Gun Control

[Eddo211]

Re: Gun Control

Is hunting allowed in ausie country? If so is there anything taisty running aroung in the outback? I know the fishing on the reefs is great.

The bulk of Australia's population lives near the coast along the eastern and southeastern part of the continent. Most animals are protected and any hunting is regulated strictly by the government and 99% of the time the permits are given to farmers (mostly in the outback and inland portion of the country) for population control due to local factors.

Examples are Kangaroos (for skin and meat, I got an Aussie jacket made out of Kangaroo skin), rabbits, starlings, wild dogs (Dingo), foxes. A lot of hunting in Australia is basically culling of animals where a large tally is the object of the exercise. Feral pigs, for instance, breed like crazy in good seasons and there are no bag limits on any of them.



Australian Gun Laws.

Australians are allowed to own and use firearms for hunting. Much has been made of the tough approach adopted by the Australian Government following the terrible Port Arthur mass murder of 35 people in 1996 and the consequent vilification of Australia's law abiding firearms owners.

The government dictated that the population could not own semi automatic firearms or pump action shotguns except in very exceptional circumstances. Firearm owners were required by law to hand in these types of firearms, compensation was paid according to a valuation on the firearm.

Money for the compensation payments was taxed from the Australian population as part of a compulsory health benefits scheme. In effect, the government stole money from the people ($500m Aus) to pay for guns that they confiscated from law-abiding shooters.

It was an unforgettable experience to stand in a queue with other law abiding, honest citizens to hand in prized and much loved firearms for destruction! The Australian Prime Minister, dressed in a bullet proof vest, stood before a huge gathering of firearm owners and admitted that this disarmament would do nothing to prevent a future civilian massacre.

The Government also dictated that the population could not own firearms for self-defence purposes, and that all firearms needed to be registered and owners licensed (Good luck with that one). One of the conditions of license was that the licensee has to justify the need for the firearm. Hunting, target shooting, collecting, club use or tools for primary production (farm use, culling etc) are considered legitimate justification, self defence or protection is not accepted by the government as a reason for firearms ownership.

Handguns are not permitted for hunting and are strictly controlled for club or range use only. Only the Military, police or licensed security operatives are permitted to carry handguns in public in Australia. Criminal offences in Australia involving firearms have risen following implementation of these draconian laws. There is a lot of truth in the old saying, "when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns".

[Siggie]

Re: Gun Control

I myself was almost shot by a bunch of dumb kids who had never handles weapons before and their stupid dads armed them to the teeth and sent them into the forest to hunt never giving them instructions or anything. This sort of crap wont happen as much if weapons are not available. Sure weapons will be available to those who want them bad enopugh but making this hard will deter many from acuiring them. I am not in favor of a gun ban myself but i have no dought it would eventualy save lives.

Seems that this also wouldn't happen if there was firearm safety education. If we taught kids about safety, they also wouldn't be "almost [shooting]" you and it wouldn't require on infringing on their rights.


- General comments-

As has been said already. The current gun control laws simply make it more difficult for lawful to obtain weapons. That may prevent the person in the currently murderous rage, from buying one, but I question how often that happens. Do you lose your temper and then run to the gun store? Or is it that if you're "provoked" (using as loosely as possible and not in legal sense) you'll use whatever means are available to you? The criminals who obtain guns don't do so legally now anyhow. They're not using registered weapons with lovely serial numbers.

I agree that making guns more available would also reduce crime. People would be less likely to run into a store, home, etc to rob someone when they know there's an excellent chance they won't make it out of there alive. When I was a child, I used to think that guns were a danger to have around, even in the home for self defense, because the news loves these "child shot" kinds of stories. Now, I know better and think a bit more critically. I have learned more about gun safety and I realize these accidental shootings are a result of incredibly stupid people. You'd have to break all of the safety rules at the same time to accidentally shoot anyone. The number of children killed by guns in the home sounds alarming and gets a reaction from people, but there's no point of comparison for the numbers they cite. MORE children drown in swimming pools each year. Why isn't anyone demanding legislation to ban swimming pools or to require fences? Further, they never report (and to be fair it's not an easy measure) how much crime is prevented because of gun ownership.

A little something extra to think about:
People see firearms as tools of murder because that's the only association they're usually exposed to. They have the same reaction to all weapons. But people who are exposed to firearms do not show the same reaction overall, but they also react differently to firearms for hunting and firearms for defense.

