Date: Sun, 7 Jul 1996 14:09:56 -0400
From: [r k ba] at [televar.com] (Jeffrey &/or Holly Jennings)
To: Multiple recipients of list <[n--b--n] at [mainstream.net]>
Subject: Aussie marches

The New Gun Week 7-1-96

Thousands of Irate Gunowners March in Melbourne, Australia

Some 67,000 pro-gunAustralians marched in Melbourne, the nation's second
largest city, on June I to protest the draconian new gun laws proposed for that
nation (See Gun Week, June 20, 1996).

Reuters noted the Melbourne rally was one of the biggest rallies the
country has seen since the Vietnam War. "It was a very successful rally. We
have had only a few politicians support us so far, but after the rally we
will have more:' said Morris Tully of the Sporting Shooters Association of
Australia (SSAA). Tully said shooters, who argue the new laws infringe on
civil liberties, also planned political campaigns in state elections
against politicians who supported the laws.

At another gunowners' rally in Adelaide which drew 7,500 marchers on June
2, speakers warned of a ballot box backlash against the tough new laws.
Gunowners carried signs with slogans such as "Punish the criminals! Not
the innocent!" and "I voted Liberal, not now!," referring to the March 2
national election of Howard's conservative Liberal National coalition
government.

Bullets from Ballot Box

"On election day, with the only ammunition that we need, we will deliver
a message in an undeniable, unassailable mannernbullets from the ballot box,"
said Michael Hudson, president of the Combined Shooters and Firearms Council of
South Australia.

"These so-called servants of the people propose that millions of decent,
law-abiding Australians, like you, should be deprived of your lawful property,
your chosen lifestyle, your recreation and sporting activity and your
freedom to choose," Hudson added.
"We must show our elected representatives that they will pay the ultimate
price for their folly," he said.

"We will deliver them a massive blow in the manner that they will only
understand: your vote on election day."

"No, Mr. (Premier Dean) Brown; no, Mr. (Police Minister Stephen) Baker;
no, Mr. Howard. It is you who have the unconditional privilege to serve the
people, not the other way around," he said.
The president of SSAA, Ted Drane, told the crowd shooters had to get
politically active to win their fight against Canberra (i.e. the federal
government).

Only First Step

He warned the proposed controls were just the first step in its plan to
rid the country of guns altogether.
"It's about destroying the right to own firearms in this country. That's
why the SSAA will go broke fighting this fight.
"The next stage will be lever action. The next will be pump action. The
next will be single shot .22s until we've got nothing. If you don't believe
that, then you shouldn't be here today."
Labor's John Quirke told the rally that he was concerned the proposed
buy-back of newly-banned firearms would not include unregistered firearms.
The media also came under fire from speakers as they accused print,
television and radio outlets of trampling on their own code of ethics and the
memory of the victims of the Port Arthur shootings in April.
"The media sullied that memory with an outof-control, frenzied
blitzkrieg," said rally organizer John Downing. "They've told the citizens of
Australia a pack of lies."
Downing also accused Adelaide radio stations of deliberately announcing
the wrong time and venue for the protest.
More radical gun groups have vowed to break the new laws, warning blood
will flow.   Gun organizations plan to challenge the ban in court.

Howard Committed

Nevertheless, following the massive rally Australian Prime Minister John
Howard said that he is committed to stricter gun laws.
Howard said that tougher gun control laws would not guarantee an end to
further shootings.

"That would be ridiculous (to assert). What the laws would do is minimize
the danger to the widespread possession of weapons," Howard said.
Howard said Australian politicians had the opportunity to stop the
country from adopting the gun culture of the United States.
"Its (United States') politicians are intimidated out of doing anything.
I am determined that will not happen in this country and that is why I've taken
the stand I have," Howard said.   The anti-gunners held their own rallies
attended by 20,000 in Melbourne and 5,000 in Sydney. Despite much smaller
turnouts, the antis insist that 95% of Australians support them.
And they were quick to seize on another shooting incident Down Under.
Right before the  huge Melbourne pro-gun rally, a gunman armed with a
pump-action shotgun wounded five people near the tropical city of Darwin,
capital of the Northern Territory.

A 23-year-old man was being questioned in a Darwin hospital after being
shot in the arm and hit with a stun grenade.
Howard wants to ban automatic, semi-automatic and pump-action firearms.

"It is another kick in the bum for them," said John Crook, president of
Gun Control Australia. "It makes another dent in the gun lobby's argument that
licensed shooters are not at fault."
Crook said that of Australia's 26 shooting massacres in the past nine
yearsnwhich have left 130 people dead- 22 were committed by licensed gunowners.

"This is an abysmal record for gunowners. It is not the criminals and
mentally ill that are at fault," he told Reuters.

Well-Coached

Based on his comments, it appears Crook has been well-coached by American
anti-gunners.  Crook, who led the anti-gun rally in Melbourne, said large,
gunowner protests reflected the fact that the gun lobby had substantial
financial resources and could bus people to rallies.   Australia's gun
lobby is nowhere near as big or powerful as the National Rifle Association
in the United States. The SSAA, the nation's largest pro-gun group, boasts
about 50,000 members. Other more aggressive groups, like the Firearm Owners
Association, have a few thousand members.

And it would appear Australia's media also have been taking lessons from
their American counterparts.    An investigation by the Sydney Morning
Herald newspaper said the gun lobby is financially backed by the country's
$39 million firearms industry. Currently, Australian gun laws come under
state jurisdiction and vary widely. There is no official record of the
number of firearms, but gun groups estimate them at around 3.5 million.
Tough New Laws
On May 10, a meeting of Australian police ministers agreed to tough new
gun laws, banning automatic and semi-automatic firearmsn as well as pump
shotguns. The meeting was called by Howard after the April 28 massacre of 35
people in Tasmania.

Only low-powered, semi-auto rifles will be allowed in rural areas if
farmers can prove to police they are necessary to control crop pests, such as
kangaroos.   Australians will be given a 1 2-month amnesty starting on July
I to hand in their firearms.   But Reuters noted that not all of
Australia's six states and two territories freely agreed to the tough new
laws, especially those with big rural constituencies like Queensland and
the Northern Territory. And while state governments have agreed to pass new
laws, the reality may be very
different.    Many rural-based politicians are under pressure not to vote
for the new gun laws, while in New South Wales (NSW) the Shooters Party
holds the
balance of power in the upper House.
The gun lobby claims to have brought down the NSW government over the
issue in a state election in 1988.

Still, as thousands of pro-gunners were marching, Howard urged state
governments to follow through with their commitment for tougher gun laws.

"Some states have already acted . . . I hope the other states (act) as
soon as humanly possible," he said.
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 <(------==(____)---------| Jeffrey L.Jennings M.D.
   |//////_______________|    <[r k ba] at [televar.com]>
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