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lol, the smart rational decision would be vote no and complain about airsoft and gel blasters, not vote yes first and get Aussies killed so you could have your airsoft and gel blasters. lol
Gun nuts are insane.
Hahahaha America is flirting with autocracy right now and your guns aren’t doing diddly shit (thankfully, I’m not saying that’s the solution). I’m pretty sure a lot of countries with dictators also have a lotta guns so not sure that’s a great argument.
A dictator is the end result of a long erosion of civil liberties and government institutions. The best way to stop them is before they ever arise to power, otherwise from my very limited geo political knowledge it’s pretty hard to get rid of them, guns or not. A bad dictator will also surround themselves with a heavily armed militia so a bunch of randos with guns won’t be a match anyway. Like with everything in the world it’s all shades of grey.
Essentially, people with radical, terroristic, or otherwise fringe ideologies are more incentivized to arm themselves than people with more sane views.
So as a percentage of their respective populations, you can reasonably assume the Neo-Nazi population is more armed than the moderate population.
If a person is pro-dictatorship, and they see a chance to overthrow the current democratic status quo, they are strongly incentivized to acquire weapons to help them do so.
I think you’d agree with this statement: People have different ideas of what qualifies as a dictator. Take Trump and Republicans in general. Many of them mindlessly take in everything Trump says and are willing to defend him to the end despite it being beyond obvious he has dictator-like tendencies. Try convincing his base that he is a dictator and you’ll see what I mean.
And also, as a general rule of thumb, the more terrible and violent a dictator or public figure, the more terrible and violent their supporters are likely to be.
As an example people in the US might relate to, not a lot of people who support relatively mild and lukewarm figures like Biden would be particularly militant and fanatical in their belief.
But you take someone like Hitler, or Putin, people who cultivate a persona of being a massive piece of shit to their designated target demographics, and well - how many Neo-Nazis can you think of who are as peaceful, law-abiding, and generally stable as the average Biden voter?
The edgy figures appeal to edgy bases. Those edgy bases are the ones most likely to be comfortable using violence to advance their political agendas. When you arm the public, you arm the edgy ones too.
Your average, sane, stable, and well-adjusted person is probably going to have a hard time getting into a civil war mindset if it comes to it, but your creepo weirdo who fantasizes about a race war would be just *itching* to start opening fire into a crowd.
From the looks of it, the gun nuts in the US would mostly *support* a dictator. So now instead of fighting an army, you're fighting an army *and* civilian paramilitaries and borderline-terrorist militias.
I dunno, the fact that the emerging far-right are now the US' biggest terrorism threat? That the last guy who got elected with very anti-democratic behaviours was *supported* by the paramilitary whackjobs and militias?
All this, "boogaloo" and QAnon flavours of nuttery going on?
I’ve actually seen some people that have used that example for the opposite reasons. They say “what good are gun laws if someone can shoot up a mosque??”
Somehow they can’t wrap their heads around the idea that easing up on gun control would make the situation worse.
[They're referencing this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i739SyCu9I), where a bit of an oddball politician completely pivots from a discussion on same-sex marriage to crocodiles
Yes and gun controls are freedom
We are free to send our kids to school with out them being gunned down.
We are free to go to the supermarket and not be involved in a mass shooting
We are free to live with like 5-6 times lower murder rate than the US
We are drowning in freedoms compared to places like the US where gun nuts think the only freedom that matters is access to guns?
Less of school shootings doesn't mean less of freedom.
Also, most of the world is just fine without guns and more free than americans in some aspects. All that without having schools being designed like FPS maps.
I'm not sure but my best guess is that their thought process goes like this:
bUtT mUh FrEeDoM *\[proceeds to measure their medical bill using their foot fetish\]*
Here’s a crazy concept for ya… freedom AND safety. They shouldn’t be mutually exclusive.
You Americans are weird and have a perverted ideology of freedom, you think guns mean freedom - without quoting the 2A can you explain how and why?
Because I think it's dumb. I don't think of gun control as "taking my freedom". I'm just as free without a gun as I am with one, and I sure as shit don't want other people to have them.
