I was very young the year of the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania Australia, since then guns have been restricted heavily. Before I begin, I will preface this with the fact that I do not like guns, I have never shot a gun and I don’t ever want to shoot a gun. The strict gun laws (National Firearms Amnesty) were introduced by the right-wing government under John Howard in 1996 just six months after the tragic event - 35 people were killed and 23 wounded. Since then gun homicides have dropped, guns in house holds have increased and there have only been two mass shootings with 5 or more deaths since 1996, however these shootings involved family members. The idea was to get the guns out of the hand of the wrong people, the legislation has done just that and before you go and say nothing happens in Australia; just last week we had a man run down a main street in Melbourne CBD with a knife trying to kill people, if we had lax gun laws he would have had an AR-15 and we could have seen 50+ deaths and many injuries. Instead only two deaths and one injury, the police were able to kill the man before any more damage could be done.
At the time the National Firearms Anmesty (NFA) drew a whirlwind of controversy from both sides of the political aisle and especially farmers who need guns to neutralize pests on their property. The legislation included a gun buy back (650,000 guns were brought forward), a ban on semi-automatic and automatic weapons, strict background/police checks and restrictions on who can buy what weapons depending on the purpose of the weapon (meaning farmers virtually have free reign to have any gun on the legal market in Australia). Its obvious to see that the legislation was put in place to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people, like people say “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” and that is very true so isn’t it best to have strict rules that allow the right people to have guns and the wrong people to be restricted from owning guns, I certainly think so.
What's happening?
Now you might be reading this from Australia and be wondering why I’m writing about this, because guns are never really an issue here. However, it seems that Australia’s version of the NRA, the SIFA (The Shooting Industry Foundation Australia) have been buying politicians and votes, thus legislating the NFA away. So whats been happening:
• New South Wales now allows the use of silencers, a breach of the 1996 code. It also allows semi-automatic weapons for use by people whose occupation is not pest control, and has no legal limit on the amount of ammunition that can be purchased.
• In Queensland gun owners can be licensed for 10 years, double the time limit in the national agreement, and a licence is not mandatory for the purchase of ammunition.
• In Western Australia, gun owner safety training is not required by law, except for handguns, and firearms sales are not limited to licensed dealers. WA also has no minimum age for club shoots.
As this is a piece of National legislation the States can change it as they see fit, unfortunately it is up to the state to comply with the NFA, a report has found that they are simply not doing so. Gun control advocates have called for federal intervention – and even a referendum – after commissioning a damning report that shows states and territories have trashed the historic 1996 national firearms agreement, the report by Gun Control Australia (GCA) found more than 50 breaches of the code by states and territories.
In a poll of over 1,700 people, Essential Research found 40 per cent thought Australia’s gun ownership laws were “about right”, while a further 45 per cent believed they were “not strong enough”, so why is it that the Labor government is supporting 2 parties propped up by the gun industry over The Greens in the coming election (The Shooters Party and The Liberal Democrats)? It has to be that Gun Lobby cash money, or the Labor government is trying to court votes from the center right political side which makes no sense, especially in left wing states like Victoria, with places like inner city Melbourne leaning further and further towards The Greens (the far left option). The beliefs of the gun industry simply does not align with those who vote for left wing ideals.
When I talk about the gun lobby this essentially means those who are in favor of lax gun laws in Australia who get their money to do advertising and hire shills to spread propaganda by gun manufactures. These manufactures include the Beretta family (who are adamant that guns are inextricably linked to freedom) and NIOA (a major gun importer in Australia that was featured in a recent 4 Corners special on the gun industry). Much like the American NRA the SIFA have boat loads of cash to spend on ads that seek to undermine parties that are against their agenda, ads like this one:
I could go further about how lobbyist work but essentially that’s it, I might do a whole essay on it if it comes up, but I think I'll wrap up because this has been a longer one than usual. For those of you who don't know "Dan" is the Labor Premier for Victoria.
My Take
I think that the Labor government should fully embrace The Greens party in most of their platforms to excite the left-wing base and court more votes that way, rather than try to pander to bullshit center right candidates that are backed by a lobby that is fundamentally against you. The Labor should stop shying away from a more left-wing agenda, the Australian people support these ideals if they are portrayed in a way that is confident and backed by evidence. Furthermore states should start to bring back their gun laws, to ensure that we do not have any more tragic events like Port Arthur and above all lobbyist cash should stay the fuck away from our politics.
References:
Australians turn in 57,000 guns in national amnesty
Australian gun control advocates call for federal intervention to save firearms pact
Who's Right: The NRA Or 85 Per Cent Of Australians?
How Australia’s NRA-inspired gun lobby is trying to chip away at gun control laws, state by state
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-43236421
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/26/australian-gun-control-advocates-call-for-federal-intervention-as-states-bow-to-firearms-lobby
https://newmatilda.com/2015/07/21/whos-right-nra-or-85-cent-australians/
https://theconversation.com/how-australias-nra-inspired-gun-lobby-is-trying-to-chip-away-at-gun-control-laws-state-by-state-105667
