|
tina:
Nobody needs an assault weapon, the
only purpose of which is to kill people. Australia banned them after their
mass killing and the ban is working.
"The
Port Arthur massacre remains one of the deadliest shootings worldwide committed
by a single person. Following the spree, the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard,
introduced strict gun
control laws within Australia and
formulated the National
Firearms Programme Implementation Act 1996,
restricting the private ownership of high capacity semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic shotguns and pump-action shotguns as
well as introducing uniform firearms licensing. It was implemented with
bipartisan support by the Commonwealth, states and territories."
My heart goes out to
the folk impacted by this latest event in the US and indeed anyone suffering
anywhere in the world for whatever reason.
Stricted gun laws
here meant all semi-automatic rifles were removed from citizens, the only rifle
left are single shots, bolt actions, break barrels and lever actions.
Military assault rifles of any sort and automatics were never legal in Western
Australia .. ever. Pump action shot guns were restricted to 3 shot (I
think) and semi's were banned -
There was a 'buy
back' where we handed in our guns and they were all destroyed. Didn't
matter if it was a hand tooled silver inlaid $20,000 Italian masterpiece.. they
were all destroyed - except the ones that somehow found themselves illegally
back on the streets after the police destruction, now with no record of
ownership.
Prior to the buyback
there was strict controls on firearm use - any any breach resulted in seizure of
all firearms and a life ban - this could be something as simple as possessing
ammunition for a caliber different to your licensed guns. All shooters
required a firearm license and you passed a test to obtain such a thing.
This included having written permission to shoot on land, and you were only
permitted to possess the firearm and shoot on that land, nowhere
else.
Firearm licenses
cost $8 per 3 years and had to be carried and presented to puchase ammunition
and whenever you were in control of your firearm. Now it's $53 per year,
you need to carry your license, your receipt and a photo ID called a 'license
extract'.
Handguns?
Well, before and after, you're only permitted to shoot at a club - but the
restrictions for handgun capacity remained unchanged, you may still own a
Browning HP semi-auto.. nothign changed. How does this make
sense??
Bryant was an
exceptional case, but who was to blame? the rules of firearm ownership
were very much in place and should have prevented him from legally obtaining the
guns he used - there were two options, blame the shooter, the person who gave
him access and the system failure, or change all the rules for everyone.
Licensed shooters
had to jump through hoops beforehand, they have a few more hoops to jump through
now - but since we were all recompensed for our firearm handins we just went out
and bought new, compliant guns straight away. Yes the firearm ownership
rate has gone down relative to the population, but this is largely as more
people are urban dwellers these days with little justification for a firearm,
they will not be licensed to own one.
How has this changed
things? The handgun shooting rate has increased. Illegally
obttained, black market guns - and a culture of mystery has sprung up around
guns where before they were mere tools. Friends I know who object to
firearms (most have never seen one) argue 'if one life is saved, it's worth
it' .. stairs are the biggest killer of children in the US from what
I read. or, they cite examples of kids accessing handguns resulting
in accidental shootings - this is simply irresponsible parenting, leaving a
firearm unsecured is the same as leaving a bandsaw running in an unlocked garage
with toddlers around.
I personally think
all firearms should have plain wood stocks and be pained lurid pink - this
removes the macho, bravado element.. I mean, what thug brandishes a shapenned
butter knife? They always go out and buy the most intimidating, manly,
serrated back Rambo knife to impress people, not a Hello Kitty kitchen
knife.
However one feels
about firearms, they and the loonies who use them against others pale to
insignificance relative to the main cause of deliberate death in our societies
which lay in the open in front of us, highly paid and respectable - let's talk
about the real killers .. the most chilling of them all, serial killers - By
accepted AMA figures, australia has the highest number of preventable medical
related fatalities in the Western world at around 120,000 per year with
the US rate accepted as 220,000 per year*.. and this isn't just 'oh well, they
were dying anyway' or 'we didn't notice that lump' type "mistakes". This
is 'went to the doctor and was injected with a fatal dose' type
blunders or worse, downright murder. Doing a search some time
back of mass murderers led me to the worst of the worst - these weren't Jack the
Ripper style killers with a half dozen lives taken, these were people who killed
hundreds .. and the world's worst were *all*
doctors and nurses.
I have a list, and
I've been writing to the authorities for years about this.. currently all deaths
are investigated 'in house' by the AMA and by the hospitals themselves.. there
are no medical policing units at all, and few to any successful prosecutions of
doctors - in fact under UK law, a doctor *cannot be prosecuted for
murder* if the person alleged to have been murdered was under there
care or has been examined by that doctor. Someone told me the
situation is akin to what they termed 'fireman syndrome' - that some people
become firemen to be close to the thing that excites and thrills them.
They felt for some murderous types the opportunity to hide in plain site
and kill as a doctors and nurse is too great an opportunity to
pass up, especially the egotistical ones who are even more thrilled to be
granted respect by way of their profession.
(*This is not
counting permanent incapacitation or chronic shortening of life )
the list I compiled
is longer than those below, they are horrific cases, and it chilled me compiling
it. I had no idea where this would lead me and it made me wonder - why isn't
this discussed more openly?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman -
Shipman is the only physician in the history of British medicine ever found
guilty of murdering his patients
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Swango -
as many as 60 fatal poisonings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephan_Letter - former nurse
and serial killer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orville_Lynn_Majors - (nurse) is
believed to have committed as many as 130 (murders)
Daniela Poggiali, killed up to 38 patients because
she found them or their families annoying
Dr John Bodkin Adams - doctor suspected of killing
patients with morphine in order to obtain bequests - Between 1946 and 1956, more
than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances
Roger Dean , nurse, pleaded
guilty to eleven counts of murder over the fire he started at a nursing home in
Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Dyer Amelia Dyer...Nurse One of the most callous mass
murderers ever, murdering infants - possibly 400 , Hanged in
1896.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes Dr. Henry Howard
Holmes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyuki_Ishikawa Japan - estimated
100+ infants.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnfinn_Nesset Convicted of 22 murders, estimated 138 killed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayant_Patel - Patel is linked to at
least 87 deaths
sorry if this has gone off
topic, but it really disturbs me that killers are out there at all, irrespective
of the method they use.
|
