Guns

[ozwinner]

OK
Bubinga has brought up a valid point about guns, or the lack of them in Oz.
Has banning them done any good??

Sorry, I just seen the date, bad timeing.

Al

[echnidna]

Generally probably a good thing but there have been a few excesses such as banning air rifles and other relatively innoccouos things.

[Dean]

There is always the black market. If you want a gun, you could probably source one I would imagine. They aren't "banned" as such, you just need a license to own them now

[Shane Watson]

Yeah, and its real nice when ya licence's expire and your not notified of such and therfore one sunny afternoon you happen to look at them and discover they are just over 6mths past exp. so have to go re-sit the whole saftey thing and re-apply as if I was never licenced......grrrrrr..... :mad:

[ozwinner]

Yeah, and its real nice when ya licence's expire and your not notified of such and therfore one sunny afternoon you happen to look at them and discover they are just over 6mths past exp. so have to go re-sit the whole saftey thing and re-apply as if I was never licenced......grrrrrr..... :mad:

Im suprised the Storm Troopers wernt kicking your door down.

Al :eek:

[Robert WA]

Having said I am glad, I do have one regret, similar to Echidna.

I live in a semi rural area with a lot of native bush around. A 4/10 for snakes would be nice.

I could get one licensed but it is expensive for something that might get used just a few times a year, if that, and I would have to have a complying cabinet to go with it.

[Daddles]

Years ago, when my Dad was a teenager, he got a job. From his first paycheck, he bought himself a Lithgow, bolt action 22. Being a counry lad, that rifle did a lot of work over the years, including teaching myself to shoot and to be safe with cannons.
However, come the revolution and all the new rules and regs and expenses. Now that both Dad and meself lived in the city with only rare use for it, it was too hard and too expensive to keep it.
And so a family heirloom was lost to the crusher.

I guess it makes sense to some people, but so do a lot of things that make no sense to me.

Incidentally, about three months after all the bans and things came in, a mate showed me a fully automatic 22 with a 20 shell magazine. That's right, a bloody machine gun. It had been imported years ago by one of his mates and, machine guns never having been legal, it was never registered. My mate got cold feet and sold it on.

The moral is - laws only restrict honest people.

I can't say I'm sad to see a lot of those rifles gone. I knew blokes in Squiddly who used to go shooting rabbits with semi-automatic 222s. A close miss would kill the bunny with the shock. A hit would destroy it. I could never see the point in owning or using those cannons. But is society safer for them being gone? Probably, but in a realistic manner? You're telling me that that ******* from Pt Arthur (yes, I can remember his name) couldn't arm himself now? Remember his wasn't a sudden urge to go play bang bangs. He'd been a gun nutcase for years and had gradually built up his arsenal, and he had the money to do it.

In short, I think it was a very expensive piece of political stupidity - but I'm not sad to see most of those cannons gone. However, I do think it's sad that my Dad was forced to get rid of something he'd owned for half a century.

Cheers
Richard

[outback]

A 4/10 for snakes would be nice.

I a'n't bein' a nazi, just raisng a point, maybe of interest to some.

The old snake gun to which you refer is actually a .410, as in calibre. Funny buggers decided not to call it a gauge like 12, 16 etc. Anyhow, that's all I'll add to the thread, cos' I got pretty strong feelings, but I'll keep 'em to meself.

[ozwinner]

Thats why we are here.

Time to fess up.

Al

[craigb]

Al, your poll choices don't really give us a choice. However, I guess I know what you are getting at.

For mine, I'm pleased that the gun laws have been tightened dramatically.

I can see why a farmer would need to own a gun, I can't see why a city person would need to own one.

And nobody has a reason to own a semi-automatic assault rifle.

I guess we have to ask ourselves; how many gun masacres have occured since 1996?

Answer: none.

[echnidna]

Semi automatics are desirable in croc & buff country. Even in wild pig country

[MajorPanic]

The gun laws that have been introduced were just a knee-jerk reaction to Port Arthur & have gone WAY too far.

I do agree that the laws needed tightening but not to extent they have been. If lesser stringent laws were introduced & CORRECTLY POLICED we would have the same outcome without the curtailment of an enjoyable pastime for thousands of law abiding citizens.

As to massacres, how many happened BEFORE 1996?
As to shootings, it doesen't seem to have slowed or holted too many, according to a mate who is a copper. Apparently hand guns are still easily attainable with the right contacts.... revolvers are a special order & semi-autos are standard.

Just remember we all have & use the most deadly weapon in Australia... A CAR, it has killed & maimed more people in Aus than all the shootings combined by a factor of 100 or more!

[bitingmidge]

Where can one purchase hand grenades???

They are only single shot, so should be ok with a license?

P

[echnidna]

Reportedly the Oz Goverment's restrictions on supplying ammunition to New Guinea has just about disarmed many of the criminal gangs there. It now costs them about 1 months wages for a single bullet.

[MajorPanic]

Where can one purchase hand grenades???

They are only single shot, so should be ok with a license?

P

When I was in the Army I went fishing with hand grenades at Sholewater Bay.
It's a quick way to land enough fish to feed a regiment & OS visitors.