownership of such guns outside the police force should be banned. "We question why anyone within Australia requires a semi-automatic handgun for civilian use," she said. "The high increase or number of guns moving into the illegal market actually fuels the number of hand guns into the illegal market. "So it's like stopping a leaking tap."

So, it's not about BANNING them, is it? Hmm? Gun control enthusiasts in the US are very fond of telling people they don't want to "ban" guns these days, since they've learned that no one will listen to them when they say that. Instead, they only want to ban *some* guns, only the especially mean and nasty ones. Or so they say.

But in their hearts, they want to ban them all. And once they are in a position to do that, they will. So, we must ensure they are never in a position to make their wishes law.

A STATEWIDE audit of firearms has reached the Mid-North Coast. Local police are cracking down on gun ownership and over the next few months every firearm licensee will be asked to prove they are allowed have weapons in their home. There are thousands of registered names on the Mid-North Coast Local Area Command firearms database and every single person will be visited and questioned by police. If their licences don't match the registered guns in their homes then they will be penalised.

"It is effective in accounting for where firearms are," said Port Macquarie licensing sergeant Senior Constable John Lawrie. "Obviously people detected with unsafe storage or who are unlicensed will face action."

It will take months to account for every person and every registered firearm on the police database, but the local area command will not stop the audit until it does. "The reason they are doing it is because they did a pistol audit last year in reaction to firearm incidents in Sydney and it was so successful we are doing all firearms now," Snr Const Lawrie said.

Remember, once the government assumes permission to register your firearms, they will also assume permission to "audit" your "registration" in order to charge with you crimes like "unsafe storage" or "not having a gun you registered" or "having a gun you did not register". This is something they will apparantly devote lots of time to doing... time they could have spent chasing people actually committing crimes.

Swords will become prohibited weapons from July 1, carrying penalties of up to $12,000 or six months in prison for illegal use or possession, the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Andre Haermeyer said today.

Mr Haermeyer announced new sword regulations today, saying they would assist Victoria Police to crack down on incidents involving swords. "The Bracks Government is implementing these new regulations to help Victoria Police overcome this culture of young people arming themselves with swords," Mr Haermeyer said. "From July 1, swords will be made prohibited weapons, making it illegal to use, possess or carry a sword."

They'll be outlawing sticks and stones next.

Now that private firearm ownership is banned in Australia, criminals have taken to swords and knives to exercise their violent criminal acts. The Aussie government, showing both their cowardice and maliciousness, have now banned the private ownership of swords and knives. They cite the same tired old reasons and use the same tactics that gun-banners have used for years. Self-defense-banners claim that no one really needs to be walking around with a knife. They have instituted a registration program to exempt collectors and the culturally protected from the ban. And although a few may be exempted from the knife ban, they are not exempt from the self-defense ban. Anyone legally owning a knife must keep it locked up and must own a burglar alarm.

Logical thinking people have, for years, pointed out that banning inanimate objects will not address or solve the root cause of violent behavior. The escalation of violent crime in countries like England and Australia, where private firearm ownership and self-defense is banned, are perfect examples of just that. Criminals are cowards. They do not want any opposition. Once the law-abiding are unable to defend themselves, the criminals can engage in rampant acts of violence without fear of retaliation.

The Australian government has taken the position that banning knives and swords will protect the public. If criminals cannot get their hands on weapons, no crimes will occur. It is impossible to believe that there is any sincerity in such an argument.

I suggest that anyone who refuses to credit "slippery slope" arguments should be paying closer attention. Both the UK and Australia have banned (for all practical purposes) firearms; now both are attempting to ban swords and knives.

Gun control in Australia has given way to sword control as police prepare to enforce a new law meant to curb modern-day swashbuckling. According to a report in the Melbourne Herald Sun, the new statute slaps owners of swords who don't have a permit with up to six months in jail and fines of up to $12,000.

Police Minister Andre Haermeyer told the paper the law will help cops deal with youngsters who are arming themselves with swords. "For most people running around the street carrying swords there is absolutely no reason for them to be carrying those weapons," he is quoted as saying.

Under the law, set to go into effect next month, those owning swords now would have to surrender their weapons to authorities, sell them to a licensed dealer or apply for specific approval to possess them. Sword collectors will have to keep the items under lock and key and have a burglar alarm. The Victoria government is also looking at bans on some other weapons, such as crossbows.

I am completely fucking speechless.

Well, after they banned guns, and then banned swords, and are considering banning knives, it seems the Australian criminals have been preparing their next deadly weapon: umbrellas.

Will they ban umbrellas next?

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.

Police Minister John Watkins will seek a national ban on all crossbows following an attack which seriously injured two schoolgirls near Port Stephens, north of Newcastle. A 16-year-old boy was charged with attempted murder over the April 3 incident at Salamander Bay's Tomaree High School, in which 16-year-old Tamara Sharp was shot through the chest with a crossbow bolt.

