>  BL> Only a Tawswgian would have a plural name.
 >  NP>        ^^^^^^^^^
 >  NP> Isn't it about time you added a spelling checker to that VB
 >  NP> abortion you call an editor :-)

 >> I'm *conomising on e's. Us old p*nsion*rs hav* troubl* making our
 >> k*yboards last. ^

 >  NP> ^ You wast*d o#* !!!!! ^ My # is wor# out from going to the
 >  NP> #ext message si#ce I disco##ected my twitter

 >   I've got a new keyboard and the quality of my replies has improved.
 > In fact, I think I may join another echo. I'm too good for AVT now.

Move into AUST_ Sysop then. You should fit right in :-)


 >> Bloody Vikings. You'd sail 10,000 miles for a root.

 >  NP> At least it's quicker than waiting 23 years

 >   It seems like only yesterday...

Yeah the first sign of brain decay is the telescoping of time :-)

 >     I see you Taswegians have made a claim to fame... a loony who shot
 > 1% of the total sane population of Tasmania. A World record!

It was about 5 % actually.


 >   It looks like you'll also be able to claim the world's most
 > incompetent police force. The only one they saved was the murderer. I
 > saw a fuckwit inspector on TV who said that it was likely charges
 > would be laid. I guess they'll give him an RBT and charge him for
 > ecceeding the speed limit in a school zone.

They have only charged him with one murder so far.  Maybe he was working on
the principle of removing all witness to the first killing?


 >   I'd like to think that your politicians will change your gun laws
 > now, but I don't really hold out any hope. With 35 sane Taswegians
 > dead, there's not that many left.

Well there's none in Parliament anyway :-(


 >   But it could be worse. At least they saved the murderer.

Yeah.  He will claim insanity, be out in a few years, and join the rest of
the looneys in the population.  The public is still at risk from idiots lke
this, and they want me to give them my firearm free of charge!!!

When the break and enters, muggings, sensless destrucion of property,
murders, rapes and the like stop  rising and it is obvius that the police
have got crime under control, then the firearm owners _ may _ consider
another position.

Until then, their firearm is the only protection that they have for their
own and their families lives, because it is obvious that the police can't
protect them.

One person, with a .22 from 100 yards could have dropped him, and saved the
lives of all those who were outside the cafe.  Then the police could have
booked that person for the murder of the looney.
What would have been the public reaction to that scenario?

The toll was so high, because once he started firing,
   NO ONE had the means to stop him.
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
As was shown, reasoned argument and pleas from people for him
to stop gave them no protection from a looney.

If criminals want firearms for crimes, and looneys want them for whatever
reasons then they will get them from somewhere, legally or illegally.

Automatic weapons, cutdown rifles and shotguns, and handguns  have been
ILLEGAL in Tas for the last 40 years but that has  NOT stopped the crims
from obtaining (or making) them.
If I wanted a pistol, I could get one tomorrow as long as I had the money.

I think it is tragedy that it occurred, and feel deeply for those whose
loved ones were killed. but the problem is in the human mind, and not in
the weapon.
                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Until the police can get those who have _no_respect_for_the_law,
incarcerated or dead, thus removing them from the community, the public
will be continually at risk.  And the lenient sentences handed down are no
deterrent to those who have broken the law

It was a known fact that this looney was not licenced to have firearms, but
still had them. The police did NOT enforce the existing law, and with their
numbers being cut once again because of budget allocations, their ability
to enforce existing laws  will be further reduced.

Only those citizens who are _armed_, have _any_ means of protecting their own
lives, the lives of their families, and their property from an armed
criminal bent on disregarding the law, the sanctity of human life, and the
personal rights of others.

Until the law acknowledges that an _armed_ person entering a bank or
business has left his right to life at his point of entry, we will see a
continuing rise in armed holdups until they reach the proportions that
currently exist in other states.

Taking firearms from existing registered owners will only leave the crims
free to ply their trade with less chance that will bump into a stray piece of lead

The issue is a law & order one!  It is NOT a firearm issue.

Niels

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