Coming from Australia where there are 1 million licenced firearms owners, dealing with draconian and absurd firearms laws and where both sides of government are anti even licensed legal firearms I find much to relate to in this post. Firearms ownership in Australia is not protected by our constitution, and what rights we once had have been eroded year-on-year since our right-wing party sold us out in 1996 and used a mass shooting tragedy as an opportunity to win the next two elections by banning semi-autos and pump actions to look tough on firearms violence and effectively destroying our legitimate gun/hunting culture.

I post this as a warning to you my American comrades - as this is what happens when gun control runs rampant through politics and news outlets.

1) Without media/political support you will lose your rights
  Our Aussie news outlets are run by only two media empires who are both gun control advocates. Both love sensationalised anti-firearm headlines to the point where politicians are forced to obey their twisted logic or they are labelled "bowing to the evil pro-gun lobby" or "weakening our world-leading firearms laws". It's just happened with politicians agreeing to ban lever-action shotguns because the media ran a massive scare-campaign labelling them "rapid fire". We don't have an NRA equivalent - although licensed shooters are getting more politically active. Our peak bodies are not as powerful or proactive - and even when they release statements the media twists what they say and wheel out victims of our one mass shooting 20 years ago and say "think about the children?"

2) licensed legal firearms used for hunting, pest control and Olympic-grade completion are NOT the same as unlicensed illegal firearms used by criminals.
The distinction in Australia is very important. By law we aren't permitted to own firearms for purposes of self defence - only target shooting and hunting - therefore we don't even refer to them as "weapons" (a weapon being an instrument or device for use in attack or defense against an opponent). I know this probably sound absurd to you in the States.
Stolen guns here are extremely rarely used in actual crimes as was clearly visible in the Australian government statistics. It shows that in Australia, per annum only .06% or (1,600) of all licensed firearms (2,750,000) are stolen. Of this only 0.08% or (12.8 in total annually) of these stolen firearms have been subsequently found, to be used in a crime.

3) gun bans/confiscations created a massive black market and flood of illegal importation.
The gun used in last year's Sydney siege was one of these guns "not handed in". There are millions of them here used in shootings by criminals every week.

"It can't happen here."

"It can't happen here."

Please make sure it DOESN'T happen here! Our shooting sports organisations were caught off guard 20 years ago and now licensed shooters are the most oppressed and discriminated group in Australia.


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Please make sure it DOESN'T happen here! Our shooting sports organisations were caught off guard 20 years ago and now licensed shooters are the most oppressed and discriminated group in Australia.

My use, in quotes, of the catchphrase "It can't happen here" (based upon the title of the 1935 novel by Sinclair Lewis about the rise of a totalitarian fascist state in the U.S.(and much later the Frank Zappa song!))  was meant to shine the light on the fact that in Hawaii I'd guess that upwards of 90% of gun owners (upwards of 99%?) don't seem to have the slightest interest in attempting to influence the politics that have resulted in Hawaii's already draconian firearms civil rights violations. Of course it can happen here. It's has happened here. And is continuing to happen here. Welcome to the banana republic!