From today's New York Times, Former Australian P.M John Howard on Australia's internationally respected Gun Laws which were instituted in the wake of the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre.
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......University of Sydney research shows that Australians destroyed more than a million guns in response to shooting massacres but imports have restored the stockpile to the level it was at before the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. Read more Here
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"I was elected prime minister in early 1996, leading a center-right coalition. Virtually every non urban electoral district in the country — where gun ownership was higher than elsewhere — sent a member of my coalition to Parliament.
Six weeks later, on April 28, 1996, Martin Bryant, a psychologically disturbed man, used a semiautomatic Armalite rifle and a semiautomatic SKS assault weapon to kill 35 people in a murderous rampage in Port Arthur, Tasmania.
After this wanton slaughter, I knew that I had to use the authority of my office to curb the possession and use of the type of weapons that killed 35 innocent people. I also knew it wouldn’t be easy. Read more Here
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Pilko,
ReplyDeletethank you for this. I am shocked that we have so many guns being imported. The links you provide (and their subsequent links) don't offer any clue to identifying who/what are doing the importing. Except to exclude Police/Defence force imports and air rifles.
It goes on to say that an AK47 has an Aussie street value of $600???
I have little doubt that if I applied to import a military grade weapon into Australia I'd draw the attention of the police. And that after all their scrutiny and invasion of my privacy they would still say no.
So the big question in my mind (apart from the obvious one of how can this be happening?) is this: who is bringing these guns into the country and to what end?
Cheers,
John Anderson.