Is it time for gun control in Washington?

Actually I think you'll find that 'lake' you're talking about is an old tailings dam and the fence is because the water is contaminated...

I find it odd that some see Australia as a nanny state when we have the ultimate freedom - walk anywhere without fear. There are very few 'no go' zones in Aus (western Sydney would be about the only one I can think of offhand). No one in Aus is afraid of the government going against the people, and our police generally (not always) seem to be able to nab the crooks without shooting them.

The gun problem in the U.S. almost seems to be an offshoot of the fact that people seem to becoming fearful of anything outside their own circle.

 

Let's just go ahead and generalize.

Yup, all liberals are closed minded idiots, no question about it, and all conservatives are open minded geniuses.

Oh, wait, I'm a liberal, but I'm too stupid to recognize the danger of working towards a better gun policy than we have now. Yup, better applications and more careful screening are a really bad idea.

So, Brian, can you explain to me why any civilian needs an AR-15, or similar gun? Are they used for hunting, or are they used for fishing, or perhaps simply used to fluff the ego of those who own them.

I am not a gun control nut, but this guy got assault style weapons simply by walking into a store in CA and buying them?

Or Kai, tell me, what's the use in owning an assault weapon, except to assault. After all, they're not called "defense weapons" are they? Too simplistic? Sorry my poor addled liberal brain fails to grasp the obvious on this one.

D

 

Well, I am envious of what an MD in USA earns, but I'm also amazed that you guys let health insurers rob you blind. Obama was hamstrung - what he needed to do was introduce public medicine (20x less cost per visit than private), and let the insurance companies bleed. Sure, there are triaged waiting lists, which we all complain about, but if you have an accident (or get shot), you receive the best medical care, immediately, for free.

"Fencing the dam" - are you kidding? It's the USA, mate. The lawyers would chase the ambulance to hospital! More coddling goes on in the USA than anywhere because of the risk of litigation. 35% of the cost of consumer goods in the USA (including cars) is insurance premiums - look it up.

 

I do enjoy reading our Queensland sandalistas lecture Americans on our superiority.

 

I use mine to hold the engine lid up on the 355

Do you own a Ferrari ?

Glad we keep you amused but I wear army boots, just like me mum

And proving our superiority on gun deaths is not very hard

 

Most western democracies have experienced rapid growth in their government workforce over the last generation, partly as a quick fix by short-sighted and self-interested politicians to compensate for the migration of manufacturing employment to China, India, etc.

Meanwhile, many politicians are ex-lawyers, who think that the solution to every problem is more laws. The predominantly left media generally support this approach, while the population is too apathetic to object. Many, many well meaning but stupid laws are passed.

All of these public "servants" need something to do, so we end up with the over enforcement of over-regulation, by generally incompetent people.

e.g. my local council pays for arial photography to check that swimming pool owners are complying with draconian pool fence laws. Meanwhile my suburb is a peninsular, surrounded on 3 sides by a very deep harbour populated by sharks. No fences, because the same council has regulations that prevent building anything at the water's edge.

 

White shoes, actually - this IS the Gold Coast

 

As you do in the US Pat. I have a mate who is a spinal surgeon in a San Francisco public hospital. He earns a similar amount to our surgeons and, being from California, is a staunch Democrat. But he explains logically and at length why Obamacare is a F-up and makes everybody worse off, like most things that Obama touches.

Obama is just a smoother version of Kevin Rudd. Oh look - another Queenslander who enjoyed lecturing the world.

btw I deal with our Federal Health Dept quite a lot, which is for the most part run by Accenture and McKinsey consultants and operates on voodoo economics and massive hidden subsidies by taxpayers.

 

It is kinda the other way around here.

Yes, fairly often, a "home being invaded" is a drug outlet - being "invaded" by law enforcement.

I more frequently hear of a "home being invaded" in which it is a simple residence that a drug user chooses to attack.