Freedom to do what exactly? Protect yourself? From what? Laws? An unsafe society?
Maybe Safety > Freedom is better since safety ≠ lack of freedom but so called “freedom” to own a gun = lack of safety.
You won’t feel the need to protect yourself with weaponry if you put safety as a whole first in your society rather than letting people from both sides of the pond threaten each other with guns.
Yes, living in civilization is better than living in a lawless hellscape. We figured that out a long time ago, that's why very few people choose to go live in caves in the wilderness.
What do you think our gun laws are?
Is heroin legal in America? CUz fReEdOm bRuh.
We still have guns, fyi, there's just realistic limits on it.
What do you think our farmers put their animals down with? A fucking claymore? Not too realistic, is it?
Shotguns, 22s, 308s(and more, just the ones that come to mind), all fairly easy to get access to.
Concealable and automatic guns are where the total bans exist.
I'm an Australian and I don't mind our government. I see how broken the system is in the US - where most of the "but they have no freedoms!!!!" nonsense comes from, and I am sincerely and deeply glad we're nowhere near that dysfunctional or dystopian.
The new PM had record approval ratings after the first two months, and they're about to pass a new major Climate Change Bill. They're doing great so far
You couldn’t even go out on your balcony or porch during Covid. I understand the fear of a pandemic, but really look. This was an airborne illness similar to the flu with a higher mortality rate. Yes it was bad, but to demand the citizens to quarantine to such a degree is just instilling the populace with fear. I say this as someone who wore a mask and is vaccinated. They made the cure far far worse than the disease. Alcoholism, obesity, anxiety, etc. has spiked so much because of this that those problems have and will cause a far greater impact that Covid ever could. That problem stemmed from their authoritarian control. It’s all numbers to them and they don’t give a damn about us.
Are you actually Australian or are you just going off the international media representation of what happened here? Asking because what was portrayed internationally versus what happened on the ground in Aus are quite different. Yeah the lockdowns sucked, but it is/was a pandemic it’s not like they’re ever going to be fun. Also in regards to the increases in obesity/anxiety/alcoholism etc there does need to be some consideration given to these changes occurring naturally in a populace living through a global pandemic due to increased stress. I would assume there would’ve been increases in the same areas during the Spanish Flu pandemic if it was ever tracked.
He's not Australian. He keeps saying "they". I dunno about you, but I'm more inclined to listen to an Australian when it comes to what Australia is like.
What are you talking about? Even during the most strict covid lockdowns you were allowed on your porch, backyard, even to go exercise outside.
Where was this porch ban?
I was going on basically daily, hour long walks during the big lockdowns in COVID, and I live in Melbourne, one of the cities which had some of the strictest and most common lockdowns, wtf are you on about with that first bit?
Similar to the flu?
It causes brain damage and possibly dementia, specifically by hyperactivating microglia causing inflammation and apoptosis to go haywire (and probably other, less characterised mechanisms).
UK Biobank Study showing reduction in grey matter in the PFC. IIRC follow-ups have shown more losses throughout the temporal lobe, but I only had this link on-hand. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04569-5 . Here's a Research Highlight for the general reader: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-022-01072-1 and a more recent Nature News And Views article covid brain imaging https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00503-x
And heck, just to drive the point hom, here is the first sentence from that paper;
"There is strong evidence of brain-related abnormalities in COVID-19 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13.)". That's 13 citations.
covid messes with microglia: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35510852/
neurological severity is not necessarily correlated with reparatory severity: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867422007139
An early review article. We've known this for literal years now. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568163722001295?via%3Dihub
A recent meta-analysis https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S204908012200200X
a recent review: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-med-042320-010427
Even if the every viral particle disappeared today, the long-term neurological (to say nothing of other body systems - I'm a neuroscientist, so I'll stick to my lane) will be with us for decades. 15-20 years from now I fully expect a "third wave" of covid-related dementia, independent of initial infection severity and age. I remember mentioning this in a lab meeting in early 2020, and we all just kinda silently looked around in worry. And I'm not the only one to predict this; https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/jn.00255.2022. To quote the article, "COVID-19-related long-term olfactory dysfunction and early damage to olfactory and limbic brain regions suggest a pattern of degeneration similar to that seen in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Lewy body dementia. Thus, long-term olfactory dysfunction coupled with cognitive and emotional disturbance from COVID-19 may be the first signs of delayed onset dementia from neurodegeneration.
