"Excellent, short summary debunk/shooting down of 10 Pro-Gun Myths by Dave Gilsen on Mother Jones there .. these just to link some others in .. "
By A. ODYSSEUS PATRICK FEB. 23, 2018
In Sydney, thousands of banned firearms were handed in 1997 as part of the Australian government’s buyback program after the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre in which 35 people died when a gunman went on a shooting rampage. Credit David Gray/Reuters
SYDNEY, Australia — The rampage at a high school in Parkland, Fla., has prompted calls for an Australian-style response, as have previous massacres in the United States. Australia introduced a comprehensive gun control regime after a massacre in Tasmania 22 years ago, and mass shootings here dropped to zero. Some experts regard it as the most effect gun control system in the world.
But the Australian model won’t work in the United States. Here’s why: We Australians have a profoundly different relationship with weapons. Americans love guns. We’re scared of them.
[...]
I am legally obliged to store the rifle in a gun safe. Bullets must be kept in a separate compartment. A police officer visited my home to ensure that the safe was bolted into my garage’s brick wall. I gave a vague answer when a neighbor asked why there was a patrol car in the driveway.
This ingrown cultural hostility toward firearms explains why there was no fear and only isolated anger at the government, even among owners, when it took away people’s guns in 1996. In the United States, even if the political opposition could be overcome, such widespread appropriation of private property and limits on personal liberties would most likely be met with fierce, even physical, resistance.
Australian political leaders are rightly proud of our tight gun laws, which have also reduced criminal homicides and suicides. But it is unfair to grieving and distressed Americans to pretend that the Australian solution to mass shootings can be carried out in the United States. A homegrown plan is needed.
Scared of them is about the only thing in the article which anyone could really quibble about. Many Australians, rather than "scared of them", i think might say if asked, 'are you happy to live in a relatively gun-free environment?' would likely simply say, 'yep'. And on any question around 'more guns could be better?' would likely simply say something like, 'why is that?'
History is important for many reasons. All cultures evolve in their own histories. History goes a long way to offering a window into just who we are. Individually, and as a people.
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