Drug use is a HORRIBLE problem in many places (yet, funny - in my country & state, drug use is illegal. If you have drugs at the border, they DO arrest you. If you have drugs INSIDE the border, the DO arrest you). METH and certain pills are REALLY big where I live.

I've had people come into my shop "hopped up" on METH. I'm not generally "armed" with a firearm at my shop, as I only have myself to worry about there, and am fairly certain that I can either diffuse a problem before it escalates, or take CARE of a problem afterwards - should there be an issue.

At home? My only care is to take care of my family, and the resources to reliably do that include firearms.

 

Mine have grease on them from working on that useless RED car ...... and putting up a new pool fence even though I live on the waters edge

Apparently the kids may SWIM across the canal, climb on the pontoon and then lift the child-proof lock to get into the pool (it was already fenced but has a cross-member negating the certificate I currently have )and drown

Just spent $3k+ for 1200mm high glass fence (now the pool feels claustrophobic )

 

I have guns I don't need, I have cars and motorcycles I don't need and I have a house that is much bigger than I need but I don't believe my need should ever enter into the conversation as long as I am a law abiding citizen.
There are so many things that go relatively unaddressed that cost far more innocent lives than guns but guns are low hanging fruit so they get a disproportionate amount of attention.
We have over 20,000 gun laws yet it is never enough. Many are nonsense but many are good well thought out law. The problem? We do not enforce them. We have many laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of people that have no business with them but if a judge goes against a probation department report and refuses to declare a defendant mentally unstable or convict of a felony and it instead becomes a misdemeanor one more danger to society is still allowed to legally purchase a firearm. California passed a great law a number of years ago. It said anyone storing a firearm that is accessed by a minor and it is used to cause injury or death is guilty of a crime. Great law. Store your guns where kids can't get them. Well January 1st, the day the law took effect some guy left a gun laying in his garage where his grandson found it and he shot himself and died. The grandfather was the poster child for stupid gun owners and deserved the full weight of the law. He was given probation and community service.
Gun safety has made major strides, gun crime has not. It is not about too few or ineffective laws, it is about our unwillingness to hold people accountable for their actions and courts that don't have the stomach to perform their jobs.

 

I just have an evil temper ....... usually enough so far

 

That seems almost unbelievable to the America I knew from my many visits in the 70s and 80s.

I can remember seeing many billboards in Nevada, California, etc urging people to fight against specific amendments to legislation plus the same urging on radio and tv .... so have you guys lost the will to follow through on your committments ? I doubt it !

What has gone wrong ?

 

I'd be happy to answer but I have no idea what you are talking about.

 

These various incidents' make a mockery of ANY of the progun argument....it's just that the progunners are toooo thick to GET it.


Savannah Georgia massacre: The shooting you missed

 

There us to be billboards everywhere when I was over there in the 80s saying things like "Vote no on bill #1234" and I thought it was great that there were uprisings of that ilk.

So , if you guys cared enough about the gun laws NOT being processed correctly then you would do something about it.

 

Sandalista

 

We’ve had a massive decline in gun violence in the United States. Here’s why. - The Washington Post - www.washingtonpost.com
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/03/weve-had-a-massive-decline-in-gun-violence-in-the-united-states-heres-why/

 

Meanwhile...

 

As long as they are honourable Moretti is ok with it.

 

This is what happens when you ban guns... You get more knife attacks.

Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian

China has very strict gun laws too. No mass killings there... ohh wait..

Knife-wielding attackers kill 29 at China train station - CNN.com 29 dead, 130 injured.
At least 50 reported to have died in attack on coalmine in Xinjiang in September | World news | The Guardian 50 dead.

 

Pistols at dawn ??

BTW I nearly won the Queens military shoot so look out !!!

 

Geeeeez,that's a sensible argument.

....about as intelligent as this little piece,today..

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/americas-bizarre-reaction-to-mass-shootings/news-story/8ff3a468c777b8add5feebcdc93156ca