Gun Law Critics Missing the Point
The news that firearms control laws have not lessened the incidence of gun related crime is hardly surprising. The laws were never going to slow the illegal use of firearms by criminals, who will always be able to obtain them from black market sources.
The laws were introduced to make it harder for lunatics like Martin Bryant going on a murder rampage. They outlawed semi-automatic military type weapons, the type Bryant used when he killed 35 people at Port Arthur in 1996. The laws were designed to control the otherwise law abiding citizen who legally owns a weapon, who uses it unexpectedly on himself or others during a period of severe personal duress.
In my opinion, it would be better if that stressed citizen didn't own a gun at all. I can't see any reason why urban dwellers need to own a firearm, but at least by limiting the weapon's potency, the ultimate damage the weapon can do is lessened.
And credit where credit's due; John Howard must be congratulated for pushing the states towards uniform gun control laws.
2 Comments
Leave a comment
Post a comment
Note! This site runs a spam filter which, among other things, looks out for certain words which it uses to guess whether the post is junk. For this reason, avoid using words related to gambling, ie, poker, roulette, casino etc, or names of certain sexual performance enhancing drugs. Posts that contain these words are automatically junked.
It may also moderate comments that contain more than two URLs, including your web page URL.
If you get a message that your comment has been moderated, and it hasn't materialised within a day or so, please email me so I can retrieve it.
Banner Designed By:
It's a shame, then, that JWH used fear tactics to push his anti-gun laws by telling the public that his bills WILL reduce crime.
As for Martin Bryant (conspiracy theories aside), he didn't own the firearm. He started the spree with a machete to kill the firearm owner (who was properly licensed). It's a larger shame that federal and state funding for mentally ill patients was not just cut but viciously slashed. Martin Bryant went looking for medical help in the days preceding the tragedy but was turned away.
I don't own a firearm but am very comfortable with the fact that some of my friends, registered and properly licensed to own guns, have guns on the premises when I visit. The hoops one has to jump through in order to acquire registration and licensing is so over the top and ridiculous that some gun owners have given up the sport of shooting and have not bothered renewing.
Again, those doing the right thing by registering and licensing are the ones penalized. I know that a neighbour (who told me this account himself) growing illegal herbs had an unregistered firearm on the premises. The maximum penalties at the time were a $10,000 fine AND/OR 5 years jail for unregistered firearms possession. The firearm and herbage were confiscated by police, although only half the herbage made it to court as evidence. He did 3 months for the herbage and no mention was made anywhere about the firearm.
The bottom line with violence in society is that it doesn't matter which weapon is used. It's important to properly punish those who transgress against society rather than give slap-on-the-wrist sentences for those who commit heinous crimes. It's even more important to diminish the reasons people feel the only answer to their problems is violence against others.
Your comment regarding Bryant not owning a firearm is not true, although I'm happy to be corrected if you can give me a reference.
Have a look here.
I also can't find any reference to him using a machete.