Bob, at 08:47 on May 21 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

BG> What, you agree that it's mad, or you agree with the ban on them?

BL> I agree with banning pump-action shotguns.

Why?  They're not self-loading weapons, and take just as long to chamber a
fresh round as a bolt-action rifle does.  Banning those is fucking mad.

BL> The problem is that a pump action shotgun was used at Hoddle Street
BL> and proved to be effective.

Not as effective as the other gun he used, Bob.  And in his case, he could
have done just as much damage with a single-shot .22 anyway.

BG> For some years now (and I think this applies in Oz as well),
BG> pump shotguns have had their magazines altered so that they can
BG> now only accept 3 cartridges (and the older 5-shot ones had a
BG> dowel put in the mag to do the same thing.

BL> The last I heard, they were selling conversion kits to increase the
BL> capacity from 5 to 8.

That's news to me.

BL> Why are they converting from 5 to 3?

In the US, it was a combination safety thing, and also designed to give
game animals a bit of a chance.  I felt sure that we followed suit, but
could be wrong, as I only read about these things in papers and magazines.

BG> And I for one flatly refuse to sleep here without a weapon
BG> underneath the bed, so that every man and his dog can walk in
BG> and shoot, rob, or rape my family. Fuck that. 

BL> I am sorry you feel so insecure.

So would you, if your neighbour had been murdered by someone who's still at
large, and if you had complete fuckwits driving around firing high-powered
rifles half the night.  Logan is the juvenile crime capital of Australia.

BG> As far as I'm concerned, it is my basic human right to be able
BG> to protect myself and my family from predators, and if I need a
BG> gun for that, so be it. 

BL> Predators are a real worry... I suppose you mean that alien who 
BL> nearly got Arnold Swartzenegger. It was lucky he had an SLR.

Very droll.  And if I remember rightly, it was actually a nuclear explosion
which finally despatched the Predator in the movie of the same name anyway.

Regards, Bill

--- Msgedsq/2 3.20