Posted on 09/08/2017 2:44:35 AM PDT by Ennis85
Australians have handed in nearly 26,000 firearms in the nation's first gun amnesty since its landmark response to a mass shooting in 1996. The amnesty began on 1 July to help counter a growing terrorism threat and an influx of arms in the country. It is illegal to own an unregistered firearm in Australia. Those caught outside the amnesty period face fines of up to A$280,000 (£172,000, $225,000) and up to 14 years in jail. The current programme, running until 30 September, means Australians can surrender unregistered firearms and related items without fear of prosecution. Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the "great result" so far would make the nation safer. Police estimate there are as many as 260,000 illicit guns in Australia, with some used in organised crime as well as recent terror incidents. Mr Keenan cited the example of Man Haron Monis, the perpetrator of a Sydney cafe siege in 2014, who used an unregistered shotgun which had entered Australia in the 1950s. Australians turned in 643,726 firearms in 1996 and 1997 following the killing of 35 people in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur - the nation's worst and most recent mass shooting. The incident also led to a ban on semi-automatic and automatic weapons in the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
sad
It's actually quite simple and it does make some sense.
Which guns are most likely to fall into the hands of criminals? Those that are being actively used by active gun owners who keep track of their firearms? Or those that are no longer in the hands of active gun owners, perhaps because they've been inherited by somebody who isn't interested in guns?
Criminals are not able to legally own firearms. Lawabiding citizens are (there are some stupid restrictions but there are over a million licenced gun owners in Australia). So criminals need to try and get their illegal weapons from somewhere. One of their main sources is weapons that aren't being actively used and looked after.
So giving people an easy way to hand those weapons in without legal consequences for not doing so in the past makes sense.
People who are eligible also had the opportunity to register such weapons (although, again, the process is overly complicated and bureaucratic.
Exactly how many legally held weapons are in private hands in Australia is not a precisely known number but the low estimate is about 3.5 million. The 26,000 weapons handed in therefore represent considerably under 1% of firearms (when you count in illegally held firearms - an unknown number - the proportion is even smaller.
These weapons were not being held by lawabiding people who wanted to own them. Because those people could have kept them. Either they didn't have the legal right to do so - or they had no interest in doing so in the vast majority of cases (the granny who had a machine gun probably couldn't have got a D or E licence even if she wanted to, so she might not have had a choice.
Well, isn’t Australia known for its sheep?
The only people talking about 'total disarmament' here seem to be Americans.
26,000 sounds like a big number. But it's less than 1% of the number of legally held firearms in private hands in Australia - and nobody knows what percentage if you count in illegally held weapons.
This is not total disarmament. It's not even a significant proportion.
If that isn’t stupidity gone-to-seed, I’ve never seen any! And the very idea, that Aussies, of all people, would knuckle under like that. El-Rushbo, with whom I’m kind-of P-Od currently, calls it the “chickification” of males. To see Aussies do this, I’d have to call it WUSSIFICATION! It’s a sad, tragic day for real manhood.
Aussy progressive indoctrination has worked well, we see.
How about ‘slaves to be’?
Unbelievable what you are welcoming in your society.
And, you don’t understand our ‘gun culture’ — it is about our Declaration of Independence and defense of our constitutional republic from enemies external and internal (hunting, target shooting, personal/home defense and collecting are secondary.)
Poor fools have no idea what they are doing
Slave, I’m a tiny young woman under 90 pounds, can’t carry a cop. I’d have to avoid more than alligator country in your dystopia. I’d need to be in the company of a male relative or maybe just stay indoors all the time to be safe from the sort of predator that endangers my kind. Or do you have any “stings and infiltrations” for those? No.
I could not even take comfort in the notion that, if caught, my attacker would face justice, rather than a leftist snowflake Judge who does not apply the law harshly.
I had the exact same impression when I moved from Michigan to Maryland, these people are in love with the Government.
We have places here like Government Park and Security Blvd. The Governor’s Mansion is called Government House.
People are literally sheep to whatever their LEADERS spout.
As an example, we homeschooled our four kids through high school graduation. In Michigan, there is no requirement to register nor is there any government oversight of individual family educational choices.
In Maryland, a family must register with an oversight agency called an umbrella school or have their work approved by the local public school. Insane!
My wife was reading a discussion forum where somebody actually wrote that she welcomes the oversight of someone from the Government schools to make sure she’s properly educating her children. Insane!
Getting away from the government indoctrination academies is why most people homeschool in the first place.
It wasn’t unusual for my kids, especially the boys to have a selection of knives and on occasion guns at the table with them as they learned.
3 of the 4 are responsible gun owners and all are capable shooters.
Been a member of an Aussie hunting forum for quite some time and they also talk about disarmament. Seems to be quite a limitation on the weapons they can own. They drool at the pictures of weapons owned by the average american.
How many Islamic terrorists turned in their guns?
People enjoy whinging. But, yes, there are a lot of restrictions and depending on where you are in the country, that can limit you quite a bit. Your average hunter is limited to non semi-automatic rifles and shotguns unless they are going after something pretty heavy (like wild pig).
Australia is a long way from being a good place to be a gun owner. We have a lot of dumb rules to deal with.
But when people start talking about total disarmament and things like that, they really are getting a bit silly. And less than 1% of guns being handed in mostly by people who don't really want them is hardly a sign of that.
The problem isn't just water. The problem is that the dirt in the Australian desert is so old, it's almost inert in terms of nutrients. More than half the surface of Australia is over half a billion years old.
We haven't had the seismic/volcanic activity that other continents have to renew things - except in the fertile areas around the southeast where we also have the water.
Yep...I understand the terrorists are lining up in droves, some begging to be allowed to turn in their weapons.
Damned political morons...stupid enough to believe that disarming the population will counter a terrorist.
These people are terminally stupid, literally.
Sooooo, disarming the populace lessens terrorism?
Yeah, you make sure to sleep soundly knowing that the LEO is on the job.
Utter and absolute bullshit!
I trust the safety and protection of me and my family to one person and one person only:
ME!
And anyone that really thinks the government of ANY nation has good intentions when they grab your method of defense has their heads stuffed in the proverbial ostrich hole...or up their ass.
I have no sympathy for you.
Your country does not take in unvetted aliens do you?
The last I heard you asked the U.S. to take thousands of illegal, unvetted aliens off your hands. Right?
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