Guns

G'Day,
Yesterday morning I awoke to the news of the Louisiana shootings. I was horrified and saddened by what I heard, I know that things like that can happen anywhere i.e, Port Arthur in Tasmania. My deepest sympathy goes out to the friends and relatives of the victims and of course the shooter as well. Their families must be going through hell at the moment.
Gun laws in Australia were already in place before the Port Arthur massacre here but were tightened more after it. Yes I've heard all the arguments for and against guns and I am strongly on the anti gun side, always have been. Guns are a machine designed to kill. Thou shall not kill. I won't let them in my house or property. I'm angry that they were invented at all. ( yes I know thats irrational, this is an emotive subject) Especially when things like this happen and prove my point. Are people so worried about being politically correct that they can't see that having guns around can lead to things like this happening.
The massacre shows a sad side of society because it was carried out by a person who was obviously mentally ill and slipped through the cracks of the health system when there should have been help available which may have been able to prevent such a tragedy. It is also a reflection of how we choose to treat each other and possibly the result of bastardization of a sick individual, the shooter. There are and always have been people who don't fit our ideals within society and its so easy to turn away and not want to be involved with someone like that, but maybe a kind word and a bit of friendship might have made all the difference to the outcome.
Guns of course still are available here to anybody who wants to buy them illegally and has money. Other wise you have to have a license. They can be used by primary producers, and for sport and if kept for display or collection purposes must be disabled. A lot of people objected and still do about their right to have a weapon for protection but I reckon it is far too easy in a moment of anger to go and get it and use it and be sorry later. Once the damage has been done it can't be undone and if the gun wasn't there it wouldn't have happened in the first place.
O.K. get off the soap box Lindy.
Funny story. We had a neighbor when the kids were in early high school who used to sit on his front veranda and watch the neighborhood so he could go down the street and talk about everybody. He really wasn't a nice person. My boys got hold of a half box of bungers. (Loud & noisy fire crackers) One of their friends had bought them back from Canberra where they are legal, they aren't in this state. My eldest son lit one of them in the driveway of our house and it made a great noise so being his age they all thought it was hilarious and let off another one. I went out the front and confiscated the rest of the bungers and put them away. About 20 minutes later 2 police cars pulled up outside my house ( they had to come from Wagga) with a tactical response group inside and they rushed to the front door with their hands on their guns to a very bewildered mum. The neighbor had rung them and told them that they had seen my son running around the front yard with a rifle shooting. They came here expecting to find murder and mayhem. The boys were severely lectured and chastised which is of course nothing more than they deserved. Peter came out of the bedroom where he was asleep and said" Hey Lin what are the two police cars doing....Oh what's wrong officer?" Very embarrassing. My younger son was made to give them the rest of the bungers and therefore lost the money he had saved for quite a while to buy them. Also no more than he deserved. The neighbor? Well, he was one of those responsible members of the local gun club who had a license to have a gun. I heard he was down the street a while later laughing and bragging to some people that he had been having an argument at he gun club with someone and they shot each others cars up. Yep! very nice man and a responsible gun owner. He came in to work a few times afterwards as a patient and I could not be friendly to him even when he tried to be towards me. I did all of the duties for him that were required of me and walked away. He moved away after a family break up I don't know where they are now. Good riddance I reckon.
Well, that's my thoughts on guns and again my sympathies to anyone connected to the Louisiana massacre.
Bye Love Linda.