zephyr: balls is not an accurate word i believe. i know i'm american and i live where we have guns (yet don't own one) but that aside... running away from something (guns) is much like why the immigrants flock here. but that your country made the attempt and makes it work for them i like and respect.
I never (ever) say nice things about australia's federal conservative party (called the liberal party, just to be confusing) - but i think the "balls" to ban guns was theirs, really.
I strongly dislike almost everything about that political party, but i do appreciate and support the 1996 gun reforms.
When the Port Arthur massacre took place in April of 1996 (coming up to 22 years ago) australians were deeply horrified by the violence, the bloodshed, the absolute brutality of it.
The killer killed tourists, old people, young families with little children.
In terms of the trauma of that day, and national mourning and horror that came out of it, there were a lot of discussions about guns.
I remember it quite clearly, and i was at school at the time. I remember the teachers called an assembly for everyone in my year, to talk it over with us and help the kids discuss and ask questions and stuff.
The social and political impact of that massacre was enormous - one of those traumatic events that you look back on as a turning point, or a loss of innocence. Comparable to 9/11 or the assassination of JFK or something - not quite as threatening to national security or whatever - but people were horrified by the whole thing, and i think a lot of people wanted to see some kind of action taken to stop this happening again.
One thing i remember people saying a lot at the time was that
nobody in a civilian situation in our country needed the sort of firearms the killer used - a sentiment that was expressed across the political divide.
We don't have a historic attachment to guns, as a nation, in the way statesiders do.
That's largely to do with our history, and (to be perfectly frank) i'm thankful for that, because it means we (as a nation) were actually able to make a pragmatic decision to put strict regulations on gun ownership, with the intention of reducing the amount of guns in the community.
I also think we are fortunate to have not become desensitised to violence in the same way i think american people sometimes are (by comparison).
Guns are a big part of american culture, so it feels futile to even mention what happened with the gun thing here - but the point i am trying to make is that
the government did the brave thing in having a gun amnesty and stricter laws - but what (a majority) of australians did was support the changes.
Obviously not everyone, but we're fortunate (in my opinion) not to have deep cultural and ideological attachments to firearms, which enabled the debate the legislation - and the ideas behind it - on its merits.
The myths about "good guys with guns" or protection from "government tyranny", or any wacky ideas about protecting your family from the police's guns, or any of that stuff.
And for the most part, aussies aren't so obsessed with the idea of "rights" - our national myths and ideologies are quite often based around egalitarianism, not battle or heroic individualism.
Perhaps it's got something to do with the way this colony developed into the country it has become, and that (apart from the seldom mentioned "frontier wars" - ie the colonial genocide of indigenous australians) we've never had a proper war here.
A bombing or two in WWII by the japanese, but we've largely avoided violent revolutions, never seen a coup d'?tat or a civil war.
So guns are (culturally) something you see on the farm, in australia. Yes there are hunters and various recreational shooters, but largely i'd say we're a pretty civil bunch.
I don't think our gun laws are perfect - really, no laws are perfect.
But i think they addressed a deep concern that fucked up people could slaughter scores of innocent people for no reason, if they had access to powerful modern weapons.
As we see, in news from the states, is that this is absolutely true.
I don't
love australia, nor do i mention this stuff to gloat, to lecture or to act like we have worked out the solution to gun violence, and suggest that every country should do what we did over here.
But i'm comforted by the scarcity of guns here.
And i think there are a couple of important points that always get glossed-over.
Zephyr mentioned one of them above - the police response.
How many unarmed people have US cops killed in recent years? It seems like a lot.
It's obvious that their trigger-happy nature is related to jumpiness that everyone is about to shoot them.
The proliferation of guns has escalated the issue of police brutality (which is likewise an issue here - and probably
everywhere).
Police in the state i live in used to have a terrible reputation for shooting people back in the 90s.
Now they just have a bad reputation for bashing, tasering and pepper-spraying people.
That's not nice either, but it's better than them killing people.
And the other point is suicide. I've read statistics (i can't remember where, but can locate if people don't believe me) that gun owners have a far higher incidence of suicide than non-gun owners.
I think that is one of the differences between killing with a gun, and killing with a knife or some other weapon.
Using a gun, it's the action, of pulling the trigger.
The person firing it is detached, it's like pushing a button.
A knife - or other weapon - by contrast, requires a physically violent act to do the killing.
in terms of the physical act, and what it requires of the person doing it, killing by striking, or stabbing or some other forceful movement is a very different commitment.
And that goes for both homicide and suicide.
I really hope the US calms down in terms of the frequency of killing sprees and gun violence more generally.
It's not an easy question, but i think it's important for people to listen to one another - but also look further afield for a change.
The american gun problem is uniquely american - so i'd suggest that there may be some strategies that work in non-US countries that are worth looking at and considering - and no, i don't just mean Australia.
To me, the vitriol that i've seen aimed at the kids that survived the florida school shooting, sums up the madness of the whole debate. I appreciate that i'm just an outsider looking in, but i think some of america's problems are based around how insular, inward-looking and self absorbed the united states can be.
It would be nice if things like the internet (and the ease of global communication that technology has created) could help "open up" america to broader horizons and different ways of thinking, but it seems like that's wishful thinking on my part.
It's a complicated issue and a pretty depressing debate, especially where the vitriolic nihilism of the trump era partisans is concerned.
Pragmatic reform for sensible gun laws is something that needs political leadership
and popular community support - that's something australians were lucky to have when the issue came up, but it's something the USA sorely lacks (on both fronts) - especially at the moment.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
