Guns are good for Kiwis
Most aussie libertarians would not be surprised to hear the argument that private gun ownership tends to dampen crime. They may however be surprised to hear the argument being put by a high profile police officer who is responsible for administering the licensing of shooters.
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Oz Political Quiz
Can anyone here confirm that in Australia you aren’t allowed to carry anything for personal protection? I’ve been doing some research and it seems pepper spray, stun guns or anything that can be construed as a weapon is verboten to carry.
This seems like a slap in the face to common sense and an open invitation for thugs to harass women.
I can certainly confirm it. Guns are not permitted for self defence under the Australian Police Ministers Agreement in 1996 following the Port Arthur massacre. This is the origin of the “uniform gun laws” that John Howard imposed on the State governments.
Pepper sprays, mace, stun guns etc are prohibited weapons in NSW, as are bullet proof vests. Carrying a pocket knife is also illegal. I understand most other States are the same.
For criminals, it’s a risk free environment.
I wonder if you could carry a boomerang around? With some practice, and a few sharp edges, they might be good devices.
Alternatively, we might try double-ups. I’ve seen a few cigarette-lighters shaped like a gun. Why not have a cigarette-lighter that also doubles up as an actual gun? Any cigarette-lighter-smiths out there?
I think you can carry a knife in SA if it’s under a certain length (4 inches?)*
*Not legal advice
I believe those cigarette-lighters shaped like a gun need to be registered so I’d imagine packing one could get you in strife.
I can see the arguments as to why guns are illegal (whether you happen to believe them or not), but what is the argument for bullet-proof vests being illegal? If I worked in some dangerous place that was held up often enough, I’d think about wearing one.
I think the argument is that criminals wearing bullet proof vests, in a robbery for example, would be harder for police and security to deal with.
But criminals hardly care about law in the first place… So it’s quite a dumb argument. I guess it helps punish troublesome criminals more or something? If wearing a bulletproof vest adds a year to your sentence…
Crime shouldn’t really care about what you are wearing, however… At the least pepper spray and tasers should be legal for self-defence. In the mean time my nan carries a pepper shaker in her handbag. As we saw in Melbourne recently however sometimes self-defence can make an attack worse. But the victim should make their own judgement of the situation. Not the government.
By that sort of logic, bank robbers who wear motorcycle helmets to conceal their identity should be prosecuted for wearing a helmet. Perhaps helmets should be banned for aiding an abetting bank robbers.
Ditto baseball bats, brooms, pen knives, in fact anything that can be used for more than one purpose.
If possums are such a plague in NZ, I wonder if we could get revenge on England for the fox and the rabbit by releasing possums into the English wilderness.
Back to Terje’s point, that NZ has a very different attitude to gun control from Australia:
I once heard Inspector Joe Green from NZ Police speak. He is no gun nut, but simply bases his advice to the government on facts and evidence.
These are quite clear – gun control does not reduce crime. In some countries (Australia and Britain included), it has been followed by higher crime levels (although correlation is not causation).
NZ abandoned gun registration decades ago because it was a bureaucratic monster that generated no benefits. It does not ban guns based on their appearance (eg black stocks) or name (eg assault rifle). It regards using a silencer as a sign of a ‘good neighbour’.
In 1996 the Howard government tried quite hard to convince NZ to join its “uniform gun laws”. The Kiwis told them to eff off.
There are some aspects about NZ that I would not want to import, but on the subject of gun control NZ is a beacon of common sense.
It is interesting to note that the NZ article in question turned to an Australian to get the gun-control perspective. NZ also has two libertarian leaning political parties (ACT and Libertarianz) which isn’t bad for a nation with a population smaller than Sydney. If libertarians ever wanted to stake out a homeland they could do a lot worse than New Zealand (in spite of Helen Clarke).
Set up a libertopia in NZ? At least we’d have a better rugby team.
By that sort of logic, bank robbers who wear motorcycle helmets to conceal their identity should be prosecuted for wearing a helmet.
I don’t know if it’s an offense, Brendan, but banks do have signs saying that helmets aren’t allowed in the bank. That might just be store policy, though. They are one step ahead of you.
NZ does sound like a nice place, though.
The main problem with NZ is that the weather is unreliable.
So immigrants from Melbon will feel right at home! We’ll get them to say Goo-day before they can say ‘Buggar!’ Then australia will be greatly improved!
but banks do have signs saying that helmets aren’t allowed in the bank.
Well why don’t they have signs saying guns and bullet resistant vests are not permitted in the bank?