Enough with the Australian smugness: feeling safe and being safe are not the same thing

Here we go again.

As the tragedy in Las Vegas unfolded, the Australian media broke out with it’s predictably formulaic “guns are bad mmmkay” schtick. The bodies weren’t even cold before the Australian media re-iterated the usual Pavlovian neurolinguistic chorus of blah blah Port Arthur blah blah John Howard blah blah America. Topped off with the usual false claims of “no mass shootings since 1996” and washing over the daily gun and violent crime in our major cities. To script.

Yet as usual with the Port Arthur grave standing, no mention of the firearm at Port Arthur being acquired illegally and allegedly surrendered to Victoria Police in an amnesty a few years prior, or mention of the length of wait for Police assistance or lack of armed opposition to stop the shooting.

Do-Nothing Malcolm Turnbull put out his usual meaningless platitudes and plugged the National Firearms Agreement for the 4 millionth time, from behind the comfort of his tax payer funded armed bodyguards. Whatever Malcolm, just resign already.

And as usual, no mention of the fact that New Zealand hasn’t had a mass shooting in 20 years, yet allows most of the firearms that the United States allows, up to and including full auto on a collector’s permit.

It also appears that the shooter may have been politically motivated which would class it well under the terrorism category. And that you can’t carry in most casinos in Las Vegas.

On the basis of the video evidence available, it appears full auto firearms were used.

For those unfamiliar, Class 3 firearms are available for purchase (if you have the serious cash for a functioning pre-1986 full auto) in Nevada as long as they are registered and comply with the ATF regulations, an overview of what is required can be found here. As you can see, they are heavily regulated.

Conversely, Rick Maddison got his hands on a full auto in Queensland and killed Senior Constable Brett Forte with it. There was nothing to stop him from entering the nearest school, shopping mall or large scale crowd gathering and trying to top the Port Arthur count. Then there was Man Monis, Yacqub Khayre, etc.

Full auto is also readily available on the streets of Australia:

I think we’ve made our point pretty clear on that there is nothing to stop something like this happening again on our shores. Unfortunately, with the security situation in many Western countries declining including events in Canada and France at the weekend, it is more than likely a case of when and not if. And just like those at the Bataclan, we’re sitting ducks.

What hasn’t been talked about that much is the incident at Flinders Street in Melbourne on Grand Final morning. Sure, it may have been a 15 year old kid who didn’t really know what he was doing, but if he was prepared and had waited a couple of hours later outside the MCG then we could’ve had a Las Vegas style body count and Gun Control Australia wouldn’t know which way to turn. That, or if his backpack had actually been full of explosives (which aren’t hard to acquire). We generally don’t advocate charging in to pepper spray armour-clad strangers with backpacks on, but if you can pull it off then so be it.

Whether this will be used to try to ram home firearm restrictions here remains to be seen, our guess is yes as the old “crisis going to waste” mantra applies.

That aside, what really needs to change is the socially engineered Australian smugness that seems to be on display when events like Las Vegas happen. How can Australians really feel so “morally superior” and smug towards the United States on the issue of firearms, not to mention the complete intellectual dishonesty of comparing the two countries in the first place, when we’re charging people for defending their family and property from armed intruders? We’re not even trusted with a pepper spray or gel blasters yet apparently can’t miss an opportunity to beat our chests and stick it up the “septics”.

And then there’s all the freedom sneerers that think government should have all the firearms. Well then, if you approve of the elderly and women being beaten by Police merely for exercising their democratic right in Catalan at the weekend, I guess there’s no argument to be had.

It was also interesting to note that the usual flag filters and #PrayFor hashtags were notably absent from Australian social media, and in it’s place was the usual torrents of vitriol and self-righteous indignation about how bad America is and NRA this, gun laws that. In other words, terrorism deaths in Europe deserve incessant, dopamine-raising virtue signalling, but violent deaths in the US – they deserve it and guns are to blame, stupid Yanks change your gun laws. Right.

While in the case of Las Vegas it would have been a difficult task given the elevation and concealment of the shooter, at least Americans have the option and the access to defend themselves appropriately – they have a chance. We don’t and Australians get killed, injured or charged and have our property confiscated when we do.

Unfortunately, we fear it may take another mass casualty event to red pill more of the Australian populace that still erroneously believes feeling safe and being safe are the same thing.

They aren’t.