Bob, at 07:53 on May 18 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

BG> I didn't hear anything about b/a military rifles, but was
BG> actually commenting on the ridiculous banning of pump shotguns.
BG> They've gone too far this time. 

BL> I think I agree with them, although I've never used a pump shotgun.

What, you agree that it's mad, or you agree with the ban on them?  If the
latter, it's completely fucking insane to ban 3-shot pump shotguns.

BL> The idea is to ban all weapons that a non-skilled loony cna use to do
BL> great damage to people in an urban situation. The pump shotgun fits
BL> that profile, doesn't it? 

Nope.  At 100m, a shotgun is next to useless, but at the same distance, a
7.62mm SLR is just sighting itself in.  There's a fucking HUGE difference.

BL> Its only good point is that it is limited to 5 shots (8 with special 
BL> magazines), and slow to load.

For some years now (and I think this applies in Oz as well), pump shotguns
have had their magazines altered so that they can now only accept 3
cartridges (and the older 5-shot ones had a dowel put in the mag to do the
same thing.  They take about the same time to pump as a b/a takes to
chamber a new round, but they're much slower when it comes to actually
reloading the magazine.

BG> In fact, that $500m would be put to much better use hunting
BG> down and disarming violent crims, not persecuting honest citizens.

BL> Did you see your "honest citizens" in the Queensland
"Gun Owners
BL> Association" last night? The ones who were willing to lead the
BL> revolution against the communist homosexual plot to disarm us? Some of
BL> those are going to do time, Bill.

Yeah, it was such a massive footshot that I'm beginning to wonder if that
fuckwit wasn't an anti-gun lobby plant.  I'm absolutely convinced that the
so-called "death threats" which Borbidge, Sheldon, et al have
received have been made by anti-gun types in order to discredit the pro-gun
lobby.

BG> Christ almighty, if the wankers in Canberra pulled their
BG> fingers out and did that instead, I'd actually welcome a 0.2%
BG> increase in the medicare levy, even if it was permanent. It'd
BG> be cheap insurance at twice the price. 

BL> It *already* costs Australia $5 billion a year to control crime, and
BL> that's $1,000 a year for each family. Another $500M is not going to
BL> have any impact.

It is when it ain't gunna work, Bob.  Do you honestly believe that even ONE
single crim is going to voluntarily surrender his firearm?  And I for one
flatly refuse to sleep here without a weapon underneath the bed, so that
every man and his dog can walk in and shoot, rob, or rape my family.  Fuck
that.

BL> This has gone miles past the idea of SLRs now, and the gun loonies
BL> are the ones driving it. We, the People, see it as a chance to disarm
BL> these loonies permanently, and return Australia to where it was 30
BL> years ago when a gun-culture was unthinkable and the only ones with
BL> guns were genuine sharpshooters.

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

Regards, Bill

--- Msgedsq/2 3.20