suzeonline,
you're just simply way too much out of touch with reality. by the way I just saw a TV ad tonight about Alice Springs. It says that accusation of racism is invariably used to divert attention from reality.

Lexi, rehctub here.

Firstly, I did not tell you (personally) to 'get a life' , unless of cause you are one who supports this ridiculous notion that farmers should not have easy access to a gun.

Secondly, what you refer to by way of restricting the issuing of gun licences, the sale of ammunition, relevant to the licenced gun, etc, already exists. I know, as I have a license for two categories of rifles. I also own a rural property and I can assure you, wild dogs and the likes are a serious problem that is out of control.

For the record, do some research into how many drovers dogs have died an agonising death from picking up baits.

Now as for 'racism', simply ask yourself this. If you were to go to a muslim country and openly practice Christianity, would you expect to be allowed the freedom to do this without being harmed?

Or, do you except the fact that it is a forbidden act?

Now be honnest here!

" Most thinking people should be concerned about issues dealing with guns when research shows that the less guns that are available in the community, the less likely someone will be shot by a firearm."

This is true up to a point; if there were less cars then less people would be killed by cars, if there were less thunder storms then less people would be killed by lightning, true but utterly simplistic.
Had there been more guns in East Timor then the Indonesians wouldn't have been able to kill so many Timorese, providing the extra guns were in the hands of the potential victims.
Same in Somalia, same in Ethiopia. , same in your home when a criminal breaks in.

"There should be mechanisms to stop gun licences being issued to people who aren't fit to hold a licence"

Good idea, how do you tell?
Perhaps the Greens ought to concentrate on disarming the criminals who have guns rather than the law-abiding citizens who have been judged as trustworthy people by their respective Commissioners of Police. Logic would dictate that the more people who are Licenced Firearm Owners, that is people deemed to be trustworthy, then the better society will be.
That has been Paulene Hanson's stance all along

Dear Ise Mise,

There are various different ways that you can control foxes apart from baiting and bullets, as I suggested to you earlier - google
the subject in connection with CSIRO (or contact CSIRO) - it's up to you - (if you're interested). Or alternatively - go on doing what you've been doing.

Dear rehctub,

Glad to hear that it wasn't me you were referring to when you stated,
"Get A Life!" As for guns - I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for responsibly designed training courses with genuine written examinations to train shooters properly by setting standards that ensure shooter and public safety and to have uniform gun laws Australia wide. As for racism -in the last five years there has been documented and anecdotal evidence of a mass increase in harassment, vilification, and violence towards Australians of Middle-Eastern appearance both in the media and in popular imagination. Prejudice creates what it fears, because through prejudice young people's prospects are curtailed. Young Australians of Middle-Eastern appearance struggle to get an education and jobs and are increasingly ghettoized in poorer suburbs. Their own families often live defensively and become highly prejudiced about Australians. The increasing hostility of the broader community reinforces this inter-community racism, rather than challenging it. As for my moving to a
Muslim country and practising Christianity - would I be allowed to do it? What an odd question. Islam is one of the world's major religions; it claims the allegiance of a fifth of the entire human population. Although Westerners often think of Islam as an Arab religion, most Muslims are not Arabs. The largest Muslim populations are in Indonesia, India, there are large concentrations of Muslims in
China and Russia. Islam is the second-largest faith in Europe after Christianity, and it competes with Christianity in many black countries. People travel to these places all over the world with no problems. Therefore placing the blame for one's troubles on some relatively powerless individual or group is merely scapegoating and it is irrational and illogical.

cont'd ...

Dear rehctub,

Most of the problems arise because some people dislike anything that is different from themselves - be it race, religion, colour, education,wealth, dress, appearance and so on. No matter what the circumstances it will continue to exist. People's thoughts and feelings develop in and are shaped by their social context. People tend to think in terms of general categories, if only to enable them to make sense of the world by simplifying its complexity. The key feature of prejduice is that it's always rooted in generalisations and so ignores the differences among individuals. Therefore someone who is prejudiced against Muslims will tend to have a negative attitude toward any individual Muslim, in the belief that all Muslims share the same supposed traits. For example, Pauline Hanson refused to sell her property to "a Muslim," simply because of them being "Muslim." (ie - different). The word "prejudice," literally means "prejudged."

As in the animal kingdom, where the instinct of territorial protection exists - and in the early human history the tribal instinct protected the group from its neighbours so too today those traits seem to carry through to modern society. This attitude is demonstrated in television productions of what's known as - "small town mentality".

Lexi,

There are indeed many ways to control foxes but giving them 'condoms' or the chemical equivalent seems to be a far fetched answer.
What do they eat whilst fornicating uselessly, how many native animals do they consume during their infertile years?
One well placed bullet takes away all the guesswork.

Greens with Guns is what we need.

But would the Commissioner trust them?