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 ...
“Crims will be crims.”
It is better to dispatch predators on society than to hide from them.
Corrected.
My Aussie buddies are rabid against guns also.
Sheep being led to the slaughter.
Confused here....
If the gun ban was started in the 90s and 600K+ guns were turned in, and it is a crime to have a gun, how is there any more gun crime in Australia (like in 2014)?
Yep...I believe that was Yamamoto who said that. Didn’t he go to Harvard?
Aussie attitudes about guns are very similar to those of the Brits:
“You gunslinging Yanks need to understand that our country doesn’t have a gun culture like yours.”
What we Yanks don’t have is Parliamentary government where the PM’s whims turn into law in a trice.
He doesn’t like Remington 870 shotguns in private hands? Turn ‘em in, mate and no backtalk or the police will be at your door.
Different cultures, different worlds we are. That’s the way of it, sometimes.
Your understanding of our 2nd Amendment is a little off. The purpose of it is for the citizenry to protect themselves from the government.
See how it works now?
Regarding Post #19...
Rock, I have known several Australians and in fact, if ever I had to relocate my family from America, I would first choose Australia (at least today).
However, I have to take issue with some of your comparisons to the reason for the gun culture in the USA and the dangers of open range hunting.
Sure, there are a great many potential predators in the western USA and in some of our mountainous areas. But deadly human encounters are very rare, for the same reason you cited. Most in the wilderness are aware of the dangers and know how to avoid a dangerous wildlife encounter. Alsaska is likely the most dangerous of our states in this area on an encounter per capita statistic. And yes, if there is a chance you might encounter a momma grizzly with her cubs in the great outdoors, it’s good to have a large caliber magnum defense weapon. But this is not the current driver of the “gun culture” in the USA that the world frets about.
On the safety of open range hunting... On opening day of Deer season in the USA (Firearms season), there are literally millions of hunters in the woods, together, wearing bright orange vests. They are also in the plains. Being a hunter, I can tell you, it is not uncommon to see other hunters in your hunting area when daylight breaks. In fact, some might well be in range of your weapon if fired at a certain trajectory. Still, in any given year, there is rarely an incident where one hunter shoots another hunter on accident from a distance. Most hunting accidents have hunters shooting each other or themselves while doing something stupid (climbing out of a stand with a loaded weapon, climbing over a fence with a loaded weapon, falling out of a canoe.......etc.). And these accidents are at close range. As you put it, it’s natural selection at work.
The gun culture in the USA stems from our history and our founding. Indeed our Constitution labelled our right to have and bear arms as a god given right, not subject to government whims. Alas, even our freedoms have been eroded in that department. We are a nation born of war for our independence and founding (whether anyone likes it or not). The British tried to control their subjects and went so far as to try and confiscate weapons and ammunition from the colonists. Indeed, we also had a vast frontier in those days. A rifle was a pretty necessary tool for both defense and for food during our founding. Every family had firearms. Generation after generation, Americans grew up with guns for hunting, for sport, for hobby and yes, also for self defense. Many to most Americans are as comfortable with guns as they are with automobiles. They are, after all, both very deadly machines if not used responsibly.
I believe Australians to be an independent, freedom loving people with tough and rugged character (generally speaking), much like most Americans. So please understand the confusion when we learn that Australians are giving their guns to the government and being disarmed voluntarily.
How many were confiscated before this round, all those semi-auto’s.
Oz is upside down in more ways than one.
Sure, because rabid gangs of joeys do drive by shootings, rape and rob little old ladies and kill Aussie children while making the parents watch. It is great they have no bad humans.
I’m sorry, but if you need permission from the government to own means to your own protection, you are a subject, not a citizen.
Sorry to correct you but the US Gun Culture is definitely NOT based on protection from bears and alligators! Americans (except left wing radicals) have the good sense to know that personal protection of life and property is the responsibility of the individual and not the job of the government. There have been enough wars throughout history that have proven an unarmed citizenry is the bait for the biggest fish. NEVER will gun haters take over America because there are enough of us who teach our children and grandchildren from an early age that we are responsible for ourselves. It is indeed a heartbreaking situation to see Australia become indefensible.
But you didn’t draw a clear line between turning in weapons and reduced terrorism.
Are you saying that there are fewer weapons for the bad guys to steal to be used in terror activity? If that’s your argument, it seems to fall flat because there are still 3.5 million privately owned weapons in the country.
Australia obviously has a lot of coastline and I wouldn’t think it would be that hard for terrorists to smuggle auto weapons and ammunition ashore. So taking 26,000 weapon shots out of circulation really doesn’t do a thing to prevent or reduce the likelihood of terrorism, does it?
Besides, the weapons of choice these days are cars, trucks, knives, hammers and bombs.
I still find the author’s claim that removing 26k weapons from homes will prevent terrorism to be utterly stupid. But it probably plays well with the liberal Aussies. It’s akin to thinking that changing your light bulbs to LED will have any impact in the climate. Liberals like emotional arguments like that. They feel good about themselves because “At least I did something” even if that something has zero effect.
FOOLS.
I understand that there are a lot of assaults and home invasions in Australia since this nonsense began.
Have Their Fill of Shooting???
Impossible!
Yes, they are FOOLS.
Wherever there is registration there WILL be confiscation.
It is so tempting to just let Big Brother take care of you.
Well now 26,000 guns owned by law abiding citizens are off the street but all the criminals still have theirs.
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