CS,

Who said any thing about her having a loaded gun, the gun is within handy reach and she has a couple of rounds in her pocket.
Just as her husband does, legally, while he is out working in the back paddock.
Her work is mainly in the house, why should she be discriminated against?

What if she is menaced by some criminal?

A farmer's wife was abducted and murdered in NSW in the past.
There is a criminal being kept in jail in NSW at the moment for having done just that.
Only a few months ago a child was mauled and bitten by a fox near Tenterfield, NSW, the kind hearted parents had seen it around the house but didn't shoot it.

Dear Is Mise,

If you are holding this incident up as an argument for more lax gun laws then I'm afraid our exchange might need to be retired as we have crossed the line into farce.

The Harvey's had a shot gun which subsequent to the attack they used and missed the fox. But you seem to have no thought than the action of sending an unattended three year old to scare off a wild creature with teeth speaks to the issue of parental care rather than gun issues? For all we know young Tom cornered the fox and if so the attack was predictable.

As to a farmer's wife being abducted any incident such as that is just horrific but to use it as justification for less rigid gun laws is silly.

I still remember the Faraday School hostage drama in Victoria in 1972;

“Edwin John Eastwood and Robert Clyde Boland entered the school armed with a sawn-off shotgun at about 3:00pm, and forced the teacher, 20-year-old Mary Gibbs, and her six pupils (girls aged between 5 and 10) into a red delivery van. They were driven off into a remote area in the bush. The kidnappers left a note at the school threatening to kill all of the hostages unless a $1,000,000 cash ransom was paid.”

Under your logic we should be arming our teachers or at the very least having weapons at schools for easy access just in case it was attempted at another school, as indeed it was.

While undoubtedly terrifying for teachers, students, parents and the community there were no call to arm staff.

I invite you to be thankful and supportive of the stance this country has taken with regard to gun laws because I have lived enough of my life overseas to know it is worthy of respect.

"As to a farmer's wife being abducted any incident such as that is just horrific but to use it as justification for less rigid gun laws is silly"
OK, allowing a farmer's wife or anyone elses to be able to protect themselves against criminals is silly.
Is it not just as silly to not allow them to protect themselves against wild dogs?
People are allowed to carry a walking stick but not if they intend to use it as protection against a dog.

Our laws are riddled with stupidities, particularly our gun laws.

In Europe, Britain and New Zealand shooters are encouraged to use 'silencers' (noise suppressors), here it is a criminal offence to possess one; they are however mandatory on cars.
Possession of a 'bullet-proof vest' is a criminal offence, yet it is a piece of safety equipment, note that it is not an offence to wear bullet-proof protective head gear.

A friend of mine has three original Brown Bess muskets (as used at the time of the First Fleet) that he doesn't have to have registered nor need a licence to possess, he also has another one that he shoots so it must be registered and he must have a licence to use it. He can use the others, on one off occassions with the payment of a $35 fee per occassion, if for some reason he wanted to fire two of them on the same occassion then the fee is $70.
How does that make society safer?

A person whose licence is for primary production but is not endorsed for target shooting may go along to the range and shoot in the same detail as those whose licence is for target shooting and he may shoot at the same targets. He may not however have his score recorded for the purpose of taking part in a match with the others.

Makes Australia a Safer Country.

"I still remember the Faraday School hostage drama in Victoria in 1972;

“Edwin John Eastwood and Robert Clyde Boland entered the school armed with a sawn-off shotgun at about 3:00pm, and forced the teacher, 20-year-old Mary Gibbs, and her six pupils (girls aged between 5 and 10) into a red delivery van. They were driven off into a remote area in the bush. The kidnappers left a note at the school threatening to kill all of the hostages unless a $1,000,000 cash ransom was paid.”

Under your logic we should be arming our teachers or at the very least having weapons at schools for easy access just in case it was attempted at another school, as indeed it was."

Definitely. Some teachers at all schools should be trained to shoot to kill and to possess adequate arms.
The next attempted abduction might not turn out as well.

There is a saying that when seconds count the police are only minutes away.

Dear Is Mise,

So is this what Bob Katter supporters really want for this country? Armed teachers in all our schools?

Why shouldn't it be called Bob Katter's America Party because that what they want for us.

There was an armed guard at Columbine High School at the time of the shootings, now there are four plus metal detectors and 24 hour surveillance at a cost of four million dollars per year. Asked why he thought it happened a Columbine teacher replied "Anger and guns".

If this is Katter's mob's vision, then they have a gall to calling the Greens 'dangerous ideologues'.

Not in my country mate!

Dear CS,
Not in your country, OK, that's fair enough but what is your solution to criminal attacks on schools?
Not what the clean up squad does afterwards, not what the Courts award the perpetrators in punishment for their crime, but what can be done immediately to stop the criminals.
A call to '000' isn't going to be quick enough.

What would you suggest is a way to neutralize an attack upon school children that doesn't allow the criminals time to do whatever they intend?

Instead of derision give us something constructive that may overcome the time lapse between the start of an attack and the time that a Police response can be expected.