Phil, the reason I never answered your question is simple, you never asked one, it seemed to me you were making a statement. A question requires on these little things "?"

To rebut your statement <<if someone is absolutely intent on killing someone and have no gun they will just use another method>>

You have absolutely no concrete evidence to prove that statement.

I hope we are not going to go round in circles on this. I will say this, for every gun that is removed from the community, the potential to save lives is increased. Even if it is only Grannies old shotgun, sitting is some dusty old cupboard some where. In the wrong hands it has the potential to kill. It might be loaded, and fall into the hands of Grannies little Grandson, who accidentally blows poor old Grannies head off with it. No "absolutely intent" there, but never the less Granny is minus her head and dead!

It was when the Greens were running out of things to protest, particularly now that pink protest is not doing so well, that the opportunist, forever cynical Greens latched onto Billionaire Soros' 'gun control' scam.

It is a great scam, ensuring that the 'Useful Idiots' of the faux left are always being deflected onto 'its guns!' and never get to bother themselves about the entrenched social and economic problems that affect blacks, Hispanics and people on low incomes, including low paid workers, often young.

Of course Greens and Labor have for decades postured their claimed superior morality and faux concern about the environment, sustainability, 'poisonous CO2' (Gillard) and of course they have ridden on the backs of gays.

But nothing done to fix things, and exasperated ex-Labor leader Mark Latham finally challenged Labor's (and by inference Greens') hypocrisy, saying that Labor has an “obsession” with the symbolism of gay marriage and should be focusing instead on the nation’s “Struggle Streets”.
http://startsat60.com/trending/news/is-mark-latham-talking-sense-on-gay-marriage/comment-page-2

'Gun control' is a fraud, a sham. It is about the very rich elites protecting their turf, luxurious lifestyles and their conspicuous consumption, enormous houses, boats and the like.

'Gun control' is not about criminals. It is about bans aimed at the respectable, law-abiding citizens, involving State compulsory confiscation of legally owned property at the point of a gun and bans.

It doesn't take a great deal of commonsense to reckon where that might be going. But if anyone wonders, just ask migrants who fled authoritarian regimes.

Ask too, why the leftists, Greens especially, are so soft on criminal gangs who manufacture and traffic drugs, where billions of dollars are turned over annually. Coincidentally, that is also where Australia's low level of gun and other violent crime is coming from. But Labor and Greens talk up 'gun control', while scuttling Qld's successful anti bikie Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Act 2013 enacted to "severely punish members of criminal organisations that commit serious offenses".

Paul,

You said " "The John Howard gun amnesty which resulted in 800,000 illegal firearms being surrendered ....".

How were they illegal and why did the Government pay for them?

How about that permanent amnesty?

The Howard inspired 'gun control' was aimed at strong-arm government waging war against ordinary, law-abiding civilians, by instantly making illegal, their legal, legally obtained and legally used private possessions.

Remarkably, but expected because so many are left-leaning authoritarians, the so-called human rights lawyers and academics were unconcerned and unmoved by a supremely powerful government making ordinary law-abiding citizens effectively into criminals overnight, for their private possessions that had up to then been legal.

The figure of 800,000 has been pulled out of the air, but what is true is that the so-called haul of 'illegal' firearms, was from legally compliant respectable citizens being compelled to hand over their now banned possessions and under threat of arrest at the point of a gun and possible incarceration by the all-powerful State.

It should also be stated that many of the treasured possessions destroyed (although there are allegations of 'official' rebirthing of some firearms handed in) were no more than air guns, memorabilia of historical significance (for which there was no factory ammunition available or suitable), 'squirrel' rifles (.22 for example) and shotguns, such as semi-automatics necessary for elder and disabled scatter gun clay pigeon competitors who have arthritis and other skeletal/muscle problems.

Howard's imported 'gun control' of US billionaire Soros and his other wealthy mates would NOT have had any criminal turning in his tools of trade. Guns that are used for territory and payment enforcement, and to sort territorial fights, by the ethnic gangs imported by Australia's lax mass immigration over years, including the Calabrian Mafia and more recently, the nightmarish Russian Mafia.

What 'gun control' does for leftists and Greens are up to the ears in this scam, is to conflate the criminality of gangs and their illegal preferred 'gangsta weapons' -criminal gangs that Australian governments have for years gone to considerable pains to deny the existence of despite newspaper reports- with the legal, declared and licensed firearms ownership of ordinary citizens.

contd..
'Gun control' is a hollow meme that protects the criminal while unfairly blame-shifting to ordinary citizens. Good for headlines but does squat to deter and contain criminal gangs making billions in the drug trade. Why would politicians want to protect ethnic gangs dealing drugs and responsible for drive-by shootings and home invasions?

But above all, 'gun control' is useful to the wealthy, the chattering commentariat and political elites to distract attention from the now unsolvable social problems that are the negative consequences of leftist social reengineering and the blooming big industry of drugs.

Thinking about the billions from drug manufacture and distribution, how come that apart from The Courier Mail than did a series related to it some years ago, there is no investigative journalism into the corruption that must be happening where there is so much money involved? It is so much easier to talk about 'gun control' instead, along with gay marriage and other diversions for the 'Useful Idiots'.

Not Guns again? Emmmm. For once I agree with much of what STEELEREDUX has maintained, though I think he was a little too dismissive of what you'd said as well IS MISE.

I understand absolutely your passion for F/A's, and your desire to broaden the laws to an extent, an ordinary law abiding citizen, may own possess and use any F/A (other than military) of his choice. Together with the right to possess a F/A with which to protect himself and others. I do understand all of that and to some extent, I agree with you.

However, there are many people I've come across who I wouldn't wish them to come within a 'Bull's roar' of accessing a F/A under any circumstances, such is their level of emotional or mental instability. Or in some cases just plain 'cowboys' and too immature and irresponsible to even possess a water pistol.

Governments must draw a line and restrict access to F/A's as much as possible, for those individuals who simply shouldn't have them. In order to 'try'(sic) and keep the community safe. There's no doubt criminal elements are importing masses of illegal F/A's, and Border Force Officers and the AFP are doing everything possible to interdict this illegal importation.

A massive job, with too little resources available to effectively curb this burgeoning importation. Combined with a wholly uninspired judiciary, too weak and out of touch, to support police in their endeavors to pull these buggers into line.