jamo: In this case that would mean defending the right to posess a viable means of self defence.

I would have agreed with you 40 years ago. Unfortunately the number of fruit cases, I wouldn't allow even near a butter knife, has increases out of sight. It's not safe to allow anybody to have a firearm licence nowadays. Believe me, some people who have gun licences, shouldn't have them. That clown in Bundaberg for one.

Even for OLO's frothing-mouthed hoplophobes there is some wild stuff going on in this thread.

A sit down and a cold glass of water and lets get some facts,

http://www.skynews.com.au/video/program_agenda/2014/12/18/agenda-monis-was--never-licensed-.html

To on the beach.

You would do whatever causes you espouse much better service if you bothered to write a reasoned argument, instead of routniely submitting sneery one liners and then disappearing into cyberspace.

Suse,

You said " Violent crime rates are much higher in the USA."

So that we can discuss this on an even keel, what do you define as violent crime?

The interesting part of the hostage episode is the mouths shut of what really went on, why haven't the hostages spoken to the press, who shot the injured taken to hospital and who really killed the two deceased, when will the truth come out . Most things these days the truth never ever comes out, only what they want you to hear, what happened to the two aeroplanes, a fighter jet was in the vicinity of one, was the other also shot down, they know the answers but possibly are quite happy to feed the gullible public untruths. I want to hear the facts not media crap. Monis was a mentally deranged man from day one of his arrival, terrorist is the flavour of the day, we are led to believe that terrorists are hiding all over the country, so beware, be frightened, have a look in the nearest rubbish bin, a bomb may be there, in actual fact mentally deranged people have always been with us and will also be around into the future as well, they all will be tagged to frighten you, the biggest terrorists are the ones in Government, these are the ones to be scared of as they will control your freedoms and life, so beware.

Onjab,

Monis claimed allegiance to ISIS and held up a shop-full of hostages. In itself, without anything else, that signifies a terrorist act, and one in the name of Allah, hence the flag. I'm not saying that Allah, if he or she exists, would have approved, just that Monis was acting in his or her name.

After all, if a person took a bus-load of people hostage in, say, Saudi Arabia, and in the name of Krishna or Jesus, threatened to kill them all, then we would rightly assume that he (or she) was carrying out a terrorist act in the name of Krishna or Jesus.

Not that that seems to happen too often, I'm sure you'd agree. When it does, the world will call it as it is, a terrorist act in the name of a god.

Joe