PM shuns US 'slavish love of guns'

ninemsn ^ | Mar 1, 2006 | NA

[neverdem]

Prime Minister John Howard says he tightened gun laws after the Port Arthur massacre because he did not want Australia going down the same path as the United States.

Mr Howard, on the eve of his 10th anniversary in office, said the nation's grief over the 1996 Port Arthur massacre had been a great opportunity to tighten Australia's gun laws.

"I would call that very definitely an extraordinary outpouring of amazement and grief in this country and I knew out of that there was an opportunity to grab the moment and think about a fundamental change to gun laws in this country," he told the Nine Network.

Mr Howard said he did not want Australia to adopt the American stance on guns.

"I did not want Australia to go down the American path," he said.

"There are some things about America I admire and there are some things I don't.

"And one of the things I don't admire about America is their ... slavish love of guns. They're evil."

[45Auto]

"Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny sincerly exercised for the good of its victims may be the most opressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." --- C. S. Lewis

[Names Ash Housewares]

I just read a story in the paper today about a husband killng an attacker on his wife in the front yard of their house as she prepared to walk the dogs in the morning. The guy was wearing a mask and her screaming awoke her husband to come and put the predatory rat bastard down forever with an "evil" gun. He will never attack another woman again.

I think the guy has been good supporting the USA in the war on terror. But he obviously has never feared for his own or loved ones safety.

[DM1]

I like Howard for his steadfast support of us. However with statements like this i am glad i am not an Australian citizen

[The_Victor]

Note to John Howard: The guns are a means to an end. What we love is freedom, the guns just ensure that our government, or anyone else for that matter, cannot take away our liberty.

[TheOracleAtLilac]

And one of the things I don't admire about America is their ... slavish love of guns. They're evil.

Gun owners (& a slavish love of guns) in America is a minority position.

That Howard sees it otherwise is probably a result of Hollywood movie content.

[manglor]

You mean Australia doesn't want their violent crime and murder rates to go down for 10 consecutive years like it has in the US?

Why do aussies vote for socialist scum like that idiot ?

[steel_resolve]

I love my guns! LOVE THEM!

[Names Ash Housewares]

PS

You dont want gun CRIME to become as bad as the USA?. DONT LET LIBERALS RUN YOUR JUSTICE SYSTEM!

[45Auto]

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage then to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." --- Thomas Jefferson, quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria in "On Crimes and Punishment", 1764

[BigSkyFreeper]

Slavish is rather extreme language.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Howard will talk out of the other side of his mouth when they need the Arsenal of Democracy.

[Galena Nevada]

You know, for the more conservative party in Australia, they sure have a funny way of showing it. Although, their party name is the Labour Party.... so you never know.

[GrandEagle]

Why do aussies vote for socialist scum like that idiot ?
It has got to be that three or four citys determine the outcome of the elections, the rest have to live with it.
I've met and been friends with several Australians over my live. I've never met one that didn't love liberty and Independence (or firearms for that matter).

GE

[absolootezer0]

I wonder if he would support banning pens. Maybe that would stop people POLITICIANS from writing bad checks STUPID LAWS.

[RightWhale]

They're evil

Sometimes the question arises whether PMs are smarter than ordinary mortals. This is one of those times.

[45Auto]

"If gun laws in fact worked, the sponsors of this type of legislation should have no difficulty drawing upon long lists of examples of crime rates reduced by such legislation. That they cannot do so after a century and a half of trying." --- Orrin G. Hatch, Chairman, Subcommittee on the Constitution, January 20, 1982

[CheyennePress]

I'm not sure if most people are aware of it or not, but Australia and Great Britain have much higher violent crime rates than we do in the States.

[sheik yerbouty]

When rampant, fulminating jihadism reaches critical mass, perhaps he will repent of his actions.

[larryw408]

He doesn't want to go down the same route as the US? The route where increased legal gun ownership has lead to a decrease in crime? The route that is dramatically contrasted by the explosion in violent crime in Australia since the gun ban?

Brilliant, mate.

[45Auto]

What's not to love about this?