Not all Aussies share your irrational fear of firearms nor are they completely banned in Australia.
Who said I had an irrational fear of firearms? I am not scared of guns. I have fired pistols, rifles, shotguns in Texas. But when I see pawn brokers selling guns and even guns being sold privately at garage sales, and when I visit a friend in Hutto who has is lounge room wall plastered with dozens of guns (no burglar alarm), and when I had a friend get a pistol put to his head to get his wallet at the ATM in Houston, it made me think something is not quite right. According to you, I was just being irrational with such a thought.
I don't think you get it. If you have 22 million guns lurking among 25 million people, there is a higher probability of some ending up in the wrong hands and a higher probability of young children in a primary school getting their heads blown off, compared to a society with far fewer guns. In any case, you have to mitigate risk and to do that you need tough gun laws, enforcing strict laws of containment, and mandatory training, AND that includes reducing the sheer number of firearms.
One of the problems in the US, Wayne LaPierre and his NRA are a very powerful lobby. Take away their guns and you are branded an enemy of freedom and the Second Amendment and you will lose the next election. Similarly, with the super rich lobby, make them pay their fair share of taxes and you are branded a communist and you lose the next election. Hence why these problems have not been fixed.
I question whether this dick head even knows what freedom is... https://www.nranews.com/series/freedoms-safest-place/video/freedoms-safest-place-my-freedom/list/freedoms-safest-place. Freedom is not living in fear of getting shot. I would like to hear the NRA's excuse for this... http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/australian-athlete-shot-bored-oklahoma-teens-felled-single-bullet-autopsy-article-1.1438202
he certianly does know what freedom is, and I would refer you to our Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
On the one hand you say you are not afraid of guns, most of this post shows that you in face are. Furthermore, you wouldn't like it if I was to start running down your culture, even if I had only visited there.
I do agree iwth one thing;
There is a problem with only 22 million guns in Texas, there isn't enough for every person to have a pistol and a long rifle. Every person in this country should be required to pass a gun safety course by the time they reach the eighth grade. So yes from my point of view We have some issues here and I have stated them.
As for freedom, I don't think you understand what freedom is;
Freedom is being able to go about your business and take responsibility for any negative side effects of your actions. Damage to a person's property life or reputation. Freedom also means you are left alone, you don't have the government up your backside playing Nanny, and henpecking you at every turn.
When Seconds Count,
the Police are Minutes Away,
Take Charge of your own safety.
Sue,the problem is,that anybody can buy a gun without
any training & some don't seem to understand the possibilities of accidental injury.
We will never convince you or other people of the same opinion,that guns need to be reduced in number,but the next best thing is what you suggested & I quote
:" Every person in this country should be required to pass a gun safety course by the time they reach the eighth grade."OK,this won't stop loonies from using a gun to kill people for fun,or others in a fit of anger,shooting someone,but if it hopefully instils a profound respect for the capabilities of such weapons,& the necessity of safety procedures in the majority of those trained,it may go a long way towards reducing accidental shootings.
Maybe those people who seem to treat firearms as "toys" might learn enough to cease doing so,though I doubt it.
We have those in Australia,too,though not in the numbers there used to be-----you would see roadsigns full of bulletholes,& the halfwits would shoot across farmers paddocks,not thinking about the farmer's sheep,or even the farmer himself & his family.
Back in the '60s the laws were changed,so that you needed to get the permission of a landowner to shoot on his property---& you could only shoot on the properties that you obtained such permission for.
When I was a kid,rifles & shotguns were mostly for shooting at things you could eat,& sometimes vermin.
Country people used them for those purposes,& not to shoot at "bad guys".
A few City idiots used them as "toys",as mentioned above.
Even the Cops weren't customarily armed in my State until the 1980s,although the Armoured Car guys who picked up & delivered to the Banks were.
The "freedom" thing-----well we feel free,we can go anywhere,& pretty much do what we like in Australia,but we
can't have unlicenced guns,drive without a licence, or drive an unlicenced vehicle on the public roads,& a few other things.
The gun licencing issue is the only major drama,& we mostly don't see it as any great infringement on our liberties.
As a Revolutionary Nation,you have certain historical baggage that we as an Evolutionary Nation do not have.
Someone pointed out earlier, some of
our "baggage",like the Queen,her birthday,etc.