Anti-gunners love pointing to the Nation Down Under as a means to justify banning black rifles.
The most recent example comes from the Mercury News & East Bay Times Editorial Boards, who in caterwauling about Judge Benitez’s recent decision striking down California’s 30-year-old ban on so-called “assault weapons,” wrote the following (emphasis added):
Earlier this year Australia marked the 25th anniversary of worst mass shooting in which a gunman killed 35 people, causing conservative Prime Minister John Howard to push for a ban on all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns. Thousands of unlicensed firearms were surrendered by residents.
Australia has not had a mass shooting since 1996. In the United States, they occur at a rate of more than one every day, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Judge Benitez’s ruling should serve as the impetus for Californians to redouble their efforts to fight for reasonable gun control laws.
The problem with this claim is it’s not true. It’s a lie. Take a look for yourself:
Despite the ’96 ban (National Firearms Agreement), the shootings continued. The reason?
When guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns. Just as banning drugs will not stop junkies from getting high, banning guns will not stop killers from killing. Fundamentally, that is the problem with the gun prohibition hypothesis. The notion that if the government restricts access to certain classes of firearms, it’ll eliminate the bloodshed.
It doesn’t work because apart from the fact that criminals don’t obey the law, violence — like addiction — is not inherently a supply problem, it’s a people problem. The widespread disarmament of law-abiding citizens does not render dangerous people harmless.
SEE ALSO: CMT Tweets Support for Gun Control, Fans Freak Out
Look, even if Australia succeeded in seizing every single firearm in the nation, mass killings would not drop to zero. Because deranged people will find a way to take innocent lives regardless of whether or not they have access to guns. Case in point:
The best way to maximize public safety is to focus on people. That is, put violent people behind bars. Give troubled people the help that they need. Empower law-abiding people to take responsibility for their own safety. Do all this successfully, the frequency and intensity of mass killings will drop, precipitously.
We need to stop wasting time talking about ineffectual gun bans. The jury is in. They don’t work!
I am an American my fathers ancestors were some of the 1st Settlers to settle America when we drove out the English and British in the 1700’s we did it as so we could govern ourselves not be subject to a King or Queen or dictator which apparently the Dems on the far left are trying to become. Our gun rights are under attack. God guns and guts freed us from this dictatorship. When you take the United States citizen exam you take an oath to be able to protect your life, property and loved ones from abroad and within and the same for our country. Anybody that is trying to dismantle Our Constitution should be tried for High Treason to the people our country. We were founded in God We Trust not buddah or anything else. When we abandon God then so will God abandon us. Do not let us be returned to be barbarians only armed with clubs rocks, bows and arrows, spears and swords how to protect our country from foreign invasion when the enemy will come with guns, tanks, rockets and missiles. Do not try to take away our Constitution or any part of it that’s why we settled in America the land of the Free not the land under tyranny.
As for another writer saying one can still own certain firearms in Australia, well, one can own certain firearms in Russia too.
Sure they have a parilment, but they still pass whatever laws they want and not what citizens/ subject’s want.
And who wants to beg for permission ( along with knee pads) to get a firearm having filling to out paperwork, fingerprints, photos, doctor okay, police okay, fire department okay, maybe the other writer would do that. And what’s left to own there? Single shots? Black powder rifles?
And don’t worry too much about Australia and New Zealand, as the Chinese government is buying ( under their umbrella corporation) farmland and office buildings. They have plans for the future. They will use their computers to get the government lists of law abiding gun owners, round them up, seize their firearms and then execute them. Claiming this will stop crime. They wouldn’t want anyone with knowledge of firearms to be around to oppose them.
Why do you think the Chinese government is now allowing citizens to have 3 kids per family? When for years they were only allowed one child per family? Their population is 1.4 billion!
They will start sending “advisors” to Australia to help “run” and “manage” things there. Public schools will be required to teach Chinese to all students. They estimate that 25 million soldiers will be able to take over Australia and New Zealand. Then they will send farmers and citizens to repopulate the country.
The Chinese government along with Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, the U.N. are funding and running the gun banning groups. Ban guns and take over the country.
Remember, support and protect your right to own and keep all types of firearms, a free country is a armed country.
