A more civilized society

36_Around Oz_11_12.qxd 05.10.12 14:26 Seite 36
PETER FLYNN | Around Oz
A more civilized society
I
n a year when various mass shootings around the world have again
made the headlines, Australians are
a little puzzled as to why gun violence
was a taboo subject in the American
presidential election campaign. Yes,
we know it’s the political power of the
National Rifle Association (NRA)
and the constitutional “right to bear
arms”, but the silence seems to be at
odds with America’s own view of itself as the most civilized nation on
the planet.
Between this election and the
next, in 2016, some 45,000 Americans will have been shot dead in their
own country. That’s almost as many
as were killed fighting in Vietnam.
Michael Bloomberg, mayor of
New York City, was the only prominent political figure to challenge both
President Obama and his opponent,
Mitt Romney, to confront two simple
words: “gun control”. Neither candidate reacted.
Fifteen years ago in Australia, the
buy-back programme for guns came
to an end. It had lasted a whole year.
In an initiative overwhelmingly supported by the community, our government bought and destroyed more
than 600,000 weapons.
This programme was the result of
Australia’s worst mass shooting, in
Port Arthur, Tasmania, in April 1996.
Martin Bryant, a thin 29-year-old
with long, blonde hair, ran into a cafe
at the historic tourist site, shot 20
people dead there and then another
15 as he was driving away. To this
day, he has been held in a secure institution. We still don’t know his motivation for the crime, though.
What we do know is that, in
1996, Tasmania was the only state in
the country where he could have pur36
Spotlight 11|12
chased the automatic assault weapons
(though he says he got them illegally)
to commit the atrocities. We also
know that since the gun buy-back
and since automatic assault weapons
have been outlawed, there has not
been another mass shooting in
Australia.
Yes, the bad guys keep shooting
one another in underworld and bikie
wars (see Spotlight 4/11) with unregistered and illegally obtained
weapons. These are the sort of shootings that the NRA uses to discredit
Australia’s gun-control programme.
Guns and rifles are not prohibited
altogether. Farmers, sporting shooters
and gun-club members can all still
own firearms. But
they may not possess high-powered
or rapid-fire assault
weapons. What’s
more, there is a sixmonth waiting period when people
apply for a gun licence. Gun owners
have to secure their
weapons by locking them away,
separately from the
bullets. They also
face inspections by
the police from
time to time.
“
Australia is
now a safer place
without so many
guns
”
Australia has become a safer place.
I think we are a more civilized and
modern society for breaking the belief
that everyone should be allowed to
own a weapon of potential mass
destruction.
Hey, isn’t that why the Americans
went to war with Iraq? Have they not
learned anything over the past ten
years in the Middle East? Arming its
citizens does not strengthen a democracy; it weakens it.
As time goes by, more sophisticated weapons will become easier to obtain. One could even
imagine private individuals getting hold of drones, for example. If that happens, there will
be no assassin or smoking gun,
just the still unanswered question about the legitimacy of citizens’ “right” to bear arms.
assassin [E(sÄsIn]
assault weapon [E(sO:lt )wepEn]
atrocity [E(trQsEti]
bear arms [beE (A:mz]
bikie [(baIki:] Aus. ifml. = biker
discredit [dIs(kredIt]
face [feIs]
firearm [(faIErA:m]
National Rifle Association
[)nÄS&nEl (raIf&l E)sEUsi)eIS&n] US
odds: be at ~ with sth. [Qdz]
outlaw [(aUtlO:]
overwhelmingly [)EUvE(welmINli]
prohibit [prEU(hIbIt]
puzzled: be ~ [(pVz&ld]
rapid-fire [)rÄpId (faIE]
sophisticated [sE(fIstIkeItId]
Attentäter(in)
Sturmgewehr
Gräueltat
Waffen tragen
in Verruf bringen
hier: auf sich nehmen
Waffe
Nationale Schusswaffenvereinigung
zu etw. im Widerspruch
stehen
verbieten
mehrheitlich
verbieten
verblüfft sein
Schnellschusstechnisch hoch entwickelt
Peter Flynn is a public-relations consultant and social commentator who lives in Perth, Western Australia.
Foto: Alamy
Seitdem vor 16 Jahren nach einem blutigen Amoklauf das
Waffengesetz in Australien verschärft wurde, ist das Leben auf
dem fünften Kontinent viel sicherer geworden.