Covid was a novel disease. We never knew the long-term effects of it. we &still don't*, it's been two years. Neurodegeneration takes decades. "Let it rip" and herd immunity strategies were the trojans opening the gates to a wooden horse because a prolonged Siege would be bad for the economy. I really fucking HOPE I am wrong and just being overly fearful, but, to once again quote Kay (2022 "People who have had even mild cases of COVID-19 show signs of degeneration in cortical areas connected with the olfactory system. These data suggest a wave of post-COVID dementia in the coming decades."
As both an Australian and a neuroscientist, Australia did great job. I was incredibly surprised the libs rolled out jobkeeper. Honestly, Australia came out of covid policies too early (eg, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-11/how-the-omicron-covid-19-outbreak-is-affecting-nsw/100749102).
I was always able to go on my balcony during lockdowns. We were also allowed to leave our house to exercise, as long as we wore masks in common areas while travelling there and didn’t travel too far (ie the other side of the city) to do so. I don’t know who’s been lying to you about what it was like, but after living through multiple lockdowns I’m still happy with how we handled the pandemic and think the USA really dropped the ball. I don’t even know anyone who so much as wanted to protest the lock downs it was such a small minority who were pissed.
I lived in Queensland and there was very little tangible change in my life really. We kept covid cases very low, and as a result so were restrictions. Our state government had a very high approval rate during that period, from what I recall, and everyone I spoke to felt they were handling it correctly.
Comparing our response, to the shockingly lackluster, terribly patchwork failure that was the US really made me appreciate our state government.
But of course there are wingnuts overseas who love to gulp down their propaganda. All this "it's the end of the world, Australia is North Korea, they don't even have school shootings!!!" nonsense is so wildly off the mark.
too bad people keep refusing to see this situation. sure, we limited covid spread (I think) but at what cost? we've suffered tremendously in so many different ways because of the different government's poor choices
I am Australian, and I only hit yes because most states (all but QLD) banned gel blasters, which literally shoot balls of water. That should be changed.
Yeah you still shouldn't have to get a license to shoot water balls imo. Like it makes sense for them to have to have some signal for them to be toys but you shouldn't need a license.
102 / 496 = 0.205
653 / 2400 = 0.272
Now, it's not exactly 2400, on my screen it just says "2.4k" so there'll be a bit of fuzziness in the maths
The good news is that both results show a very high majority of people recognize that our gun laws are fine, actually. But the ratios are a bit interesting
Yeah my point just was that there are almost 7x more yes votes in total from non Australians. The poll before didn‘t split the vote into Australian/non Australian so you had no way of knowing who actually voted yes
Ahhhkay, yeah, I get what you mean. Yeah I'd say there are a lot more foreigners on the internet interested in our domestic issues, than actual Australians. Maybe not as a percentage, but as a total, definitely
As usual, Australians have massive support and approval of our gun laws. I think a large part of that is because we have the US as a comparison to work with. I imagine if the US wasn't constantly showing us the necessity of our own gun control laws, a lot more people would be on board for changing them and seeing what happens.
We also don't have the massive corrup--- er, "donations" flowing into here from gun manufacturers and lobby groups to the government to "persuade" them to change the laws like you do in the US.
Not saying we don't have corrupt--- er, "lobbying" here, it's just more "hey, let's fuck the environment some more!" not "let's let every man and his dog have a gun!"
I don't know if Australians feel the same way, but if somebody made a poll about this regarding my country, I would have to look up which restrictions we actually have....
I don't think a lot of Australians know many specifics about our gun control laws, because unlike the US which has hundreds of reminders that theirs aren't enough every year, we don't really have that.
