This will give you some idea of the "mindset" of the government towards firearms. It's from a press release put out by the New South Wales government, but the sentiments would be nationwide. (Bold type mine.)
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>From July 1999 the Director-General of the Ministry for Police will be undertaking a review of the Firearms Act 1996. This review is required under section 92 of the Act, under which a review must commence as soon as possible after 28 June 1999. The objective of the review is to determine whether the policy objectives of the Act remain valid, and whether the terms of the Act remain appropriate for securing those objectives.
The principles and objects of the Act are:
*
To confirm firearms possession and use as being a privilege that is conditional on the overriding need to ensure public safety.
*
To improve public safety by imposing strict controls on the possession and use of firearms, and by promoting the safe and responsible storage and use of firearms.
* To facilitate a national approach to the
control of firearms.
* To prohibit the possession and use of all automatic and self-loading rifles and shotguns expect in special circumstances.
* To establish an integrated licensing and registration scheme for all firearms.
* To require each person who possesses or uses a firearm under the authority of a licence to
prove a genuine reason for possessing or using the firearm.
* To provide
strict requirements that must be satisfied in relation to licensing of firearms and the acquisition and sales of firearms.
* To ensure that firearms are stored and conveyed in a safe and secure manner and
* To provide for compensation in respect of and an amnesty period to enable the surrender of certain prohibited firearms.[/quote]
Our problem is not dissimilar to yours -- most non-gunowners neither know nor care what the truth is -- they believe what the media feed them.
The woman who killed herself and her five children by gassing them in the car was here in Perth. I actually heard of an anti-gunner who cited this as proof that gun prohibition works, "because the kids weren't shot'. I'm glad I wasn't there to hear that firsthand because I'd be up on an assault charge now!!
Gunowners are still hurt, angry and feel betrayed by their government and fellow Australians. Our biggest problem is infighting and fragmentation -- until we get together as a single, unified body we will achieve very, very little. In fact, it
will get worse, because the anti-gun organisations
are very, very cohesive and focused.
Given our past history of legislative repeal, I believe it is
impossible (presently) that this legislation will be repealed. Pro-gun politicians are in the minority, and stand absolutely no chance of holding power in their own right.
Landowners (farmers) are subject to the same regulations as the rest of us. Their advantage is that, if their property is large enough, they can obtain "open" licences for larger-calibre firearms than the rest of us.
Finally, here is a page that gives a brief State-by-State overview of licensing requirements in Australia:
http://www.ssaa.org.au/lawindex.html
B
(Gotta get me one of them fancy signatures:
How about:
"Gotta go -- the kids have chewed through their ropes"?)