If Guns are such a problem then why is it that the suburban neighborhoods have hardly any shootings, but our inner cities have dozens of shootings every day. There are more Guns in the suburbs then in the cities. Many more. My friends and I don’t ever say hey let’s go shoot up our neighborhood tonight. Or pick me up so we can go do a drive by against some guy who maybe got us angry over something stupid. Never. But Chicago, Philly, LA average 50 -100 shootings every weekend. It’s a cultural problem period. In my school 95% of the kids graduated. But in Baltimore, Philadelphia and other inner cities not 1 damm kid was above 50% proficient in basic math /English requirements. Why is it that it’s common for people raised in the inner cities have 5-6-10 kids with the same amount of different girls? When I found out I was going to be a father, everything stopped, I made sure I was prepared, employed, and ready to be responsible. I was not out continuing to spread my seeds in 5 other another lady. When these things are brought to light, people scream oh your a racist, or you don’t understand. So that immediately prevents the problems from being addressed. The left is flooding our country with illegals . The Biden administration is allowing our borders to be open in hopes that In years to come those illegals will vote Democrat. Those illegals are not going to live in nice suburban neighborhoods, no they will be living in the inner cities adding more stress, poverty and crime to already wrecked cities. Guns are far from the problem, culture/Education/failed democrat policies are the cause Period. AOC AMD THE SQUAD are pushing for defunding the police, yet they have security with the very Guns they want to take from all of us. There are some dumb ass Republicans. But anyone who votes for a democrat is completely ignorant to what is causing these obvious problems. Every Democrat should be asked why is it that suburban communities have a majority of the Guns , but the Inner cities have all of the shootings and crime. Please explain.
The Gun Violence Archive is NOT a reliable source for mass shootings, they have changed the definition of mass shooting from the FBI standard and that’s why they have “one a day” mass shootings. I prefer the leftist site Mother Jones. They are actually accurate only FIVE mass shootings this year. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/
Now all the anti gun nuts can go there . The criminals still have guns. Just like what will happen here with the banning of our legal weapons(guns) after the ban the police who will protect the idiots.
We Americans believe our rights come from God, not the government. The push by the govt. to control firearms has nothing to do with dis-arming criminals. It has everything to do with dis-arming private citizens. Governments fear an armed citizenry and rightfully so. The govt. thinks they are God.
There are many difference between Australia and America.
Australia has around 25 million population while America has 330 million.
When Australia had the chance to become a independent country, they voted against it and stayed a British colony.
Australia has no Constitution or Bill of Rights. So their power crazed politicians can pass whatever laws they want.
A lot of crime in their major cities are caused by drug gangs and street gangs many who migrated there from other countries.
The power crazed politicians say if they just can pass more laws against guns, that all crime will stop. They actually think that criminals will obey the laws they pass. What nonsense. The only thing that would stop them is putting criminals in jail for a long time using a firearm in crime.
But Australia, like in England, you are not a citizen, but a subject, that the crown ownes you, like a slave! You must obey your politiician masters!
Protect and support your right to keep and own all types of firearms!
Remember that the gun banning groups are run and paid for by Micheal Bloomberg, George Soros, the Chinese government, the U.N. and Russia.
Don’t forget that when Hitler and Castro came into power the first thing they did was ban all firearms saying this is for your own good. You will obey us.
Gun control = people control = concentration death camps!
A good Statistic to follow is the murder rate before and after a National Gun Ban, and not the phoney politically oriented “gun violence” Stat.
The before and after gun ban murder rate in Australia did not materially change.
In other words, the gun ban made no difference to how many people were murdered, period!
Bloody hell, what do you think the Constitution of Australia is? Before posting such crap, how about some real research and education on the country your bagging.
As for “pass what ever laws they want”, that is also untrue. No different to the USA, as it has a senate and a house. To overturn anything in the Constitution, it must go to a referendum. As such they need a double majority with this referendum.
Executive orders sounds like “passing what ever they want” though. That takes one person!!!
While Australia, The U.S, Europe etc will ban lots of guns to stop “mass killings”, we kill MILLIONS of pre-born Babies humans originally destined to be little girls and boys, grown-ups with families and little children and leaders of morality in the vast majority. You may say, “here we go again: abortion, abortion, abortion.” But while murder by gun or knife is most foul, what in Heavens Name do you call murder by dismemberment, poisoning or salt-water flooding? Of a COMPLETELY INNOCENT BABY in it’s own MOTHER”S womb? I guarantee all that if we will nationally and by governmental decree that the killing of these pre-born babies is NOT A RIGHT, these “mass murders” of which this article decries will almost STOP! Abortion is an abomination. If a nation allows THAT, then “anything goes”, even murder by “vaccine injection.” God SAVE this world.
