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Originally Posted by Silversmok3
Thanks S&W Aussie for sharing that perspective.
Out of curiosity were you around during the Port Arthur controversy, and how did the country progress from a society that welcomed firearms pre-incident to the current backward state it is today ?Perhaps you can share some lessons we can apply towards adressing certain retrograde areas in our own nation.
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Hi Sliver,
I certainly was around. The current laws are 100% driven by the "knee jerk" reaction by the Federal Government to what happened at Port Arthur. Until then we all had SKKs, L1A1s and Browning A5s..lol.
When I was 19 (I am 42 now) I remember going to a Gun Shop in George St ...one of the main streets right in the middle of the city and handing over my cash and walking out the door with a 12 guage shotgun for my father for Christmas. NO licensing, NO permits....the good old days. There was not increas in gun related crime prior to the law change...just the one horrible massacre at Port Arthur.
I had my handgun license at 18 when I was a member of the "Brisbane Area Army Pistol Club". The club was on our main military base in SEQ. Back then I could ride to the club on my motorbike with my gun in a backpack. Not now..lol.
I used to drive around town with a 3 rifle gun rack on the rear window of my ute (pickup)...cant have a rifle outside a safe now unless you are going to take it to a range, police station, gunsmith/dealer or a farm to shoot .
A report came out today that 1500 illegal firearms have been siezed by police Australia wide in the last 12 months....in a country of 21 million thats not bad..lol
The main difference is that here in Australia we do not have a bill of rights...firearm ownership is viewed as a privilege, not a right. This has only happened since the 1990s...as I said rifles and shotguns in Qld never required so much as a permit until Port Arthur.
Thanks to everyone for the replies
MIke