Sir Eoin O Fada
Gold Member
   
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Australian Politics
Posts: 3813
New England, NSW
Gender:
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From a post on AHN which says it all,
‘’Australia is a very safe country when it comes to firearms. I am a range officer for one of the nations largest shooting associations and have witnessed nothing but good hearted, safety orientated people enjoying their sport and likewise in hunting situations.
Excessive, or any further gun reform for that matter will not improve the safety of Australians. This would simply restrict hunters, sports shooters and farmers from carrying out their activities in the safe manner they always do and create unnecessary expenses to the taxpayer for a scheme with no benefit and further burden to regulators and police.
In the case of Bondi, there was a very clear oversight where one person was on an federal watch list, and their close family member, who had issues in obtaining firearms and security licences, was still able to possess firearms which ultimately led to the tragic event against the Jewish community. Better collaboration between ASIO, NSW Police, and other relevant government departments would have led to an early intervention and stopped the event from unfolding at all.
The only way firearms controls should be strengthened is through thorough information sharing and cooperation between government departments to better utilise our already strict firearms laws, and also by means of educating the broader public. Part of community safety is feeling secure, and by having an understanding on our current laws, the requirements of our law abiding firearms owners, and the measures that are taken to ensure that only 'fit and proper persons' possess firearms, the community can be rest assured that they are surrounded by some of the most trustworthy people in our society, the licensed firearm owner.
Trust and confidence in our current firearms rules can be gained by simply looking at the statistics. Violence is occurring every day, most of what we see is knife, hand-to-hand and even vehicular related. Where knives are related, a good example are the machete bans. Although they are now outlawed in Victoria, there are still assaults occurring using machetes or other bladed weapons. Bad people are going to do the wrong thing and care not for laws and rules. By creating more, or stricter laws, the people punished are the already law abiding firearm owners, being;
-The sport shooters who love spending their time outdoors, the meditation that comes from time spent at the reloading bench, and the social/competitive aspect.
-The hunters that help to protect out native flora and fauna, and also put food on their own table all the while pumping large amounts of money into hundreds, if not thousands, of local economies.
-The farmers who are trying to protect their livelihoods and local environments from pests, diseases and introduced species.’’
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