I think Aussies are more of the "who cares" type.
Two points
A) Our guns.
B) Voting to be a Republic.
I just hope you are not faced with a false flag operation like us poor Aussies were "The Port Arthur Massacre". After that guns were being destroyed
left right and center.
I was in the USA for a short time in 96, no one that I spoke to about it even knew about it. I just took it as "meh the US is more interested in
itself".
en.wikipedia.org...
The Port Arthur massacre and its consequences
The Port Arthur massacre in 1996 transformed gun control legislation in Australia. Six weeks after the Dunblane massacre in Scotland[11], this mass
killing at the notorious former convict prison at Port Arthur horrified the Australian public.
Thirty five people were killed and 37 wounded when a man opened fire on tourists with two semi-automatic rifles: an AR-15 and an L1A1 SLR. These
weapons were of a type that was legal to possess in Tasmania at the time, but the murderer did not have a license and acquired the firearms
illegally.[citation needed]
Newly elected Prime Minister John Howard immediately took existing gun law proposals developed after the report of the 1988 National Committee on
Violence[12]) and pushed the states to adopt them under a National Firearms Agreement, necessary because the Australian Constitution does not give the
Commonwealth power to enact gun laws.
The proposals included a ban on all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns, and a tightly restrictive system of
licensing and ownership controls. Some discussion of measures to allow owners to undertake modifications to reduce the capacity of magazine-fed
shotguns occurred, but the Government decided not to permit this.
Public feeling after the Port Arthur shootings overwhelmed the opposition from gun owners' organisations and the Commonwealth was able to induce all
states to agree to their proposals without change.
The Government planned a series of public meetings with farmers and sporting shooters to explain the proposed changes. In the first meeting, on the
advice of his security team, Mr. Howard wore a bullet-resistant vest, which was visible under his jacket. This was perceived as a deeply offensive act
by the shooters, and their outrage was interpreted by many of the media and the public to show that ordinary shooters were dangerous and
contemptible[citation needed].
Thousands of shooters applied to join the Liberal Party of Australia in an attempt to influence the Government, but were barred from
membership.[citation needed]
The American National Rifle Association expressed support for Australian gun owners and was roundly condemned by Federal Attorney General Daryl
Williams.[13]
Because the Australian Constitution prevents the taking of property without just compensation the Federal Government elected to put a 1% levy on
income tax for one year to finance the "buy back" purchase and destruction of all semi-automatic rifles including .22 rimfires, semi-automatic
shotguns and pump-action shotguns. Although only Victoria published statistics, it appears that only 5% of the destroyed guns were centrefire
semiautomatic rifles, the huge majority being sporting rimfires and shotguns.[citation needed] The buyback was predicted to cost $A500 million.
[edit on 29-1-2009 by TheKingsVillian]
