Mike: Thanks for the well thought out posting.
I need to state in advance that I am NOT a lover of conspiracy theories. Having said that, I believe the government is covering up events at Port Arthur, not because it was some government-inspired "black" operation, but because they want to hide plain, old-fashioned incompetence. And one of the easiest ways to do that is, of course, to find someone else to "blame" -- in this case, it was the normal legitimate gunowners of Australia. A compliant (even proactive) media were only too willing to help.
There *are* many allegations about the Port Arthur shooting that we can not check due to a lack of access to the facts. What we can find out (usually via the Internet) raises some disturbing issues (such as shot-to-kill ratio; the fact he head-shot moving targets from the right hip, despite being a left-hander; the fact he was mentally "retarded" and unable to even point out the safety catch on his weapon to police; his abysmal shooting when holed up by the police; why Port Arthur staff are expressly forbidden from even mentioning the incident, or responding to questions; why doors in the cafe were, apparently, locked; why photo evidence shows all the signs of being faked; why police were called away on a hoax by "persons unknown" at that exact time, and so on). Even the fact that his weapon was handed in to police for destruction on the mainland during an "amnesty", and THEN onsold in Tasmania (presumably by the police) has been glossed over or ignored.
I'm not sure of our political processes here, either (appalling ignorance, I know), but I do know a case can only be re-opened with political compliance -- and no politician appears to be the least bit interested -- or is too scared to touch the subject.
What I am sure of, though, is that we have enttered an appalling new era of political correctness, when it is the "right" thing to be anti-gun in Australia, at any lengths.
A brief illustration: We have just had the situation of a police officer drawing his sidearm on a 12-year-old boy playing with a plastic air-powered pellet gun, firing soft plastic pellets (which the media insist on calling a replica). The cop drew on the kid, forced him to throw down his "weapon", then spread him and patted him down.
The media praised the officer's actions!! Why? because he actually "didn't have his finger on the trigger". Had I been in charge, he would have been severely reprimanded for drawing his firearm in asituation which didn't warrant it. And if that kid had been mine, I would have fought for him come hell or high water (even if I kicked his bum at home!). But these parents went public and bowed their heads (figuratively) with much lamenting that they had even bought him the toy. Incidentally, a neighbour called the police, which is how they found out.
The Letters to the Editor section of yesterday's paper carried a selection of letters --- every single one of them condemning the boy, his parents and gunowners in general, and praising the police and the neighbour who turned the kid in. That's the sort of political correctness that frightens me.
