<< 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
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
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.