A study has found Australians now own as many guns as they did at the time of the Port Arthur shootings in 1996.

More than 1 million guns were destroyed in the aftermath of the massacre, but research shows Australians have restocked over the past 10 years, importing more than 1 million firearms.

Despite that, the number of gun-related deaths has halved since the gun buyback.

The University of Sydney study's findings will be used by the gun control task force set up by United States vice-president Joe Biden in the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre.

Public health researcher Philip Alpers, who will be presenting the study at a summit, told ABC News 24 the task force has asked to learn about the Australian experience.

"Remember there were several massacres in Australia, Port Arthur wasn't the only one, and during the period that people were thinking about those massacres a total of a million guns were surrendered," he said.

"What's happened since then is that gun imports spiked while people replaced them, and then crashed again for several years and they were way down at lower levels.

"But then gradually for the past 10 years they've been creeping up again and Australia has now replaced that million guns."

Professor Alpers says the guns that have been imported are not the semi-automatics that were banned after Port Arthur.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-14/australians-own-as-many-guns-as-in-1996/4463150

 

‘Are the President’s kids more important than yours?’’ the ad asks. ‘‘Then why is he sceptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school?
‘‘Mr Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he is just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security.’’
Soon after the ad began airing on Wednesday the White House spokesman described it as ‘‘repugnant and cowardly’’.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/nra-puts-obama-children-in-firing-line-20130117-2curb.html#ixzz2IDeszFgf

 

WHO would believe that the US Government orchestrated the Sandy Hook massacre?

And who would believe they did it just to ease the way for Barack Obama's new gun laws?

A US professor, among many others.

Many completely sane people believe in all sorts of conspiracy theories, and the ‘Sandy Hook Hoax' is just the latest. This is how the story goes: The entire massacre, in which 20 children and six adults were killed, was a set up by the government.

Some people believe it never happened at all, that the whole thing was a hoax.

http://www.news.com.au/world/sandy-hook-massacre-was-a-
By paying attention to such crap, and making a feature out of it, the merde-och press shows it has no journalistic credibility... Those people are INSANE!!!... full stop. This does not stop the fact that Barack Obama has the blood of 127 children — killed by drone strikes — on his hands... fact aside...

On gun control, courage in short supply

By Dana Milbank, Thursday, April 18, 10:19 AM

The gun bill was going down, but Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who reached a compromise to try to save it, went to the Senate floor Wednesday morning to give it one more try.

In an unorthodox tactic, he appealed directly to the woman taking her turn in the presiding officer’s chair, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), one of the few remaining undeclared lawmakers.

“I think there is a time in our life, a defining time in public service,” he said, “when you know the facts are on your side and walk into the lion’s den.” Manchin, usually plain-spoken, was emotional and personal, making several references to Heitkamp and her state. “Even if politics are risky,” he said, “remember the words of Andrew Jackson: ‘The brave man inattentive to his duty is worth little more to his country than the coward who deserts in the hour of danger.’ ”

The newly elected Heitkamp turned to face Manchin and listened intently to his plea. Minutes later, her office issued a written statement saying she didn’t “see a path” to support Manchin’s proposal.

Courage was in short supply at the Capitol on Wednesday. The overwhelming majority of Americans favor the sort of background checks that Manchin and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) had proposed to keep weapons from the felonious and the insane. A majority of senators supported it, too. But too many cowered in the face of fierce opposition from the National Rifle Association.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-on-gun-control-courage-in-short-supply/2013/04/17/d1dee8c2-a7ae-11e2-a8e2-5b98cb59187f_print.html

President Donald Trump has told the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) he is pulling the United States out of an international arms treaty signed in 2013 by then-president Barack Obama that was opposed by the NRA and other conservative groups.

Key points:

• Mr Trump says the United Nations will soon receive formal notice of the withdrawal
• The treaty regulates the $US70 billion business in conventional arms and seeks to keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers
• The treaty covers weapons exports but not domestic sales, however the NRA still argues it will undermine domestic gun rights

 

Mr Trump told members of the gun lobby at an annual meeting he intends to revoke the status of the United States as a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty, which was never ratified by the US Senate.

"We're taking our signature back," Mr Trump said to thousands of cheering attendees, many wearing red hats emblazoned with the Republican president's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

On Twitter, Mr Trump called the decision a defence of "American sovereignty".

In reversing the US position on the pact, he wrote, "We will never allow foreign bureaucrats to trample on your Second Amendment freedoms".

The NRA has long opposed the treaty, which regulates the $US70 billion business in conventional arms and seeks to keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers.

 

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-27/donald-trump-tells-nra-hes-withdr...

 

Read from top.