Posted on 07/25/2004 1:38:54 AM PDT by MadIvan
Amen and TA Australia!!!!!!
They're on our side. We're very fortuate to have them there, fighting along side with us.
Yes, there is much to the American psyche that can be defined by the right to bear arms.
Personal empowerment to personally address injustice and tyranny plays a big role. Moreso than anywhere else on Earth I suppose. I don't mean that in a derogatory manner, either.
Our guns mean as much as our cars, in some cases. I like to compare my AK variant to my old Z-28. Big and showy, performance is questionable but when you pull that trigger get ready for a rush!
Anyway, to each their own. I'm glad you feel comfortable enough that a firearm does not make a difference in your life. I can state that a gun has turned a potential confrontation into a non-issue easily in the past few weeks. No violence, but only because of superior firepower.
I for one do not take our blessings of liberty lightly.
You're not wrong there mate. Good On Ya!
Hi Jaqui!
With all due respect, Americans (or any one for that matter) are not allowed to carry firearms in airports or on airplanes, courtesy of our FAA.
Not only that, New York and Washington DC have some of the strictest gun laws in our country.
In other words, they were disarmed by our gov't.
Now, argument can be made that Americans with firearms protecting themselves would not have prevented 9/11, but I'm not going to go there, nor am I prepared to argue for or agaist it. That's for another time and thread.
It all comes down to personal safety. Fortunately for you Down Under, the general attitude of the Australian people are pretty, well polite and cordial (w/ exception of a few "rowdies," I'm sure you know who they are :). I wished we here in the States had that attitude like you do, in that regard.
Unfortunately, here in The States, the "criminals" don't follow or oblige by the law. And sometimes, they are not even our fellow citizens.
Cheers, and thanks for listening to my .02 quid :)
Limey doesn't translate well enough for you people in Oz. :)
<< Australia .... [Has slid] ... into the same pit as Britain, where not only are guns illegal but so [Effectively] is self-defense with any weapon. >>
Somewhat true.
[Although moral-and-intellectually and work-ethic-intact Australia has a very long way to go before it could be accused of following once-great-britain into that sorry Euro-peon Neo-Soviet's offshore satellite state's death spiral. And -- having very much hitched its wagon since 1942, into America's caravan -- is unlikely to any time soon slide into the pit]
Nonetheless, there is some cause for concern, not least that, leaping on to the so-called "Port Arthur massacre," [In which a score or so were slaughtered like ducks on a pond by one raving bloody nutter who could have been stopped dead in his tracks had even one man with balls been in the croud of unarmed victims and had been -- American-and-or-Israeli-style -- carrying a weapon] with all of the froth and foam-flecked oportunism that only the mindlessly mediocre ever manage, Australia's somewhat fascistic "permanent" 'public-service'" run feral gummint-by-regulation banned almost all private ownership of weapons -- and/or made private ownership so limited and restricted as to have effectively banned it.
Worse, Australia's erstwhile "conservative" -- and otherwise to all intents and purposes-quite-sensible -- pro-American, pro-President Bush, pro-pre-emptive-war prime minister, John Howard, is on record as emphatically stating that self-defense and/or defense of one's family and/or property will never be allowed to be a rationale for owning and/or bearing arms.
That said, Autralia always has been and remains our beloved FRaternal republic's first and best ally.
Right up there with our very civilization's FRont-line-fort, the Nation of Israel.
Blessings -- Brian
BUMPping
If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.
If it came to that, I'd still bet on the Aussies.
We're alive enough to have supported the United States to the end, and bled alongside the United States. 60 British lads are dead in the ground, Brian - can they not rest in peace without you dishonouring them or the country they serve with your bombast?
Just as no good deed supposedly goes unpunished, heaven forefend if any opportunity to bash Britain or Australia should pass you by, Brian. It's sad, and pathetic.
I am, thank God, a hyphenated American -- An AMERICAN-American
You're from New Zealand. Your excessive hyperbole is an exercise in trying to cover up the inadequacy you feel about your roots. Which has the perverse consequence of proving how much of a Kiwi you are.
Ivan
One of the reasons that the "guerrillas" are so effective is that they are often supported by the local populace and know the terrain so well.
Notice that a dictatorial government starts off by confiscating the firearms of the citizenry. These government officials know what they are doing.
I agree with you, though, that an absence of firearms does not mean an absence of freedom. But given the choice, I would prefer that the law-abiding citizenry be armed.
It has to be all cultural but I don't understand the reasoning of Prime Minister Howard.
I am an elderly American man and though I do not live in what would be considered a high-crime area, it is the situation that my wife and I would never be able to defend ourselves against even one young "tough" (much less a gang) who was able to break into our house and attack us for our valuables. On the other hand, were such a break-in to occur and we had adequate warning (and we would what with two dogs and an electronic monitoring system), it would be the intruders who would pay with severe lead poisoning since we are exceptionally well-armed with "equalizers."
As for the police protecting us, many American are under the misconception that the police will guard them. Well, no, they won't; they have no legal obligation to do so. They solve the crime after it has occurred, not before.
Knowing what I know, I would be paralyzed with fear if I were to live in a country that didn't allow me to arm myself.
KJ, I swear you are the most modest Aussie I have run into!
:-)
One of my swaggering Aussie Buddies/Mates predictably claims..you can imagine! And this, from a bloke who (honestly) claims his eyes get wet when he hears "Waltzing Matilda". What IS it about that song? It's not like it's the anthem or anything. Anyway, I would always want this guy on my side in a fight!
No slight intended to the fine fighting forces of Australia. But my point is terrorists are disinclined to hit hard targets, such as those with military/LEO personnel. Now that the Aussie gov't is taking guns, and I guess swords from the law abiding citizens, what do they have left for self-defense?
I need nothing more than a boxcutter, my friend. In fact, I've gotten myself out of more than one dangerous situation with the judicious swing of my carkeys...
I say again. 9/11. What use were all America's firearms then?
Please don't comment on the average Australian's ability to defend themselves... that was ever the point of this thread, and to be honest I get tired of every Australia post on FR being hijacked by the gun lobby. Half the time it's just so irrelevant to the point being discussed, it's not even funny anymore.
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