A fetus is not a baby. Women have the right to control their bodies. If men could get pregnant abortion would be free on demand.
Have you no soul, Petrushka? Or is it owned by the dark one? Sorry, rhetorical question. We already know the answer.
But they can’t, do you don’t have a point. I’m Seattle we had a husband who shot his pregnant soon-to-be-ex-wife in the belly with a 9mm. Clearly illegal, but she could have done it legally with a suction tube. Apparently that makes all the difference.
I have to bite on this one, but we’re way off topic. Fetus, baby, it’s semantics. Not helpful. Abortion is the intentional killing of a living human. A human body is destroyed for the convenience of another. It sucks that women have to deal with that. That’s reality, though.
Petrushka, even as this conversation may turn off topic, I fear that you are missing the point. Why are only the females allowed to have the last say when it comes to the child’s life? What about the father of the child? Doesn’t he have a right to say something about it too? What if he wants the child but the woman does not? And by the way, if the woman never wanted to have a child in the first place, then why she and the male had unprotected intercourse at all? Couldn’t they have talked about anything before they engaged in anything? There may be exceptions of course, like having been raped or the health of the mother is at stake, if she continues to carry the child, but from a normal standpoint, where the man and the woman agree to have a sexual encounter together, I do expect that they talk about this issue first and decide together if they want to protect themselves from pregnancy or not. And if they do not get to the same conclusion, then they are free to not engage with each other at all. That’s just my opinion about it, feel free to like it or dislike it.
That Australian gun ban is gonna prove really inconvienent when the Chinese Troop ships come steaming into Sydney harbor… the Libtards will be waving red flags and smiling all the way to the re-education camps. “Stupid is as stupid does”.
Sorry, but there are now more legally owned guns in Australia now than when the buy back happened. Just different ones. Most of a higher power. Rather than bag the hell out of a country you appear to know little about, I suggest getting re-educated yourself!
Well the anti-gunners need to move to Australia. This is America, don’t like the “Constitution” move! We are free Citizens where they are subjects over there!
I’m an Australian, but have been living in the USA for 7 years. Let’s get something very clear. Guns are NOT banned in Australia! There are certain guns that are highly restrictive, and yes some are illegal to purchase for the average citizen. In fact, since the “buy back” in the 90’s, there are more guns in Australia today. Just different types.
In fact, I handed 2 guns in at the buy back. I got my cash, and went straight down to the local gun shop and bought 3 more.
The laws are very tight, yes, but if you have a means for a gun other than “home defense” you are able to purchase a gun after doing a simple safety course and going through the normal background check.
Why, if you are a foreign gun owner, would you live in USA where you can’t own one? And the so called gun buy backs are confiscation for chump change. The owners are not paid replacement value and unless they turn in an antique non functional firearm they lose money. If they don’t then they become a statutory criminal. So please feel free to return to Australia.
I absolutely can own one here in the USA. In fact I have many. I am a permanent resident and on my way to becoming a citizen! As such I am NOT a gun owner in Australia. Those guns followed me here. At no time in my writing did I say I currently own guns in Australia.
As for your remark on the chump change for weapons in Australia, you are clearly ill informed. Every person I know who handed in a firearm, got way more than what it was worth. I got 3 times more than what I paid for one weapon.
Lastly, to return to Australia is always nice, but I pay my taxes here in the USA (apparently not enough to pay for good education for the ill informed). I have my family here in the USA, so like millions of other Foreign born residents and citizens, I’ll continue to assimilate and call the USA home.
For the media to be more accurate, ” we haven’t reported on a mass shooting in Australia since 1996.”
I’m disappointed no other means than caplock exist to emphasize [via italics, underscore, bold] comment
by kc (sire/ your majesty)………
” we HAVEN’T REPORTED on a mass shooting in Australia since 1996.”
A better case for such a title as “An Inconvenient Truth”.
Real tough to make a case when facts don’t support it.
Of course, that doesn’t mean a few won’t be created. It’s like Economics, but in Demand and Supply.
Waiting for Blue Dog ‘s half-wit response.
I sure hope that BD’s libtard response just won’t happen.
He/she/it is such a tiresome troll, and if he/she/it ever emerges from mommy’s basement, it should be straight to an institution to get the therapy that is required: probably shock therapy or a lobotomy.