Hi there BELLY...

Thank you for your boundless support my friend, I really appreciate it. Members like HASBEEN, INDIVIDUAL, ONTHEBEACH, in fact many other decent people who regularly contribute topical and challenging views on this forum. Often inserting a contrary and perverse opinion to what others have said. And for this reason these people are the salt of the earth.

Of course we have our venerable fair ladies, FOXY, SUSEONLINE and POIROT, to name a few. All of whom try to keep us enthusiastic males in check. Without their gentle guidance I wonder if we'd be as well behaved, without their benevolent vigilance and more circumspect analysis of much of what we boisterous guys claim ?

There are so many other people who constantly add their thoughts and position on many of the various topics that are regularly aired on this marvellous Forum of ours (sorry Graham's?), often laced with a dash of humour too !

Anyway, I think we've just about exhausted this 'dreary' topic once and for all ? Thank you everyone who kindly contributed to this worrying subject, I really appreciated you efforts.

I hope everyone has a very HEALTHY, SAFE and GRATIFYING 2014 !

Best wishes...Sung Wu.

In John Howard's case it was allegedly his wife Janet who was behind his gun control initiative. She was the master political tactician and lent Howard the spine to carry out the huge bluff. Howard himself was the master of wedge politics and expert in sloganeering.

Both sides of politics were confronted with the politician's nightmare:

- that there is no effective treatment against the odd determined assailant encouraged by sensationalist media reporting of gun crimes and desiring instant and lasting notoriety for himself; and

- the simple fact that the assailant was not mad, or a terrorist, he was known to authorities and had minimum IQ, which can easily result in rages against anything that frustrates, and would never frustrate someone with average IQ; and

- the usual facilities that cared for and occupied both mental patients and those with minimal IQ had been sold off by the LNP and by Labor. This assailant could have been occupied in a sheltered workshop where he could have been sheltered against the exasperations of ordinary life.

To that I could add that most offenders who are difficult for police to handle and threaten themselves and others with weapons, more often knives, are suffering mental problems. There is nowhere for their relatives or police to take them. The only options are a cell (very short term and awkward) or admission to a hospital psychiatric unit (few beds, can't be held and are released, hopefully to take medication, maybe). Persons suffering mental problems are often shot by police (police being required to defend themselves).

Howard's gun control was a political remedy for a political problem, largely that there was no solution except to admit bad policy on both sides for selling off the mental health facilities. So he found a convenient whipping boy instead 'gun control' and introduced the window dressing of heaps of irritating bureaucratic paper chase for police and law-abiding licensed owners.

Nothing Howard did could prevent another assailant. It is the callous media sensationalising rather than reporting mass killings, to increase their audiences, that encourage the offenders.

yep in the West the Christian Judea ethic has been replace by the me me me secular humanist manifesto. Feminism, socialism and the fruits have won the day (for the moment). Fatherless kids who have never been disciplined run amuck and rarely receive penalties anywhere near fitting the crime. We have managed however to push male school teachers out and feminise the system to the extent where the average male is disengaged. We have managed to stop calling wrong wrong and right right so as not to show the stupidity of moral relativism (a dogma of secular humanism). We have allowed the porn industry to saturate our society and are dumb enough to think it has no effects (another dogma of humanism). Yes the West is and has crumbled but thankfully it has been foretold for anyone with half an ear to hear. All these isms will crumble.

Just to add the obvious, it is also attention seeking and a quest for notoriety that encourages nasty ferals to 'king hit' innocent targets.

Even if the media chooses to shame the offenders instead, for example by report 'king hits' as 'gutless/cowardly hits' instead, they risk the opposite effect, viral publicity. The offenders are seeking publicity after all and any is better than none.

Do what the Qld premier is doing with criminal bikie gang members, put them in pink and in gaol. That has been done overseas and it does work.

Most important, the media must stop sensationalising crime and criminals to cynically increase their audience. Disgusting how media hacks and 'current affairs' shows prey upon the public and create problems for others to solve, while pretending they are just reporting and have the public's good at heart.

Hi there (again) ONTHEBEACH...

You're summation of all the political machinations and manoeuvring is absolutely spot on ! Your appreciation of the critical situation post Port Arthur is very accurate. Everyone wanted to heavily regulate all F/A's, in order to prevent the likes of Martin Bryant from ever again obtaining a gun ! And in most people's mind, despite everyone's best efforts, all the strengthened laws that were introduced, failed miserably. We now have another burgeoning cottage industry, controlled by, none other than the much feared, OMC gangs, regularly importing all manner of small arms into OZ !

Thank you ONTHEBEACH.

Evening to you, o sung wu.

Technology will soon overtake illegal importation. 3D printing is already at the point of being able to reproduce items made from all types of metals. A metallic, semi auto pistol has already been demonstrated, forget the plastic one the media and police tried to push off as dangerous to the user. Both are here now and getting better and cheaper! What will they do then, ban printers, electronics, servo drives and computers?

None of this is science fiction anymore and you don't need a PHD in physics or electronics engineering to do it either. All plans can be freely downloaded on the internet to create the tools, to create the weapons and the materials are easily obtainable from stuff left on the side of the road! Or if you have the money, simply buy a printer and print off as many guns as you like.

Sooner than later those that fear law abiding citizens with weapons will be faced with a plethora of ways to maim and kill people at a distance, what will they scream for then, a ban on people? Oh wait...

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< Do what the Qld premier is doing with criminal bikie gang members, put them in pink and in gaol. >

Sorry, OTB. Campbell Newman’s anti-association laws are bad news and should not be condoned IMHO!
The Fabians are going to love those laws when they get back in and they will, and they will use them, you can bet your bike on that one!