Quote:
Originally posted by MagiK:
I thought guns were illegal in Australia. I remember reading a bunch of hoopla about it.
Perhaps another law againse murder would help?
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Most guns are illegal for most people MagiK. This came into effect largely after the Port Arthur Massacre -
http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial/bryant/
Of course illegal (imported or stolen) are still readily available. Apparently it has made it alot harder for people to just grab a gun and start shooting, but not impossible.
This type of incident unfortunately, is not new, but is painfully highlighted by recent tragic events. Back when my wife was in high school some maniac killed her friends sister with a machette as she was sitting in a mall he shot and killed a number of others too. This was around 8 years ago and there have been many incidents before and since.
I think many Australians are feeling highly insecure as we seem to be faced with escalating violence of both domestic and terrorist kinds, yet have little history or infastructure for dealing with and preventing these kinds of crimes.
Personally I don't feel like the dangers are much higher than they have been. They have always been around and the nature of the crimes - that the perpetrator has no concern for their own safety when commiting it, even prepared to die for it - means that we can't do a hell of a lot differently.
I guess that the blinkers have come off for a lot of Aussies now though, and they are realising that one day these incidents they read about in the papers and see on tv could be in their own backyard so to speak.