What's next -- a ban on sharp sticks? How about rocks?

An anti-gun lobby group says Australia should forego competing in five Olympic and Commonwealth Games shooting competitions to allow for a much broader ban on handguns. Roland Browne of the National Coalition for Gun control says changes to handgun laws proposed for every state and territory do not go far enough. "The reasons that these reforms fall short is that the gun lobby has convinced the government that there is a need for high-powered semi-automatic handguns in Commonwealth and Olympic Games sports," Mr Browne said.

Yep. They've gone nuts.

The Coalition for Gun Control, based in Sydney, has called for the banning of semi-automatic handguns.

The problem with 'post-modern' society is there are too many people with nothing meaningful to do, building 'careers' around controlling the lives of others and generally making social nuisances of themselves. They justify their meddling by discovering social 'problems' and getting the media to magnify them out of all proportion.

The latest example in Queensland, Australia, concerns the 'discovery' that schoolchildren are in danger from their own lunchboxes. While millions of members of former generations ate lunch out of lunchboxes and lived to tell about it, it seems today's mummy-chauffeured generation is at risk. A recent lunchbox survey (sic) at six Queensland schools revealed that 70 per cent of students came to school with an unhealthy lunch, according to 'nutritionists' from the Griffith University School of Health [The Courier Mail: Lunchboxes targeted in war on obesity, 07 October 2002].

A talented student, known as a loner who struggled with the English language, gunned down two fellow students at a Australian university today -- the day he was due to make his final presentation.

Police quickly ruled out any link to terrorism and the Bali bombings.

The commerce student, in his 30s and of Asian descent, was almost at the end of four years work for his honours degree.

But instead of carrying his presentation papers to Monash University in Melbourne today, he took with him a semi-automatic pistol and a revolver.

This is a school shooting in Australia, where they have gun control. 'nuff said.

Prime Minister John Howard will get a cautious hearing today, when he asks the state and territory leaders to support tighter gun laws. John Howard overcame resistance from the states to restrict semi-automatic rifles and shotguns six years ago, after the Port Arthur massacre. Now he wants to reduce the number of automatic hand guns circulating in Australia. He will put the case in a face-to-face meeting with the premiers and chief ministers in Canberra.

The Northern Territory's Clare Martin is not sure gun laws need changing. "The police tell me [they] don't have a problem with hand guns," he said.

Whenever a liberal's social program fails, the answer is always "more of the same". Are they really that stupid?

Most Australians assumed that after the Port Arthur massacre, all automatic and semi-automatic weapons were banned from the community. We accepted the legitimate possession of such weapons by police, military and farmers (for shooting feral animals), but common sense told us that any semi-automatic weapon is lethal whether it is a rifle, a shotgun or a handgun. The Monash killings, allegedly by a licensed shooter with seven legally owned handguns, exposed this misconception.

It took moral courage and the full authority of national leadership by Prime Minister John Howard to bring states and territories to the table and accept a national firearms agreement in 1996.

Back then, they initially claimed that their gun laws were already tight and they would not fund a buy-back, nor unnecessarily risk a rural and sport backlash. Remember the drama of the Prime Minister with flak jacket protruding from under his suit campaigning for strict gun laws? Remember the emotional street marches of thousands of pro and anti-gun forces? Both sides lobbied intensely, and the political muscle of sporting shooters who threatened to bring down any governments supporting the ban surprised political pundits. Fortunately they were thwarted by bipartisan support for the ban and buy-back.

Another shooting, another demand for MORE gun control. Will they ever learn that gun control does not prevent shootings?

Doctors and other health professionals who have concerns about the behaviour of patients who own firearms should be forced to report them to police, Justice Minister Chris Ellison has said.

State leaders should support a proposal for mandatory reporting after the Monash University shootings a week ago, Senator Ellison said yesterday.

"There should be mandatory reporting by health professionals in relation to people who have a handgun where they see there may be a problem," he said.

This is what's coming, folks, if the gun control crowd wins.

Doctors and psychiatrists have attacked the Federal Government's proposal to force them to report concerns about the behaviour of gun-owning patients.

Health professionals said it could prevent people with mental health problems seeking treatment.

THERE is overwhelming public support for stricter laws controlling handguns and fewer than two people in 10 oppose them, the latest Newspoll finds.

The level of support for stricter handgun laws ý 83 per cent in favour, including 71 per cent "strongly in favour" ý reflects a similar public mood to that after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.

Australia gets new proposals for gun bans. 250 more models on the chopping block. When are they going to figure out that bans don't stop criminals?

Gun control advocates are being vocal in Australia again. It must be that time of the year. A recent report by the University of Maryland and the Australian Institute of Criminology states that the 1996 Gun Buy Back was a success. This backlash move was prompted by the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. Here is where the 'facts' - as reported in the mainstream media - become a little hazy.