Perth / Western Australia

I'd ask you to tell me what is wrong with the CURRENT gun laws, because it sounds like you don't actually understand them, but "guns are bad".

Guns are bad when combined with populated areas. Out in the bush in the middle of nowhere? I'm pretty relaxed about guns. I want to be protected as much as possible from the crazy stuff that happens in the USA. I realise that even with existing gun control laws that you can get incidents like the guy with a knife in Sydney in April. Think about how bad that day could have been if he had access to guns, though.

So to answer your question specifically: I was both surprised and disheartened when I learned that guy who killed two women had pistols at home, legally. Had he gone to his local Westfield armed with a backpack of his pistols and ammo, he could have killed dozens of people. Which is horrifying.

This change in the law doesn't even prevent that scenario. I am ok with rifles at home, but not hand guns. It's a bit hard to sneak up on a crowd and shoot half a dozen of them before someone overpowers you if you have a rifle and need to keep reloading. It'd be a different story if you are carrying a couple of pistols.

your perspective of the danger firearms pose in the community is ludicrously overblown.

It probably isn't, but that also isn't the point. I simply know of no reason why anyone needs a handgun at home. "I just like guns" is not reason enough to me to offset the risk of them being in the suburbs. It isn't even just about the worry that the owner will snap and shoot people, going by US numbers, they're statistically more likely to kill themselves with their guns.

Yes, cars kill more people than guns. I see reasons why people need cars, though. So I've never bought into that comparison.

Let's go in the opposite direction and pick something ludicrous: You aren't allowed to collect canisters of toxic gas - I actually think that's a more appropriate comparison. Nobody needs to collect cans of mustard gas, even historic artillery shells of mustard gas from WW1. In the same sense, nobody needs to collect handguns. Both are more likely to kill their owners than anyone else. Both have no business being anywhere near people.

He was a law abiding citizen until the afternoon he wasn’t

Nice way to think of your common man.

I'm not sure what your point is. I said this in response to the whole "gun owners are law abiding citizens" argument that is always bandied about. I'm not arguing against this point. I'm not even arguing against anyone I know who is licensed to be a gun owner. They're all law abiding also. I'm arguing more about the risk that firearms pose to the community in general. Unlike cars, that risk is totally unnecessary.

Yes. Shootings are very rare in Australia. I like it that way. I want to keep it that way. I would love for them to be all but impossible.

So that's my position. I'm fine with the existing license process. I'm fine with rifles in safes if you need them. I'm not ok with anything automatic or semi-automatic. I'm not ok with handguns at home. I realise my position is more extreme than the law. I clearly don't make laws. 😃

So, back to my question: what about the new law is bad? Or even the SA laws, what's wrong with them? I only hear in the media that gun owners don't like the laws. But I never hear what specifically they don't like.