With the recent federal election delivering a more difficult floor for passing legislation calls for various Royal Commissions has popped up again. Some people think with the cross benches being as they might end up being we'll see pushes for a Royal Commission into the Banking Industry go ahead. Will we? Who knows, but since deregulating the industry the advantages first suggested certainly haven't happened and banks have gone onto to be dominant over its customers.
Another Royal Commission being called for is one into the Port Arthur massacre. The push for this is understandable from some perspectives but others are a little more based amongst wacky "conspiracy theories" type position.
Firstly I don't know what happened there apart from what history has recorded. Some of those pushing for a Royal Commission claim the massacre was a "false flag attack" meaning they claim the "government" organised the entire massacre, was committed by trained people & the convicted shooter was a framed "patsy".
Its a pretty big call but they generally claim how does a left handed person, with no gun training or skill, shooting right handed from the hip and kill & injure so many people, therefore its a false flag attack.
I have copped flak for my view but I think that conspiracy theory has flaws and possible its a dog that won't hunt.
First problem I see is I don't see a problem with the historical explanation of nut doing what was presented to us. He was a deranged psychopath who's prison pysch case worker clearly declared the gun man is a psychopath with problems discerning some parts of reality. With that in mind, I think that such a person would kill and have no feeling of regret or understanding what he'd done and keep shooting so people keep falling down.
The places he fired were crowded. No one was expecting it and it also then means we should look at the ammunition he used. A frangible round kinda spreads as it impacts. They're used for hunting and its what police might used because the idea is the full impact of the round hits the target and is more likely to kill and not pass through easily.
Full metal jackets are projectiles that are not hollow pointed or plastic tipped so they're solid. They can therefore pass through several people easily. At close quarters as people are running for the doors, if the people were ever 2 or more people deep one shot would easily hit several people. Although they'd possibly pass through several people the result is lethal. One round at close quarters could kill 3 or 4 people.
Its a possible reply to the idea he couldn't have done it, wasn't proficient etc.
BUT the False Flag thing is not actually what anyone should primarily be focusing on. What we should be focusing is the point lost by people of all sides and shades on this topic. Firstly, forget the conspiracy theory, suspend your disbelief and trust the position the government held and look solely at that position and the action authorities in the months after the atrocity. A response that failed victims, survivors, their friends, their family members and all of Australia.
A deranged psychopath with no car licence drove his car there on that day, used firearms bought with cash on the black market without any firearms licence and committed the worst mass killing on Australian soil in the 20th century.
The government's hand was forced, they had to respond and they had to respond big and loud. And they did. Misdirected though.
They caused the National Firearms Agreement, they outlawed certain firearms, created an amnesty period and bought back a lot of firearms.
Certain firearms are now outlawed and the only people with them are outlaws, some police and the military.
Perhaps they should have looked at the problem closely and targeted the individual problems.
The buy back had several flaws, it saw many inoperable firearms being handed in for payments that were far greater than repairs and saw people cash in & go buy better firearms. It saw some plumbers to be flat out cutting rifle size lengths of PVC, end cap glued on one end and screw cap the other and sell them. To this day we do not know how many illegal guns were created during the gun buy back.
Some of those firearms were not on a register so were untraceable, some were licenced firearms which were declared lost or stolen and "disappeared".
The other problem was it took firearms off the one group of people who would hand them back, law abiding people. They're the ones least likely to commit a crime. A bit like confiscating the car keys of a non drinker so as to reduce the chances of them drink driving.
The next "other problem" is 2 groups that were missed possibly still are missed. The criminally inclined and the mentally ill. The gunman fell into these groups easily and its that which caused the problem.
Australia spent more than half a billion dollars buying back guns off the Law Abiding Firearms Owners and no extra money was poured into the illegal gun trade or serious mental health.
False Flag Attack or it was what was reported and recorded. Irrelevant as the fact is, the overall worst fact of all is in the aftermath of the worst mass shooting on Australian soil in the 20th century caused a response which failed by not targeting the illegal gun trade and serious mental health. It could have been smart & introduced checks and balances that may have prevent a Port Arthur type tragedy ever happening again.
