Brendon Nelson: (from The Sun-Herald, Sydney August 30th, 2009.)
“After the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, the new prime minister John Howard fronted our Liberal Party meeting. More than a few were opposed to gun control. Howard said this: “What I am about to do is contrary to everything I’ve ever believed. We are going to have to pass laws to control the lives of people who have never done anything wrong and never will. Many are our supporters. The Commonwealth is going to tell the States what to do -legislatively if necessary. But never in my 23 years in public life have I been more convinced that this is the right thing to do.”
The legacy of the unpopular Howard gun laws is more than a billion dollars wasted on crushing the guns of “people who have never done anything wrong and never will”, while leaving the criminals with theirs. A thriving black market in stolen guns. No change in violent crime.
A million Liberal votes were lost in the following Federal election (1998) and Howard almost became a one-term PM.
Every State and Territory in 1996 had a Liberal or (in Queensland) National Party government, except NSW (Labor). At each subsequent State election the Liberals (and Nationals in Qld) were voted out. (“Many are our supporters”).
In NSW the Labor government increased its majority.
Numerous Liberal party branches closed and in NSW (and several other States) the Liberal Party switched leaders so many times and became so factionalised that they may never again win the confidence of voters.
As an ex-Liberal party supporter I recommend all shooters maintain the rage and not elect a Liberal government unless they publicly denounce Howard’s monumental mistake.
September 24, 2009 at 4:11 pm |
I am a current Police Officer with the Northern Territory Police Force.
I am aware that the Northern Territory Police Force, in both Alice Springs and Palmerston Stations (Palmerston is 20km south of Darwin) (possibly other stations however I have been unable to confirm this) store their firearms and ammunition together, in breach of the relevant NT legislation and Commonwealth guidelines and policies relating to the safe storage requirements of firearms. In raising this issue with the various organisations I have considered the exemptions that apply in the NT legislation to Police in the execution of their duties and believe no such exemption exists for Police in relation to the safe storage of their firearms.
Contrary to section 46 of the Firearms Act (NT) and section 22(c) of the Firearms Regulations (NT), the Northern Territory Police Force does not store firearms in facilities which comply with the safe storage requirements under law and have knowingly failed to provide such facilities for an extended period of time (several years), putting both their members and the general public at risk of harm.
As I have indicated above, this is an issue I am extremely passionate about however cannot personally raise with the NT Police or Government for fear of losing my job.
September 25, 2009 at 2:18 am |
Greg, Good to hear from an honest and concerned Police Officer. Here in NSW the problem seems to be glocks going “missing” from police. Oh and of course all the longarms handed in during the buy back which were kept by police for their own private use and/or on-sold to crims.
However, the Liberals still don’t get it. Many of them still believe the Howard Gun Laws were the best thing they ever did.
October 7, 2009 at 6:05 am |
Thought you might be interested in this: http://reason.com/blog/2009/10/05/why-skydivers-would-be-better