I found this letter from an Aussie that he wrote tonight (January 25th down under) and posted on a survival forum. It is just a good first hand account of those that have to live under gun control. I'll let the piece speak for itself. Its long but well worth the read.
Sunday January 25 2009
Letter Re: The Sad State of Private Firearms Ownership in Australia
Jim:
I'm a SurvivalBlog reader in Australia. I want to describe the current situation for Australian gun owners, but first a bit of background information is needed to compare then and now: I grew up in Australia in the 1960s. My parents came here in the 1950s from a war torn Europe to have a better life here in a climate away from the cold and starving masses in Europe after the war, the so called “gun culture” in Australia was very free then, you could go on public transport with a 22 rifle tucked under your arm after a days shooting on the range or from shooting rabbits on many small acres dotted around the big cities, no one accosted you or thought anything about it, people chatted to you and asked how the says hunt went.
Driving through country areas was an experience! lot’s of people had gun racks in their back window of their pick-ups, and it was common to go out and bag 50 or 60 rabbits in a young boys lazy afternoon.
I grew up being the proud owner of a Remington 22 pump action at 13, and have owned many guns over the years, to have a license then was a mere formality and paying a small fee, up till 1998 in Australia you could legally own pump actions, semi autos and lever guns of all types, AR-15s and FN-FALs were very common along with AK copies, SKSes, etc.
That has all gone and an entire era has disappeared. Today in Australia, you pay a fee of AUS$200 for three years, then pay a another $30 to transfer a firearm to your name before you buy one you like, the ammo must be stored away from the gun and you must have a approved steel safe suitably bolted to a brick or concrete floor/wall, now you must have the police inspect your beloved new toy and of course its registered!, also you must have the ammunition pertaining only to the guns you have in your safe, heaven help you if its different from your guns.
The Police have the authority to randomly inspect your car while out on a hunting trip and often can and do searches of your vehicle to or from a hunting area, needless to say semi-autos are verboten! And our own version of Handgun Control, Inc (Yes we have those fools here too !) constantly screech about the “gun culture” in the US, (I lived in the USA for several years and thoroughly enjoyed my time there and most enjoyed the freedom to carry a handgun there. And I understand if it was not for the American servicemen we would be speaking Japanese, that must always be remembered ).
Australia is not what it once was, now it’s a benign dictatorship. (Those are harsh words but true never the less ) Both the main parties support the strict system we have, in truth real freedom to possess firearms for self defense purposes has never occurred,. The Police here have all the best equipment, the unlimited budgets and power and backing of the state, there really isn’t much difference between the thugs of Nazi Germany and now. Did you know Australia has one of the highest rates of home invasion in the western world ? (It ranks about 5th or 6th )
Now the precursor for all the anti-gun push was supposedly a man called Martin Bryant who many claim shot and killed 35 people.
"No action can really be understood apart from motive which prompted it." Arthur Schopenhauer. 1851.
For the record, Martin Bryant never had a trial by jury, he received a pre-sentencing hearing and all files pertaining to his case have been locked up under an act of secrecy for 30+ years. Now I ask are they the actions of open and honest Government? Jim, in my mind there is no question that this was deliberately foisted on the Australian people to facilitate disarmament, Australia today is a poorer place, both morally, spiritually and physically. To own a rifle today will set you back quite a large sum of money and the costs are onerous, for example to buy common 22 [rimfire] ammunition will set you back AUS$700 for 5,000 rounds! and the costs keep going up (never down ) woe to you if you shoot and intruder in your home, all the onus is on you to prove your innocence, in all probability you will lose all you own to get a win in the courts.
I subscribe to what the US Constitution stated. The Founding Fathers envisioned a peaceful country without foreign involvement or even a standing army, so the Constitution states that appropriations for the army can't exceed two years (Article I, Section 8). Alas, our Constitution has been ineffective in curbing the war racket. Unfortunately, the US seems to be heading toward monarchy. No standing armies for Australia or the USA…….my country is involved in two wars now, Australia has no place in Iraq or Afghanistan, period end of story! I will protect my family, my wife, my children, but not foreign interests or oil politics. To that end I prepare my family
By the way I want to state as a born again fundamentalist Christian, I see firearms as a God given right and most definitely not a “sport”. Since when is owning a gun [to defend life and liberty] a sport? If it’s a sport it can be legalized away (which is exactly what has happened in this country), there were over 1 million firearms owners in this country, but you know something? no one voted the lying self serving politicians out over the issue!
On a final note, I would have to say that if there is in the US about 360,000 people in the survivalist movement, over here the number can be counted in as few as 20,000, a tiny number, even fewer in the Christian circles I travel in , I find that saddening as most Christians here as anti gun and handgun inc, we are marching to abyss , but I for one wont go down without doing my bit to prepare my family for what’s ahead. Regards - Alan C.