Australian Media Frames Gun Law Reform as "Kick in the Face" to Survivors

Gun Watch ^ | 2 July, 2018 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

The Australian media was the major proponent of the extreme firearm restrictions put in place in 1996. Today, as the restrictions have been shown to be largely ineffective, they fight any attempt at reform. The headline in the article published in Ten Daily is "Gun Law Changes 'Kick In The Face' For Port Arthur Survivors" From tendaily.com.au:

Australia's gun laws have long been admired by countries across the world. Following repeated mass shootings in the United States, it was Australia's response to its worst mass shooting, in Port Arthur, that many have pointed to as a best-practise for dealing with gun crime.

Strict gun laws heavily restricted the sale and use of shotguns and other long arms, and many have since called on America to follow Australia's lead. But this public praise has not stopped the Tasmanian government from looking to change these very laws.

The Tasmanian government has come under fire for proposed changes to firearm legislation which would widen access to pump-action shotguns and semi-automatic rifles, reforms which police say could breach the landmark National Firearms Agreement.

The National Firearms Agreement is the tool used by former Prime Minister John Howard to create the extremely strict gun regulation scheme passed in record time during an all-out, emotional push from a unanimous Australian Media.

The agreement gutted Australians traditional right to self defense, creating an interlocking scheme that made it impossible to legally use a firearm for self defense.

It declared that no one had a right to a gun, that guns would only be allowed to be possessed by anyone as a privilege granted by the state.  This was directly in contradiction with an Englishman's right to arms, which existed at the time the Australian Constitution was signed in 1916.  One of the stated purposes of the 1996 law was to declare that there was no right to arms.

It created a national category of prohibited weapons that include slingshots, crossbows, nunchaku (nun-chucks), side handled batons, Tasers, telescopic batons, and more. Essentially, Australians are not allowed to carry any device that may be used for self defense. Permits to possess these prohibited weapons may be issued by the State Commisioner of police, upon his discretion.

Australia is an incredibly law abiding country. There is very little crime, and a very low homicide rate. That is one of the reasons the extreme gun restrictions were able to pass. Few feel any need to defend themselves, and voices speaking of Australian rights to self defense were ignored, drowned out, and denied a platform.

One of the more draconian aspects of the 1996 law is to require the confiscation of firearms and the loss of the firearms license, for the smallest breach of strict firearm storage requirements. The law requires all ammunition be locked up separately from firearms, and that all firearms and ammunition be locked up at all times they are not in actual use.

As abuses of these draconian laws became apparent, some Australian states began to listen to their voters and to reform some of the worst aspects of the law. Here are some of the reforms:

Longer terms for licenses have been enacted

On-line renewal of licensing is possible.

Trained private citizens administer firearms tests for profit instead of wasting police resources that are costly and provide poor service

Reform the storage laws to allow civil fines for minor storage breeches.

Tasmania is considering a number of these reforms, including allowing pump shotguns and semi-automatic rifles for those directly involved in pest control, instead of only for farmers.

The reforms may pass. The Liberal party, which had agreed to the reforms, won the Tasmanian election with a majority. That is unusual given the Tasmanian complicated election set-up.

We will see who controls the Australian state of Tasmania. The Liberal government, or the media.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

[marktwain]

The Media in Australia "primed the pump" for the draconian gun laws.

After the Port Arthur rampage mass murder, they sprang the trap.

Now, Australians are trying to clean up the legal mess.

[Jack Hammer]

Folks occasionally piss and moan about the NRA, but without that organization, things would be even worse here than in Australia - despite the Second Amendment.

[OttawaFreeper]

And gee, all because of the actions of someone (Martin Bryant) who should have been locked up in a mental hospital as soon as he reached adulthood as he constantly demonstrated that he simply could not be trusted to live his own life and handle his own affairs in that basic, proper manner we all take for granted.

[marktwain]

Yes, and the Australian media went out of its way to incentivize him to commit mass murder.

During the trial, he asked his lawyer, several times, “Did I break the record?”

[OttawaFreeper]

A while back, I just simply typed in Bryant’s name in a Google search and came across an article about his background (not in Wikipedia) that discussed an incident in which he was about nine years old, he doused himself with lighter fluid (from his father’s supply) and set himself on fire with the father’s cigarette lighter.

He was very seriously burned (as one can imagine) and the incident garnered some local media attention since it involved a young boy doing this sort of very dangerous and bizarre thing. He apparently told reporters (and remember, this is Bryant as a young boy) that he thought it was great fun setting himself on fire and that he would like to try it again sometime.

[familyop]

At least have the courage to look through the media at the sponsors.

[familyop]

That comment wasn’t directed specifically towards you, by the way, but everyone.

[marktwain]

At least have the courage to look through the media at the sponsors.

---

Are you hinting the advertisers control the media?

They don’t.

The Media act like a unit because they have a unitary ideology. That ideology is Progressivism, leftism, socialism, or whatever other name you wish to put on it.

The ideology and the leftist agenda are far more important than profit to those in the media.

[GoldenPup]

Australian Media Frames Gun Law Reform as "Kick in the Face" to Survivors

Nice to hear that it isn't only our media that are incompetent, fake news, lying SOB's.

[The Pack Knight]

Like in the US, there are more privately-owned firearms in Australia today than in 1996, and less crime. The only result of Australia’s gun laws has been to restrict its citizens’ liberties

[AppyPappy]

If you can smuggle in drugs, you can smuggle in AK’s.

[marktwain]

The only result of Australia’s gun laws has been to restrict its citizens’ liberties.

---

IMHO, that was the intent.

[VRW Conspirator]

...Today, as the restrictions have been shown to be largely ineffective,...

Worth repeating

[The Pack Knight]

It’s hard to understand when they have a frontier heritage not unlike ours, but Australians seem to be largely happy with the loss of their freedom.

But one thing both sides miss when they compare American gun laws with the rest of the world’s is that we have always been unique in that our citizens are armed. As Madison wrote in Federalist 46, “the advantage of being armed” is one “the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation.” It is one of the things that has always made us exceptional.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

The American news media primed the pump for the 1968 GCL here. Anyone remember the hysterics they went into back when John Kennedy and later Bobby Kennedy were killed?

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I cannot help but believe that California released Pat Purdy from a mental institution just so they would have incentive to pass their handgun registration and “As-s-s-ault rifle ban.”

This was just a few years after the citizens of California turned down a handgun registration and ban scheme back in 1982. Prop 15.

[familyop]

"Are you hinting the advertisers control the media?"

I made a clear statement and wasn't hinting anything.

"They don’t.

We've posted many boycott lists. Influential alumni with many companies are also gatekeepers for English and communications departments in universities.

[Bonemaker]

“The American news media primed the pump for the 1968 GCL here. Anyone remember the hysterics they went into back when John Kennedy and later Bobby Kennedy were killed?”

And MLK too.

The 1968 GCA and the run up to it marked the beginning of the gun control battles we’ve been fighting ever since. The GCA screwed me out of a cherry Hi Power and PPK which I picked up in Germany but couldn’t legally bring back. Will never forgive Lyndon Bastard Johnson for that one.

[9422WMR]

“Australia is an incredibly law abiding country. There is very little crime, and a very low homicide rate.”
Well I watched a documentary once about the aussies. Lots of shooting and killing. Those people are violent. I think it was called “Mad Max”.

[marktwain]

We are probably describing different views of the same phenomena.

Lots of Alumni in Companies are Progressives. Lots of companies have been willing to put the Progressive agenda ahead of profits.

Look at the stupidity of Dick’s move to drop AR15 rifles.

The ideology is the biggest problem, IMHO.