I saw a claim that Martin bought his gun/guns in a pub, i.e. nonlegally.

Wikipedia as usual has a lot of details:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur_Massacre#Money_supply_and_weapon_build_up

I can’t remember a government ever handing back “temporary” powers, and they will indeed use any excuse, not only wars to increase those powers, and yes they employ specialists in sounding reasonable.

For example Port Arthur was used as excuse to implement harsh gun control, when the reality was that if even one or two of the people there that day were carrying an evil concealed firearm, that dumb bastard would have been blown away rather quickly, probably not before doing damage, but you can’t have it all. If the possibility of an armed citizen had existed, it may not have happened at all.

But we wouldn’t want to be like America, would we?

The only protection against this, is to be incisive enough to see through those campaigns, articulate enough to argue effectively, loud enough to be heard, and thick skinned enough to cope with the vicious attacks this will bring down on your head.

Central power is, and always will be argued for, by governments. Your points are good. The fact is, and always will be, that the more complex society, or problems are, the less capable a central authority is to deal with the situation.

I could not ever support conscription. In a free society, governments derive their rights from the consent of the governed. As such, no government can claim rights that the individual does not have, as, if the individual does not have a right, they can not hand that right on to another.

Conscription is the forcible detention of people, against their wills, and forcing to render service against their wills. No individual has the right to kidnap or enslave. Therefore the state cannot claim it.

Always remember that a vocal minority with the ear of politicians is a majority in a democracy.

Our defense forces are strictly for volunteers only. If they wear the uniform they take the orders, asking for volunteers is not the way an army works.Volunteering in the military is like “I want three volunteers, you, you, and you”.

If in fact you are asking if non-military personnel should volunteer to fight there, that has already happened, the son of this towns Mayor for example has done two tours of Iraq as part of a US armored unit, has been wounded twice, and received a bravery award of some sort. I am sure that he is not alone.

I am not sure where you are coming from, with war on drugs/poverty, such statements are political rhetoric only, and should be treated as such. Don’t fall into the trap of believing politicians; they will con you every time. Wars on drugs, poverty, etc. are noble sounding campaigns to cover the creation of more government jobs, and to seize more power.

As for the war on terror, several people have been charged, and some convicted, on terror related offences here already. Some of them involved planning operations here. The war on terror is here, now.