More Exercise of "Common Sense Gun Control" in Australia

(Or: "First Register, Then Confiscate.")

Ravenwood has been on top of this from the beginning. February 4 of last year he found a story about how one jurisdiction in Australia had decided to perform "surprise weapon safety audits" of registered gun owners. Two days later the government had apparently backed off of the "surprise" part, or so they said.

Then just a year later, No Quarters found a story of how the police of New South Wales Australia had confiscated some 43,000 weapons after "safety inspections", most of which were firearms and they all

were destroyed because police were not satisfied that the firearms were being kept securely, or that "possession of that firearm was necessarily further warranted".

And today Ravenwood found that they're still at it, buoyed, no doubt by their "success" in New South Wales.

Gun check proposal cops a blast

A POLICE plan for door-to-door checks of every gun owner in the state has drawn flak from firearms groups.

But that would never occur here we're told!

Not if we never register so they know which doors to knock on.

The plan is being considered by the Chief Commissioner's office but gun groups believe police numbers are insufficient to cover the estimated 200,000 registered owners in Victoria.

Police said yesterday the focus would be on firearms storage.

You remember that wonderful "common sense" law, "safe storage," don't you? Otherwise known as the ever-shifting, every more restricitive set of bureacratic rules that allows the police to confiscate your property because "police were not satisfied that the firearms were being kept securely"?

"This is a national approach. New South Wales is already in the process of doing an audit and we're proposing to do it as well," spokesman Kevin Loomes said, adding that the details were yet to be finalised.

Of course you are! New South Wales netted over 40,000 weapons! Can't let them get ahead now, can we?

The proposal has been dismissed by some gun groups who say police don't have the numbers to check on every owner.

Dismiss all you want, but watch 'em try! Your heads have been buried in the sand for far too long.

The Combined Firearms Council of Victoria said the survey would tie up police resources.

So? What better expenditure of resources is there than to use police manpower to take firearms away from registered law-abiding gun owners? It's common SENSE!

"The cost of the program will come out of the police budget and therefore general policing resources," the council said.

"The rationale for the audit is unclear given that the firearms registration database has been going though a clean-up over the past few years with the full co-operation of licensed shooters.

The rationale is the same one expounded by the gun confiscation proponents here: TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF GUNS IN CIRCULATION. There need be no other rationale. That's the whole purpose behind "gun control" laws, though you will not get a member of the Brady Campaign to admit this publicly.

"There are about 200,000 licensed shooters in Victoria. If this results in the police spending, say, two hours on each audit, that is 400,000 police hours on clerical duties that are no longer spent on general community policing.

Yes, but after the first pass that 200,000 number will be significantly reduced, don't you see?

"That's more than 50,000 police days."

So what if the police are distracted from the job of preventing crime and apprehending criminals. DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO DISARM THE LAW-ABIDING??

Under the Firearms Act it is an offence not to properly store weapons.

"Common sense!"

Owners who breach the Act risk not only losing their firearms licence, but also having their weapons seized.

As gun owners in New South Wales found out to their dismay. With essentially zero recourse, too, I'm sure.

Cases of inappropriate storage to have come before the Firearms Appeals Committee include owners who left their guns on the back seats of cars.

Two involved security guards. One left his handgun on a toilet, and the other left his weapon on a car roof.

We've had FBI agents leave fully-auto weapons in vehicles, and Secret Service agents leave handguns in public bathrooms. The Federal Government has lost 824 firearms (that they admit to). Are we going to disarm those agencies? Do they get all their guns taken away? Or what about Australian Robert George Wilton, who had $3,000 worth of rifles confiscated and destroyed, was fined $300 and charged $190 in court costs BECAUSE HE LEFT THE KEY TO HIS SAFE ON A KEY RACK?? That's the kind of "safe storage" violation they're looking for. Anything at all, and your collection is GONE.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: I WILL NOT license. I WILL NOT register. Ever.

Edited to add:

Canada has discovered that the $1 billion-plus they've spent on their long-gun licensing and registration system has been useless at its purported aim - taking guns away from criminals. A known violent felon, who was also known to be armed - known by the police to be armed - has shot and killed four Mounties there. Sarah at Carnaby Fudge has the whole story.

Now, normally the way this works is registration & licensing is sold as a crime prevention measure. Then after everyone is licensed and registered, something horrible happens, and this is used as an excuse to take some guns away from the people who didn't do it, because it makes everyone else feel better. Lather, rinse, and repeat until pretty much no one owns anything - legally.

Hopefully the Canadians have more sense than that, but somehow I doubt it.