The lawlessness continues in Victoria. Here’s a brief snapshot of recent action:
An attempted car jacking in Terang
A service station held up by hammer wielding assailants
A man randomly bashed at a McDonalds
A woman carjacked at gunpoint in Pascoe Vale
A woman forced to hide during a home invasion in Keilor Downs
A Mooroopna man robbed at knifepoint
A teenager stabbed at Laverton train station
A St Albans home invasion at gunpoint by masked men
A home invasion by teenagers in Corio
An autistic teenage boy bashed by Sudanese gang members
And the rest.
Perhaps the most interesting incident was an attempted jewellery store robbery in Brighton that was thwarted by a security guard. That’s right, the thieves ran off because they noticed that they may potentially have to confront armed opposition. But the media tells us that never happens?
Another jewellery store owner has taken matters into his own hands and installed a security device that ejects smoke. The safety and effectiveness merits of which are highly debatable and incredibly expensive.
In response to the increasing pressure on “do nothing” Daniel Andrews, Liberal Party Leader Matthew Guy announced his plan for tackling crime in Victoria:
The general consensus is that the judiciary and the courts are failing Victoria and this is undeniably true. As we’ve said before, mandatory sentencing removing discretion from the judge is potentially legally problematic and the potential stress on prison cells means larger prisons must be (in theory) built. And that means tax increases. Sure, bail absolutely needs reforming. It’s given out way too easily and acts as a disincentive for Police to catch criminals. That, and the promise of free footy tickets for not committing drug offences. Welcome to Daniel Andrews’ glorious socialist utopia!
But where’s the discussion on self-defence?
As we’ve discussed before, this conversation is usually derailed by the emotionally malleable types into screeching about Port Arthur, America (they conveniently leave out the average 500,000 self-defence incidents every year and the home invasions ended abruptly in the home owners favour such as this one) or some other simplistic buzzword to shut down debate. It usually ends up with the same old grandstanding for more Police and “tougher sentences”.
It’s this attitude towards self-defence which needs to change in Australia. The constant deferral to someone else’s responsibility is not productive and frankly, a cop out. Why is the solution to an incompetent, unaccountable and understaffed bureaucracy that frankly doesn’t care, more of the same incompetent, unaccountable and understaffed bureaucracy that frankly doesn’t care? Has anyone asked themselves this?
The current paradigm, both legally and socially, is one of that in an Australian self-defence situation you must improvise against an assailant that has already come looking for a fight. This paradigm is absurd and needs to change.That’s all well and good, until you find yourself emptying your savings on legal fees and borderline bankruptcy just to prove your innocence over a two year period. The process is often the punishment.
An ounce of prevention is better than a dose of cure. It is illogical to vouch that a better outcome for a victim of crime, particularly violent crime, is to wait until well after the fact and hope that a third party can reverse the often life long physical and psychological damage.
As we are continuing to see, the public are fed up and are taking matters in to their own hands, just as we called last year. Truckies, tradies and this gentleman in Narre Warren earlier in the year who was passing out air horns to residents who were fed up with home invasions, all being cases in point. Unfortunately, this noble gentleman may find himself in a grey area of the law which prohibits the use of acoustic devices for said purpose.
Why can’t this be extended further? As a starting point, non-lethal items such as pepper spray and tazers should be made available to the public. Both of these causes have been championed by SFFP MLC Jeff Bourman and community leader Avi Yemini. Castle Doctrine should also be implemented to give home owners the upper hand when it comes to protecting their home and their loved ones. Those who have already passed the background checks, where they are already held to a higher standard than Police, should be allowed to use their firearms for self-defence in the event of a home invasion. When even Police cannot take their firearms home they also fall victim to the same stupid laws which put them at the mercy of criminals they apprehend.
No, this will not result in the fallacious argument of “crims will get more of them”. The fact is, they’re already getting whatever they want with ease and no law you put in front of them will stop this. The constant deferral to the removal of rights for the majority because of a few bad eggs is called collectivist punishment and this is a staple of fascist governments globally. Further, the Victorian government leaking the details of gun owners publically already assures us that crims have no trouble acquiring illegal firearms thanks to the fault of those supposedly protecting us.
The sickening rape of a woman as she left a Melbourne tram outside St Vincent’s Hospital is one of many examples that clearly illustrates why self-defence items are needed. How can Daniel Andrews and those “progressive” leaning types be for “gender equality” when they deny women the means to protect themselves against violent crime? They’re more interested in literal virtue signalling at pedestrian crossings.
Sure, self-defence is not the silver bullet. It is, however, undeniably part of an overall far more effective approach in how best to tackle the issue of violent crime in Australia.
Until Victorians start getting serious about self-defence very little is going to change. A country that does not even allow it’s citizens to own so much as a pepper spray to defend themselves, while it’s political leaders are protected with M4’s and Glock 17’s, can hardly call itself a “progressive” society when self-defence is the most basic of human rights. Incessant screaming for more Police and asking the same useless government to act with the same measures is just a dog chasing it’s own tail.
The first responder to a violent crime is always the victim. Why should they be denied the right of reply?
Regardless of the law, I will use as much force as I have if someone breaks into my place.
It’s pleasing to know there are parties and people out there like Love Australia or Leave, Liberal Democrats, Australia First Party and others who agree with self defense! Thanks for thinking similar Firearms United!
“you must improvise against an assailant that has already come looking for a fight. ”
It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious, in a country where you can’t build a house without a smoke detector and the constant push for fire blankets and fire extinguishers and having a fire escape plan that the whole family knows, in case of fire – the idea that you could and should have a home defence plan, with appropriate tools to defend it, is treated not just as absurd, but as being criminal.