In the wake of the Sydney double shooting which claimed the lives of two teenage children, there has been a new wave of unnecessary cheerleading for more gun control.
This latest hysteria, led by both the Fairfax and Newscorp commentariat, is arguing for such measures as GP’s to break doctor-patient privilege to inform Police and for ex-partners of prospective licence applicants to have an input as to whether or not to approve a licence.
That last suggestion is bordering on the absolute absurd when you consider the amount of vexatious AVO’s, which does not necessarily need to include an act of physical violence, lodged by bitter ex-partners. While AVO’s currently disqualify someone from obtaining a firearm licence for a period of ten years after the cessation of the order, there is now a suggestion to extend it to a life ban. You can already see the can of worms this opens up.
Even the notoriously the anti-gun Australian Medical Association admits they can’t predict future behaviour of patients:
The current Category H regulations are an overly arduous, up to 12-month process in NSW and realistically more red tape will do nothing, particularly given the ease of obtaining illegal firearms or other means.
The kicker is that NSWFAR admitted that they issued a Commissioner’s Permit even after Edwards was initially denied:
“John Edwards, the man who shot his two children dead last Thursday, was able to pursue his handgun training because he was granted a so-called “Commissioner’s Permit”, overriding red flags raised by his answers on declarations about his background.
It is understood this permit reassured officials at the St Mary’s Indoor Shooting Centre that Edwards could legally undergo handgun training – the first step towards getting a handgun licence and then a permit in NSW – despite his answers on a declaration form raising flags in the system.
“With a history like his, there is no way he ever should have been given the Commissioner’s Permit,” Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MP Robert Borsak said. “Whoever did it, whoever it was who did the double check and the triple check on [Edwards] somehow failed on this occasion.”
Classic deflection by NSWPOL. Now while the blame for this murder rests with the killer and the killer alone, Mick Fuller and his delegated decision maker are also at fault here.
This and the above suggestions being discussed are deflecting from the real problems: domestic violence, issues with the firearm registries and our horrendous family court system. In short, blaming the means is a complete cop-out and purely an opportunistic call for gun control.
The reality is, we have seen horrendous acts of domestic violence against children in recent years, committed via numerous means by both mothers and fathers. There wasn’t the level of outrage over the Cairns incident committed with a kitchen knife.
However, what is most disgraceful about this latest incident, it that it has been used as a platform to attack fathers specifically.
And then this from Sky News:
Complete rubbish.
If you are a law-abiding firearm owner or hunter in Australia, there’s a very good chance that it was your father who introduced you, taught you and raised you to be one. Generations of Australian children have been raised to respect firearms correctly by their fathers and will in turn, pass that tradition on.
The fact that one father used a legally obtained firearm, which was approved by NSW Police, to take the lives of his two children is tragic, but it is absolutely no reason to punish every other father in Australia who owns firearms and has taught his children to use them responsibly.
Collectivist punishment is a very real Australian cultural problem, and this latest attack on fathers for the actions of one father is just another unfortunate extension of that.
Anyone out there calling for vehicles or knives to be taken away from murderous mothers?
To those Australian dads who are law abiding firearm owners, we say thank you and more power to you.
And as for Mick Fuller and NSWPOL, take some responsibility. You can’t cut 30 jobs from NSWFAR, issue a Commissioner’s Permit despite the warnings and then blame everyone else for your stuff up.
It is not only NSWFAR but VICPOL as well