Rehctub,

You're right. Guns don't kill children: - Children kill children.

I totally agree with Ludwig.
I believe the two best things about the Howard era were the gun laws and the GST.
I don't have a lot of good to say about him, but for those two things, I thank him.
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.au

Gun Law is needed but not as many would want a total ban. I can't see any justification for high powered automatic weapons in the recreational arena. For self defence in the bush or for target shooting or vermin control any ordinary gun will totally suffice in all but extreme circumstances.
The fact that some morons can procure an arsenal is not the moron's fault.
The other fact is that you can't legislate against stupidity & insanity. But, if we were to keep the academics out of everyday life policy making we would achieve sensible policies towards a better society.
Most suicides by gun aren't brought on by the weapon, they're brought on by academic based bureaucracy making life unbearable for sane people.

Former Prime Minister Howard definitely did the right thing in seeking to control guns in Australia. But it seems that we are still being flooded by guns sneaking into Australia from overseas illegally. The real problem is the international manufacture and trade in offensive weapons. Until this is controlled by international multilateral means then the problem will persist. We need more effective international controls to limit the manufacture and trade in guns, as part of multilateral disarmament.

Crikey, this hang-up about academics that you have Indi, and Hasbeen as well, really is unfortunate. Of course there are going to be views from some academics that you’ll disagree with, but to lump all academics into the loopy la la bucket is just going a might too far.

Thank goodness for academics! Where would we be without them? Where would we be without experts in all sorts of fields, who can advise our decision-makers and give them a much more informed basis on which to make all manner of decisions?

Where would we be if all decisions were made purely by people in government, with very limited knowledge let alone expertise in the fields in which they are making important decisions, without consultation of experts, and with only the vested interests of one or two lobby groups influencing them!

Again, thank goodness for academics, and for those in government who bother to consult them.

.

Ooow, I think I’m aiding and abetting the hijacking of my own thread here!! ( :>|

So um, in an attempt to get back on-topic::

Indi, do you know to what extent academia was or wasn’t involved in Howard’s decision to implement the gun buy-back scheme, or in the broader arena of fire-arm access in Australia?

Guns in the wrong hands do kill people and if they're
made as easily available as they are in the US - then
of course there's going to be problems.

I am grateful to Mr Howard for his legislating stronger
gun control laws in this country. It was a wise move.
And I'm sure that it did not have a huge impact on
responsible hunters.