Taking guns away from citizens leaves them defenseless against an unjust and corrupt government. I don't think that any one of needs to be a fringe conspiracy theorist sort to recognize that there is no guarantee that corruption doesn't AND wouldn't occur.

And now, appropriately enough, I'm off to the firing range for some practice.

[Eddo211]

Re: Gun Control

They can take my guns away no problem.........they just have to pry it off of my dead cold fingers.

Guns don’t kill.........people kill.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Gun Control

Hand guns aren't used for hunting, they only have one purpose and that's to shoot another person. As far as being left defenseless against unjust and corrupt government... no matter how many weapons you have, their weapons are bigger. I'd be interested to see how many cases in history there are of civilians overthrowing their military (not in the context of a civil war).

[Siggie]

Re: Gun Control

Hand guns aren't used for hunting, they only have one purpose and that's to shoot another person. As far as being left defenseless against unjust and corrupt government... no matter how many weapons you have, their weapons are bigger. I'd be interested to see how many cases in history there are of civilians overthrowing their military (not in the context of a civil war).

US? France? Anyone better with history want to help me out?

US was founded out of revolution and I don't think it was coincidental that they put the right to bear arms at #2, second only to the freedom of speech,exercise,etc.
Their deeper pockets of would secure superior weapons, but that's not a reason to give up our right. Not as well equipped does not equal defenseless. And we don't need to come up with cases when the people overthrew the government. That's not the only meaning of defense against corrupt government. What about just being able to defend you and yours long enough to get out or defense against smaller instances of corruption?

[Haykakan]

Re: Gun Control

Hope you hitt that bulls eye Siggie. I am not gona argue with the points you guys made because they are all valid points. I do still think that easy access to deadly weapons makes killing people too easy. Banning weapons will make it more difficult for criminals to get them to. Killing someone with a hunting knife is way more difficult and gory then doing it with a gun thus this difference is a detterent. If access to guns is banned and enforced then both law abiding people and criminals will have less guns thus will kill each other less because this will make killing a person much harder and more gruesom. I will reitterate that i dont want gunns banned myself but am pondering the possible consequences of such a ban accompanied by effective enforcement. Hey Eddo we gotta go hunting sometime.

[Siggie]

Re: Gun Control

Hope you hitt that bulls eye Siggie. I am not gona argue with the points you guys made because they are all valid points. I do still think that easy access to deadly weapons makes killing people too easy. Banning weapons will make it more difficult for criminals to get them to. Killing someone with a hunting knife is way more difficult and gory then doing it with a gun thus this difference is a detterent. If access to guns is banned and enforced then both law abiding people and criminals will have less guns thus will kill each other less because this will make killing a person much harder and more gruesom. I will reitterate that i dont want gunns banned myself but am pondering the possible consequences of such a ban accompanied by effective enforcement. Hey Eddo we gotta go hunting sometime.

It might be more difficult but that would still leave the average person at the mercy of the psychopath who is not deterred by blood and gore. And it will be the criminals who will be motivated and crafty enough to get creative with creating weapons or makeshift guns and stuff. You just can't prevent this way... You'd be trading one manifestation of the same problem for another.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Gun Control

US was founded out of revolution and I don't think it was coincidental that they put the right to bear arms at #2, second only to the freedom of speech,exercise,etc.

If a groups of lawyers were to interpret "right to bear arms", they would simply just make a clause stating which arms you're allowed to have in your possession and outlaw handguns, shotguns, etc. You can't have nuclear weapons in your possession now can you?

The irony is that the Republican party gets the votes in America because hunters and sportsman don't want their guns taken away. It's like blackmailing for votes.

[Eddo211]

Re: Gun Control

Well, I am going to have to come up your way since hunting really sucks here in Southern Cali.....I think Mukuch and kanada since he is close should join us as well.

[Haykakan]

Re: Gun Control

Hunting is quite good here if you know where to go. I have herds of deer running through my backyard but hunting is not allowd in my sub so.. Michigan has awsome natural beuty and plenty of game to. I am more of a fisherman myself but hunting is fun to and your welcome to come up and join me Eddo. This time of the year i know where the big fish are and exactly how to catch them so pulling out trophy monsters is the norm for me untill june.