valkyrie wrote:the thing that we all need to realise is that, the police, politicians, and the general public are never going to listen to our reasons for wanting firearms. this is because they have been conditioned to think that anybody who owns guns is a little bit nuts. what we need to do is not go out and start fighting to keep our guns or get more lenient or realistic laws in relation to guns. if we start to push that way they will just push back harder. what we need to do is make the general public see that as gun owners we have nothing but their safety and best interests at heart. my suggestion is that we start with another not much talked about aspect of the australian weapons legislation that will appeal to the vast majority of the public as a totally sane and rational idea. i think that we need to make a push as gun owners to have pepper spray and other non lethal self defense devices legalised so as to better protect the weaker members of society ie, women the disabled and the elderly. the media has been playing dirty for a long time saying that all our guns do is kill people and that by disagreeing with heir points of view we are in some way responsible for the deaths. this has been going on so long that people are now beginning to believe them. we need to beat them at their own game. every time someone makes an argument against these self defense items being legalised, we not only need to refute their argument using the facts that we all know, but we also need to ask them why they want women to be unable to defend themselves against bigger stronger rapists, the elderly against home in invasions and the disabled against assaults. why do they want the weakest members of our society to be defenseless against the strongest. in this way we can start to change the view that everybody these days has of firearms owners, so they think of us not as crazy gun nuts, but as reasonable members of society. this is also the first steps toward us being able to defend ourselves and our families where the police cannot.
How can you say that "what we need to do is not go out and start fighting to keep our guns or get more lenient or realistic laws in relation to guns.", when that is that only thing we, as LAFO's, have not yet tried? How do you know that "if we start to push that way" 'they' will not just fold?
For nineteen years now, we have sat, with our thumbs firmly implanted up our arses and done nothing, while 'they' have restricted us Law Abiding Firearms Owners access to semi-auto rifles, pump/semi-auto shotguns, hand guns greater than .38 cal or less than 250 mm in length and now, in all probability, all lever actions.
And why have we LAFO's assumed this thumb/arse position and allowed these restrictions? Because those treasonous organisations who supposedly represent us have told us that if we pay them ****** loads of money every year, and sit quietly in the corner like good little kiddies and not rock the boat, that, that will prove how wrong 'they' were, and 'they' will give back to us LAFO's what 'they' took away. The NFA started out with 10 points back in '96, it now has well in excess 25 and counting!
"the thing that we all need to realise is that, the police, politicians, and the general public are never going to listen to our reasons for wanting firearms. this is because they have been conditioned to think that anybody who owns guns is a little bit nuts", and who's to blame for this? Well, I'll tell you, the blame for this sits squarely on our, LAFO's, own shoulders. Oh, you say, but our representatives write strongly worded editorials that the media ignore, and we're always writing to this, that and the other pollie, and we've joined this, that and the next political party, started lobby groups (and boy, have there been a lot of those spring up in the last week on Facebook). Well folks, I hate to the bearer of bad news, but it ain't working, we're going backwards, and at an ever increasing rate of knots.
So, I hear you ask with bated breath, what is the solution? There's an old adage that says "Actions speak louder the words", and now is the time we LAFO's stood up, extracted our thumbs and start rocking the boat. Now I'm not saying we need a full blown Eureka Stockade type action (although this could be revisited at a later date), but if a hundred people with placards outside of a Mosque in Caboolture earlier this week can get a 30 second slot on national news, then WTF is wrong with us!
So, do we need another lobby group, in my opinion, no we don't. What we badly need is a proactive protest group. A national group with divisions in all States that can organise permits where needed, provide media statements and well spoken representatives to speak with the media at protests etc, allowing the national body to mount legal challenges against changes to firearms laws at State level, and to challenge the validity of the NFA in court.
Too expensive, you say, well if you think outside of the box, there are solutions to anything to be had.
If your interested, PM me, and if there is enough I'll message back with my ideas for a plan.