Now we have a odd arrangement where in Queensland if you're a feral contractor you can get a special permit to own and use a centrefire semi automatic to clear ferals but if that contractor tries to come to WA to fix pigs, dog, donkeys etc from station country from vast pastoral leases they can be arrested and the firearms seized and destroyed. That firearm is legal in Queensland, outlawed in WA.
Mind you if a pastoralist has a legal pistol for work on the station but wants to join a pistol club they cannot use the work pistol. They'd have to buy an identical pistol for the range and ironically never ever use it for work on the station. They break the law if they do.
20 years on and we're still looking at a fractured and ill focused approach to firearms in Australia.
The Adler shotgun is legal in every state, its here. Imported and sold. The originals held 8 rounds, but Tony Abbott's import ban stopped it. The 8 shot was legal to own but couldn't be imported, but a 5 shot could. So some people imported a 5 shot Adler Shotgun and legally converted it to 8 shot. You could convert it to 10 shot legally but its too heavy to carry for long periods in the bush. But wait there's more...you could prior to the Adler schamozzle legally buy an 8 shot lever action 12 gauge firearm in Australia, could do for decades just different brands. The Adler issue became an issue because the importer did youtube videos of torture testing the Adler by firing 5000 rounds as quickly as possible on a gun range to see what would happen. Internet sensation. Followed by import ban. Both the video & the subsequent ban elevated the lever action shot gun to lofty levels of coveting desire. Odd because its not a new or fantastic design. Great for shooting feral pigs when on foot, but in the prone position you have to left the firearm to cycle spent round out and cycle new round in. Not real great for accuracy. The whole stink of the ban may actually have helped sell more of these lever action shotguns than anything. A ban that wasn't needed, wasn't required and made no sense helped sell more guns. Tony Abbott very much followed in John Howard's footsteps.
Bizarre arrangements.
The Adler was not new technology. Its a lever action. They've been around since the 1860s. Rapid fire? Compared to what. Get double barrel shot gun and an Adler and speed test them as many already have. Fire 12 rounds through both, you soon see the double barrel is faster. Point is, faster you shoot the less accurate it becomes. Another point lost. Its not semi automatic, its not high powered but it does suffer the same ill informed governance that was prominent during the Port Arthur legislative response.
Meanwhile Lindt Café, deluded psychopath with no gun licence, with an illegal firearm bought on the black market.
1996 Gun Buy Back Fail.
The tragic 2015 brutal killing of unarmed Sydney police worker Curtis Cheng was another heart breaker. The gunman a radicalised youth, with no gun licence and an illegal firearm bought on the black market.
1996 Gun Buy Back Fail.
Some have suggested (and I'm trying to see if its confirmable) that the pistol used outside the Paramatta Police station was never ever sold in Australia, it was illegally imported.
A smuggled in pistol was legally sold in America.
1996 Gun Buy Back Fail.
Then there's the home made guns.
In June 2014 NSW Police seized 10 illegal guns & 2000 rounds of ammunition.
1996 Gun Buy Back Fail
July 2016 WAPolice seized drugs, a home made gun and 2 other illegal guns in a Mundaring raid.
1996 Gun Buy Back Fail
Meanwhile record numbers of homemade guns are thought to be on Sydney streets & that 10% of all seized firearms and home made guns known as "junk guns" because they're made from scrap. They apparently sold for as little as $100.
1996 Gun Buy Back Fail.
Legal guns are not for self defence in Australia. If you apply for a firearm for self defence you will be denied a licence and a gun. I'd argue little if anyone in this country needs a firearm for self defence BUT I do see how sporting and recreational shooters as well as farmers& pest controllers can feel "disarmed" with the prime if not sole focus being upon legal, lawful, law abiding firearms owners.
I see too how conspiracy theorists are gaining traction, becoming louder and bolder and in some cases gaining support for their theories. It is an issue which is a landscape full of deception, ill focus and therefore poor results.
The current National Firearms Agreement is in a circling pattern until the election is finally done & dusted. It remains to be seen if the determination continues to replace focus. It remains to be seen if it continues to be a case of 1996 Gun Buy Back Fail.
So whether you accept the events of Port Arthur as they're recorded or whether you subscribe to a False Flag Conspiracy Theory the fact is the government response was ill focused and mismanaged & therefore missed the cause of the problem and strangely targeted the people who actually are inclined to follow the law leaving criminals and psychopaths outside the focus.
20 years on, its still out of focus.
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