Response to Australian "outcry" on American gun Violence

The following is something I wrote into "THE ADVERTISER" recently as a response to all the nagative opinions and lecturing opinions being posted in the paper regarding American gun culture.

Needless to say this was not printed.  Therefore it will be my first post here on my own outlet...


There is a saying I truly believe in which states:  "Those who give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin.  Please ponder this before standing back up on that soap box and telling Americans what to do about their firearm laws.

I wonder how many people standing up on the soap box have ever even been to America; let alone understand it's culture.  The issue of firearm control is a very complicated issue; deeply rooted in many aspects of our culture.  It is not just about rednecks wanting to keep their guns.  Furthermore, it is also not entirely about gun rights and the second amendment.  The whole issue transcends many different aspects of America's culture, law, founding principles and origins.  It is about Liberty, freedom, individual rights vs State Rights and more.

Having lived in Australia for over 4 years I understand how much of a nanny state Australia is.  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy living here.  However it seems to me that Australians have given up many rights and personal freedoms.  As an avid sportsman having owned firearms, I have given up on pursuing similar hobbies here.  It seems entirely too prohibitive and too much hassle to engage in anything related to firearm activities.  To expect the same of America which has an entirely different culture, background, and origin story is ignorant at best and arrogant at worst.

I bet the majority of Australians do not know or fully comprehend our fight for Independence from Britain. How many understand the philosophies behind our beginning?  How many Australians have read "The Federalist" - a series of papers by some of our Founding Fathers outlining these basic concepts?

  I imagine that if you asked most Australians what the American Civil War was about they would say "slavery." They would not understand that the Civil War was about Federal vs State Rights, government vs personal freedoms - that at the root it was as much to do with economic and cultural differences between North and South as anything.  Slavery was just a catalyst.

The issue for many Americans is at what point do you allow Government control to supersede individual rights.  Once you start down the slippery slope of giving up your freedom's, it becomes easier and easier to give more freedom away.   I would not expect most Australians to understand this. It's already been proven that you will allow your government far more control over yourselves than most Americans would allow.

Are you aware that by comparing the Australian Statistics for Violent Crime to the FBI's National Crime Statistics Report you'll discover Australia has a HIGHER Violent Crime Rate, per capita, than the United States.  Sure, you don't shoot each other as often, but violence is still very much a part of your society. Your gun ban has not solved your violence problem, only morphed the issue away from gun crime to other forms - such as the  guy who got beat to death by three young punks recently.  Some would say that is far more aggressive, brutal, and heinous than shooting someone.

 I know many would argue that if giving up guns saved one life, that would be enough.  Problem is that is really just a false sense of security, isnt it?  My belief is that at some point, once a society has given up a certain amount of its freedom, that society is no longer worth belonging to.