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Author
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Topic: Australias gun laws
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68dustin
CAFords OG
Member # 5388
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posted
 
 
i will never give my shit up... good luck finding them..
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"As I lay rubber down the street, I pray for traction that I can keep, and if I do begin to slide, please dear God protect me and my ride!"
Posts: 3986 | From: neverland | Registered: Feb 2005
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fstryde3
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Member # 8436
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posted
American lawmakers are some stupid fucks but come on the USA telling each and every one of us to turn in all our weapons, IT AIN'T Happening without full scale war. I am a gun owner, have been shooting weapons since about the age of 10 been military and law enforcement and am an NRA life member and I really think people are taking this whole thing way out of proportion.
And if I'm wrong there will always be hold out states like Idaho Montana and the South for folks to go to behind enemy lines lol
Posts: 2950 | From: Sacramento | Registered: Jun 2008
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cobraracer46
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Member # 1142
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posted
Since a 1996 when sweeping gun restrictions were enacted in Australia, there has been no mass shootings in Australia.
(Photo: Leigh Winburn, AP)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A gunman killed 35 people in 1996 with a semiautomatic rifle in the tourist town of Port Arthur.
Australia purchased and destroyed 700,000 firearms.
Some of the deadliest assault-style weapons and large ammunition clips are now all but impossible for individuals to lawfully own.
Australia has much in common with the United States. It was initially settled by teeming masses — in its case, largely convicts — fleeing England. Its identity was forged in the populating of its vast, empty spaces. And today it retains a considerable frontier mentality, and a considerable amount of ranching and hunting.
But the similarities end when it comes to guns. While gun ownership has been a part of Australians' way of life, they have a much more utilitarian view of their purpose.
OPPOSING VIEW: Homicide rate was already declining
So, when a gunman killed 35 people in 1996 with a semiautomatic rifle in the tourist town of Port Arthur, on the island of Tasmania, the Australian people decided it was time for a change.
A new law, backed by a conservative prime minister, divided firearms into five categories. Some of the deadliest assault-style weapons and large ammunition clips are now all but impossible for individuals to lawfully own.
Firearms are subject to a strict permitting process, and dealers are required to record sales, which are tracked by the national and territorial governments. What's more, the law encouraged people to sell their firearms back to the government, which purchased and destroyed about 700,000 of them.
The results are hard to argue with. According to a Harvard University study, 13 gun massacres (in which four or more people died) occurred in the 18 years before the law was enacted. In the 16 years since there has been none. Zero.
The overall firearm homicide rate dropped from 0.43 per 100,000 in the seven years before the law to 0.25 in the seven years after. By 2009, the rate had dropped further, to just 0.1 per 100,000, or one per million.
In the USA, the 2009 firearm homicide rate was 3.3 per 100,000, some 33 times higher than Australia's.
There are, to be sure, some significant differences between Australia and the United States. Australia has 3million guns; America has roughly 300 million. The U.S. has greater constitutional protections for keeping and bearing arms. And the gun lobby in Australia is nowhere near as powerful as the National Rifle Association is in the U.S.
But the Australian experience demonstrates what can be accomplished if a people gets serious about gun violence.
The key is not merely to adopt new gun laws, but to undergo a cultural shift. Similar shifts have occurred around such issues as smoking and excessive drinking, especially when driving is involved.
The early signs are that the massacre in Newtown, Conn., will cause a significant push for tighter gun restrictions, which the White House endorsed on Tuesday.
As the debate takes shape in coming weeks, lawmakers would do well to focus on the successes in Australia. That country has shown how tighter gun laws, and sensible attitudes about the role of guns in society, can make a real difference.
We could learn much from our friends down under.
This is the sixth in an occasional series of editorials on lessons the USA can learn from abroad.
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2001 SVT cobra convertible with a Viper T56, Fikse wheels, Griggs frame kit, roll bar, Vortech, 4:30 gears, brembo GT brakes and more.
Posts: 1172 | From: Woodside California | Registered: Apr 2002
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