By Dennis DeMartins
Australian shooters got their first peak at what the NFWPWG will be trying to ram home in the name of public safety, as discussions from amendments to firearms legislation in the state of South Australia were made public. This will be a preview to what will be seen in November when the findings of the NFA review are due to be released, most likely in the background while no one is looking and while Australians are distracted by their economy currently going south thanks to China . . .
Out of the submissions, the most ridiculous had to be S13 stating,
“Consider a provision that makes firearm owners responsible for crimes committed by others using their firearms, where owners become liable to pay restitution/compensation to victimized persons for the harm caused.”
The way the proposal reads, translated: it’s your fault regardless of criminal activity, even if you secured your firearms properly.
There is one phrase in there that stands out over and over again. “Referred by Minister for discussion at National level”, which basically means that (a) the states won’t have a say at all, and (b) given recent performances by tony Abbott, Michael Keenan and Catherine Smith it appears they will rule by diktat, and consultation is merely for appearance’s sake.
A brief analysis of these proposals seems to turn out the expected result: a few token concessions with a whole lot of “we’ll ban what we want” flavour. Whether or not Sporting Shooters Australia and co will actually stand their ground and not rollover like they did in ’96 when John Howard literally told them to “shut up”, remains to be seen.
As we said last week, with the ever increasing desperation of the anti-gun crowd down under in face of a huge push back from firearms owners, the high level of anti-gun dumb was once again on display in the Australian media. This effort from The Project TV, complete with four B-grade celebrities with no firearms experience waxing lyrical about their “knowledge” of American gun culture, took the cake while hoping to capitalise on the emotion of the Virginia shooting.
The propaganda continued with this lie-filled effort from Newscorp, which I won’t even bother wasting time dissecting for the non-factual facts. Fairfax held up their end, when Nick “Moron”O’Malley tried yet again to have a go at firearms owners by yelling “NRA!” as many times as he could in this article, to compensate for the fact that he doesn’t what he’s talking about. The Guardian also pitched in with their standard non-facts, and apparently the number of buyback guns in 1996 magically increased from 640,000 to a 1,000,000. Not to mention the study Lenore Taylor cited in the article didn’t back her up at all because she probably didn’t read it. It’s magic I tell ya!
However it was this effort from New South Wales Minerals Council Public Affairs Director, and apparent “license holder”, Brad Emery that really hit lowest common denominator territory. Because apparently having a position with the Minerals Council is totally an authoritative position to comment on firearms’ matters, right? Emery claims to be “speaking on behalf of all firearms owners” is laughable at best and also highly suspicious.
Why? Because Brad Emery happens also to be a cousin of Greens member and long time hoplophobe and liar David Shoebridge. “Coincidence”. This leads me to believe that Brad Emery is likely not a firearm owner at all. The situation appears so desperate for the anti’s that they are now getting family members to write hit pieces. David Shoebridge really is the gift that keeps on giving.
If Emery actually is a firearm owner, no-one appointed him to speak on behalf of firearms owners and he certainly doesn’t represent firearm onwers in Australia in the slightest. The fact that he is getting public press, when a myriad of pro-firearm organisations are being routinely ignored and trashed in the media at every opportunity, is a dead giveaway as to the anti-gun agenda now trying to come at it from another angle: anti-gun firearm owners. Nice try, Bluffington Post.
Although this is not an uncommon anti-gun strategy in Australia, where an organised online campaign amongst Greens voters to pose as firearm owners to try and steer the narrative away (and failing miserably) has been underway for some time. There also is a subdivision of the Australian shooting community known as “Elmer Fudd’s”, ie firearm owners who will sell out their fellow shooters (usually from sporting disciplines) to protect themselves in the hope the anti’s will leave them alone. Guess what guys, they’re going to come for you even if you decide to throw others under the bus.
Further to that, Brad Emery is the former press secretary to current Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, who just last week attempted to have Immigration Officers patrolling the streets of Melbourne asking for passports, in true brown shirt style. Great to see Brad’s fascist leanings have rubbed off on Peter.
Another major event unfolded this week in the ongoing inquiry into the Sydney Siege. The La Salle pump action shotgun Man Monis used was finally revealed to the public and blamed on the mythical “grey market”. However, it is the circumstances of this shootout transpired which raises a red flag or two.
Monis killed hostage Tori Johnson with one shot, which prompted the NSW Police to breech the café and take him out. There were 5 empty cartridges and 2 left in the shotgun found by NSW Police at the conclusion of the shootout. Assuming Monis shot Dawson and then reloaded, that would leave him with 3+1 rounds in the shotgun. How did Monis, a relative rookie in terms of firearms experience, then fire another 4 rounds at Police and reload, all the while being shot up to 11 times and having to deal with nearly a dozen flashbangs being deployed at the same time?
Something is wrong here. Either someone is not doing their job, or someone is intentionally not doing their job. Given the Australian government’s history when dealing with mass shooting coronial inquiries, it is hardly surprising.
As previously discussed, Gun Control Australia’s event featuring fascist extraordinaire John Howard and his #1 shill Andrew Denton is this week, kicking off the long expected rhetoric fest to attempt to sell more gun control to the emotionally malleable Australian public, just before the 20th anniversary of Port Arthur “coincidentally” arrives.
The highlight of the night, aside from the usual standing on the graves of the Port Arthur victims’ and probably wheeling out Carolyn Loughton again as a keynote speaker for maximum emotive value, will undoubtedly be the first firearm owner who gets into that event undercover and asks John Howard on camera why he still opposes a coronial inquiry into Port Arthur and sealed the evidence for 30 years. Watching him squirm in response on Youtube would be worth its weight in gold.
Or they could just ask him about his “gun control legacy” and how a gunman opened fire on a Sydney restaurant last week and missed everyone, the third of three shootings in 24 hours.
But repeat after me … the laws worked. Now there’s a Port Arthur soundbyte.