Posted on 03/01/2006 12:40:25 PM PST by 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."
I hear they settle down considerably if you bob their hammers ;^>
I LOVE the Desert Eagle
Ack - that old chestnut again:
Folks, John Howard isn't socialist scum, and that e-mail about Australian gun crime rising is complete bogus. And yes, you can own a gun here...
a) John Howard has been PM of Australia for 10 years today. Yes, he is a member of the Liberal party - but "Liberal" in Australia means "Conservative"... You know, the sun goes up in the North here, swans are black and Christmas is in summer!
b) About that crime rate - bollocks!
http://www.snopes.com/crime/statistics/ausguns.asp
c) You can legally own guns here - you need a permit and as in most countries, there are some restrictions as to what type of guns you can own.
Stop posting BS about Australia!!!
You mean the path towards lower violent crime through gun ownership, Howie?
***"And one of the things I don't admire about America is their ... slavish love of guns. They're evil."***
That's because we shot the s#!t out of the red coats and have been a free people ever since.
I wish I could say the same for certain liberal states and nations.
Thanks for the link.
My guns are insulted and upset. I think I'll go now and give them each a big hug.
There can be no excuse for mouthing such idiocy.
Had it not been for my father and his gun, and a whole lot more Americans and their guns the PM could well be speaking Japanese and eating with chopsticks today. Not to mention the sailors and airmen who stopped the Japanese in the Coral Sea. (I wonder if we would do it again?)
Binoculars?
Spoken like a gibbering savage with his "animist" views of evil spirits that inhabit our world.
Nothin' like, "Give me the simple life!" eh gang?
So what's he so proud of?
the number of guns in the hands of Americans have exceeded the 200 million mark, nearly 1 million firearms per million Americans >>>>>> implies WAG
Again, anecdotally, guns are like potato chips - just 1 won't do
Is it guns or Americans he's declaring evil.
Wait. It has to be Americans. Guns are inanimate objects; neither good nor evil. Unless Howard is mentally ill and doesn't understand that concept.
I don't know why he's so proud of it either - but folks, you can't expect EVERYONE to agree with EVERYTHING the USA does 100% of the time.
John Howard is a great supporter of the USA, as indeed are most Australians. We just don't tend to own as many guns and most people are happy with that.
Storm in a tea cup, IMO.
I like my guns...I like to target shoot with my guns...and I'd still go hunting with VP Cheney.
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