Dennis DeMartins writes:
Australia’s descent into full blown fascism just accelerated again. The Adler lever-action ban in Australia just got serious as Prime Minister Tony Abbott has now decided to personally intervene and ban the firearms completely pending completion of a review of the NFA. Australian Customs and Border Protection have been ordered to detain all shipments of the Adler until the review is complete. Amidst the backlash from firearms owners and running out of concocted reasons and emotive rhetoric based arguments as to why law-abiding firearms owners are responsible for the actions of criminals, and that 128-year-old technology has now suddenly become a national security threat, Justice Minister Michael Keenan stressed “that the decision to suspend imports was not about targeting law-abiding gun owners but reflected the heightened terrorist threat in Australia.” . . .
So there you have it, the terrorism and national security card has been played. Those pesky facts about the 1996 NFA never actually working sure are hard to deal with, aren’t they, Mr. Keenan?
There was absolutely no surprise that this was announced at 11pm on a Saturday night in Australia when most are not paying attention, because open and transparent government right?
It appears we hit a serious nerve with Rupert Murdoch last week when he was called out for the increasing anti-gun propaganda, as he has unleashed several anti-gun hit pieces in a desperate bid to sell the disarmament narrative. The onslaught in the Australian media continued this week with this lowest common denominator emotive rant from yet another “qualified opinion” in Lainie Anderson. And she even threw in the token Port Arthur crying victim photo. Solid 8/10 for effort though, Lainie.
The pick of the bunch has to be this “one rung below the bottom” piece from the Daily Telegraph claiming that Chinese firearms had “flooded the streets of Australia and can get into the hands of terrorists”. In true Newscorp fashion, absolutely no shred of evidence was provided that these firearms were on the streets except for a picture of a Thompson SMG which is apparently somehow related. (read: not)
The most entertaining part of the article was this zinger from counter-terrorism “expert” Professor Nick O’Brien: “Even if you give $50 for every gun handed in, it will be a lot cheaper than investigating gun crimes in Western Sydney”. Because as we all know, both law abiding owners and criminals alike will be falling over themselves to take thousands of dollars in losses for their firearms and is a lot better than, you know, prosecuting criminals.
However, there you have it folks. The first mention of another buyback. Hate to say we called it.
Now, go back to what was stated earlier about Customs detaining the Adler. This is the same Customs service and Australian Federal Policethat apparently has “no idea” about how to stop the illegal firearms entering Australia but seems quite competent when it comes to the law abiding. Well, great to know where their allegiances lie, isn’t it? Contradictory duel narratives strike again.
And of course, where would we be without the token unqualified opinion from a faux-tough guy tv talking head, in this case Sky News poser Paul Murray, calling for “tougher gun laws”, without a shred of evidence other than the usual emotive rhetoric, shallow generalisations, soundbytes and footage of illegal weapons which have nothing to do with firearms owners. I can’t wait to see what those lefty b grade celebrities over at the notoriously anti-gun The Project TV have in store for us this week.
Or maybe Rebel Wilson can embarrass herself again by falsely claiming there’s been no mass shootings in Australia since 1996. Which is completely false of course.
What is key to note is the timing of the so called “review”. The 20th anniversary of the Port Arthur Massacre is in early 2016. With the NFA review due to complete “within 6 months time” this puts us right in Port Arthur “tribute” territory. Get ready for months of emotive rhetoric and teary content running non-stop on TV and in print, in a desperate attempt to sell the “we need more restrictions” narrative to the ignorant and easily emotionally malleable Australian public.
Because we’re sure as hell not going to remind them of the fact we continue to oppose an open and transparent inquiry on what actually happened at Port Arthur, when we put a 30-year ban on a coronial inquiry. And we sure won’t remind the public that the Broad Arrow Café victims had to endure a six-hour wait for an armed police response; or the fact the AR-15 Martin Bryant allegedly used was in possession of the Victoria Police Special Operations Group and earmarked for destruction just a few months prior, and questions surrounding how it got down to Tasmania and ended up with Bryant have never been answered by Victoria Police. As Police marksmanship has shown this week in Australia, they are the only ones to be trusted as competent with firearms.
Now, compare that to the absolute media circus that ensued following the Sydney Siege, with two major tv networks wheeling out the victims for endless survivor stories (they pretty much completely ignored them after Port Arthur), a coronial inquiry beginning immediately, the backlash against Senator David Leyonhjelm’s call for concealed carry permits and that an armed citizen could’ve stopped Man Monis, or the simple fact that Man Monis was a convicted felon on bail for attempted murder and used an illegal firearm he obtained without a license,and you can see how utterly absurd this whole gun grab is.
So to sum up: A spree killing that killed 35 people was never properly investigated and a coronial inquiry was actively opposed by John Howard, while used as an excuse to take firearms away en masse. But a siege that killed two people warrants an immediate investigation, is still getting air time on television and is being used as an excuse for even further disarmament. Yeh, work that one out.
Semper Fi Australian Firearms Owners. It’s championship minutes from here on in.