Mrs. Peel 7,148 Posted May 11, 2018 I am NOT posting this in the 1st Amendment Lounge - so please keep that in mind as you post! Discretion advised... self-moderate or we'll have to move it. Thanks! https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/‘it’s-just-horrifying’-seven-killed-in-australia’s-deadliest-mass-shooting-in-22-years/ar-AAx83X5?ocid=spartanntp&ffid=gz My thoughts: I say this will all due respect and a sense of grimness - I fully expected this to happen at some point. The only thing that surprises me is that some locals seem taken off guard, as though they actually believed that disarming the law-abiding would make evil or criminality - poof! - magically disappear. Again, this focus on the "tool" and not the "operator" is just foolishness, as is the denial that true evil exists - it's an unfortunate part of human nature. Thankfully, it's rare, but it will never be eradicated. Thoughts and prayers to the victims' family and friends... as well as to the people who had to process that scene. Sounds like a terrible slaughter. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Displaced Texan 11,652 Posted May 11, 2018 Horrible. Prayers to the families of the victims. I hate to say it, but this shows when you disarm the law abiding citizen, they become easy targets for criminals with guns. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mrs. Peel 7,148 Posted May 11, 2018 7 minutes ago, Displaced Texan said: Horrible. Prayers to the families of the victims. I hate to say it, but this shows when you disarm the law abiding citizen, they become easy targets for criminals with guns. And in this particular case, if it turns out it was a murder/suicide by a legal gun owner, he could just as easily have torched the place. Australia has had several horrific mass killings by arson in recent years. Man's inhumanity to man - it's always hard to fathom. What I thought was interesting was the mention in the article that crime has increased dramatically in Melbourne, because I've been reading similar reports in recent months about different areas of Australia. So, you're right, from a criminality perspective --- the disarmament doesn't seem to be working, does it? 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,259 Posted May 11, 2018 how long till the antis blame America, and call for more laws? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,259 Posted May 11, 2018 they even admit in that article that gun crime didn't change after they took away their rights. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sniper 6,372 Posted May 11, 2018 11 minutes ago, Mrs. Peel said: So, you're right, from a criminality perspective --- the disarmament doesn't seem to be working, does it? From the article: As The Washington Post reported, soon after the 1996 incident, John Howard, who was elected as Australia's prime minister that year, enacted strict gun control legislation. Known as the 1996 National Firearms Agreement (NFA), the law banned the possession, manufacture and sale of all semiautomatic firearms and pump-action shotguns other than in “exceptional circumstances,” such as military and police use. Hmmm, so confiscation and strict laws don't stop criminals??? Imagine that.... 13 minutes ago, Mrs. Peel said: What I thought was interesting was the mention in the article that crime has increased dramatically in Melbourne, ... There was, of course, opposition to the new gun restrictions: Gun owners argued that the laws would not reduce gun crime and would unfairly penalize law-abiding sport-shooters. They said criminals would be emboldened because more of their victims would be unarmed. And they staged large rallies. Looks like that was correct. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverado427 10,554 Posted May 11, 2018 Bad stuff happens all the time. You can't legislate criminal behavior. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,259 Posted May 11, 2018 i wonder what greendays and avgs takes on this are. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ray Ray 3,566 Posted May 11, 2018 1 hour ago, Mrs. Peel said: Man's inhumanity to man - it's always hard to fathom. This quote is our dilemma, as a species. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeke 5,504 Posted May 11, 2018 3 minutes ago, Ray Ray said: This quote is our dilemma, as a species. Stoned to death.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Greenday 323 Posted May 11, 2018 2 hours ago, 1LtCAP said: i wonder what greendays and avgs takes on this are. I think it's a horrible incident and I feel horrible for anyone connected to the victims. They probably didn't see it coming because they haven't had a mass shooting in well over a decade which is fantastic. I wish we could go one month without one. A lot of them were caused by people with clean records so preventing them would have been tough. I'd prefer we focus on keeping the guns out of criminals hands and stop all the small instances that happen every single day from people in gangs and such. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scorpio64 5,120 Posted May 12, 2018 Two things to take away from the incident. #1 Australia already had a very low gun violence crime rate. Their culture and demographics are completely different than here in the USA. It's not fair to compare Ozzy land with the USA. As much as I hate to admit this, they are nicer more decent people who live in a mostly homogeneous society. To say that their gun control worked is like saying "I changed the oil in my honda and it still runs great". #2 This was not a "mass shooting. It was a murder suicide. A mass shooting is when someone walks into a public place (school, theater, concert etc...) and starts shooting indiscriminately. The perp may have a "cause" or some insane reason for the shooting, but they are not intimately familiar with their victims. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted May 12, 2018 #3 - could have been done by machete..... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5609593/One-machete-attack-90-minutes-UK-streets.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,259 Posted May 12, 2018 2 hours ago, Greenday said: I think it's a horrible incident and I feel horrible for anyone connected to the victims. They probably didn't see it coming because they haven't had a mass shooting in well over a decade which is fantastic. I wish we could go one month without one. A lot of them were caused by people with clean records so preventing them would have been tough. I'd prefer we focus on keeping the guns out of criminals hands and stop all the small instances that happen every single day from people in gangs and such. we CAN focus on keeping them out of the hands of criminals.....by going in to the inner cities where the majority of the actual crime happens....... 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
capt14k 2,051 Posted May 12, 2018 Another example of terrible reporting. Australia did not pass a National Firearms Act that was binding law, since the Federal Government can not regulate firearms other than the importation of them. In essence it was merely a suggestion to the states. In most states in Australia you can own a semi-automatic firearm. Then the writer made it seem as though it was a mass shooting when in fact it was a murder suicide. Poison could have just as easily been used. Hopefully the killer will rot in hell for eternity. How one can kill children, especially their own blood, is beyond me. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darrenf 422 Posted May 12, 2018 1 hour ago, capt14k said: Another example of terrible reporting. Australia did not pass a National Firearms Act that was binding law, since the Federal Government can not regulate firearms other than the importation of them. In essence it was merely a suggestion to the states. In most states in Australia you can own a semi-automatic firearm. Then the writer made it seem as though it was a mass shooting when in fact it was a murder suicide. Poison could have just as easily been used. Hopefully the killer will rot in hell for eternity. How one can kill children, especially their own blood, is beyond me. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Just a point of clarification. It was indeed a mass shooting. Not sure why you would want to spin it the way you did. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
capt14k 2,051 Posted May 12, 2018 Just a point of clarification. It was indeed a mass shooting. Not sure why you would want to spin it the way you did.Mass shooting as in many shot, but not a public mass shooting. Point was journalists suck. If you really want to get technical, with the little information released, it could have been a rampage killing. My point was it was famicide and had nothing to do with firearms. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lambo2936 297 Posted May 12, 2018 Australia as a whole is going to shit. My SOs mom lives there in melbourne.. tons of unemployment, refugees, crime, etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handyman 5,682 Posted May 13, 2018 On 5/11/2018 at 6:48 PM, Greenday said: I'd prefer we focus on keeping the guns out of criminals hands and stop all the small instances that happen every single day from people in gangs and such. Gangs? You mean like MS-13 that comes in with the illegal aliens? They make the Crips and Bloods look like amateurs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites