I’ve been thinking about something and want to check an assumption I have. I only hear directly from other people in the USA, and interract with the global community through memes. How are the gun regulations/laws different from yours in terms of strictness, and do you wish there was more or less where you live?
Not looking for a debate here, discuss cold drinks vs hot drinks instead. Appreciate either answer. ❤️
Edit: Thanks for the answers all. I’m super proud how productive eveyone kept this talk. I figured most of you had very different experiences than I. I’ll share my most recent experience. I don’t have a firearm, but have considered it after being trained enough. When sharing this with “normal” people around town, I had multiple people offer to sell or gift me a gun where the serial number was scratched off and non-traceable. I ofter heard, “oh man, yeah. You need a gun.” I have literally never needed one. The fact that people offer to give me one when I don’t have a liscence or training shows the mindset of the minority here and how much of a problem a few individuals can make to safety within the current system.
Some points on what our policies look like today, in the aftermath of Port Arthur.
Owning a gun is still possible, and actually surprisingly easy, if you have a legitimate reason. There are a number of legitimate reasons, including being a hobby target shooter or hunter. Self defence is, of course, not a legitimate reason, since owning a gun actually greatly increases the chance of you or one of your loved ones being killed—far more than the chance of you using that gun successfully in self defence.
The gun most be stored securely when not in use, including ammo being kept separate from the weapon.
Only if you’re a member of an accredited gun club (even then, short arms must be kept under lock and key at the club, unless you’re transporting it to a competition shoot).
The other valid reasons are hunting on Crown land (eg. deer hunting) or a rural property (eg. farmers can obtain them for keeping vermin under control) or for your job (eg. armed security guard). In Victoria, at least. Can’t speak for other states or territories.
I wouldn’t call it “surprisingly” easy to own a gun. It’s easy enough to present a valid reason for a licence under current regs (hunting on Crown land is the easiest), but it’s decidedly less easy to obtain the firearm itself.
I meant “surprisingly” in the context of how famous Australia is for our strict gun control laws. When Americans are always upholding us as either a tyrannical horror where nobody has any freedom because of the lack of guns, or a gun-free utopia where the only thing to be afraid of is the wildlife, it can be surprising to them to learn just how easy it is in practice.
Ah, gotcha. Yeah - absolutely see your point there.