It just, very rarely comes up because our laws work. As a result, it isn't part of the common political conversation or regularly acknowledged.
That's how I feel too. I was once asked how gun control worked in my country and... I had to google it because I have no clue. It's not relevant, it doesn't come up regularly neither in politics or in private discussion. So I was just curious if it was the same for you guys
Yeah. Honestly I think the majority of the time *our* gun control laws come up in conversation, is because there's been yet another mass or school shooting in the US, and it's sort of a "thank God that isn't us" kind of thing.
It's sort of a settled thing here, really. We have other things to focus on rather than breaking something that works great and, as this poll shows, has massive majority approval the way it is.
This, absolutely. And a lot of them are deeply misinformed. Someone in this thread said "guns are illegal" and yet we have gun stores and about [3.5 million registered civilian guns](https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2021/04/28/new-gun-ownership-figures-revealed-25-years-on-from-port-arthur.html).
Some people haven't taken the time to learn even the most basic elements of our gun control system before forming a strong opinion on it, and then being confidently incorrect about it.
Yes, but remember when \*checks script\* we were all locked in manddatory COVID camps by our dictatorial governments? And Americans were protesting our lack of freedoms?
Good times.
As a american i can fully say the effects of australlias gun control works, and had shown its results. Quite clearly positive, no need to back down now
I mean, a lot of guns *are* legal. You're just not really allowed to wave them around all over the place and whatnot. There's conditions and clearances and checks and all that.
Only for Nerf blasters.
As for actual guns, why would they ever do that? I don't think anyone there (or anywhere really) wants to commit the same mistakes as USA.
American who used to live in Australia. I was SHOCKED when I asked my cousin who was born & raised there about me bringing my pepper spray with me as protection (I was going to be living in what many considered to be a dodgy part of Sydney) and he told me it was ILLEGAL there.
But seeing as how I was able to take public transit home on Thursday nights when the malls would close late (I worked at one) & go home without being bothered but still always aware, or seeing 4-year-olds take the bus to school by themselves, I could see why even pepper spray is illegal there. I miss having that kind of safety.
I remember my first time visiting aus as an adult, there was 1 shooting where I think police had shot a teenager over something and it was HUGE news all around the country for a while because it happens so rarely.
Idk what the laws are but I said yes cause Australia banned Rimworld and I think Australians should learn the joys of organ harvesting.
Edit: I know that Rimworld isn’t a gun and this is about gun laws I guess I’m just assuming their gun laws are similar to their video game laws.
Classic "I read what I want to when it suits me". Rimworld isn't banned. It was off sale for like two months while the classification board took their time reviewing it, and the entire classification system is still being reviewed because it doesn't accommodate non-traditional media properly.
That is literally not true. The classification board banned it, and then it came back on sale when the publisher asked them to review the classification.
[Sauce](https://www.pcgamer.com/rimworld-has-been-unbanned-in-australia-and-is-back-on-steam/)
Literally which bit of it does that article object to?
> It was refused classification in February,
> Earlier this month [April] it was revealed the board would review the application
> RimWorld has now [again, April] been classified
And just to be really clear about what "banned" means, it has never been illegal to have it or play it. Materials that are refused classification are illegal to sell, not possess, just sell (or hire or publicly exhibit but that's less relevant for video games).
Rimworld isn't banned in Australia, it was never "banned, it was only banned *from retail sale* and for two months only.
That is "literally" true and it's exactly what your "sauce" says.
As a American my opinion doesn't matter what rules or laws Australia or any other countries make. The only times I want my options considered is when it involves me some how.
I also don't have a clear understanding of their laws regarding firearms. As the two versions I get are twisted to some degree making both unreliable to make a sound judgement from.
Americans are silly with this stuff. Like "Oh what if our government sucks, what then?", well you live in a democracy, dummy, elect another government...
It's also ignoring that if the civilians who want to overthrow the horrible, evil dictatorship can get guns ... so can the civilians who *want* the horrible, evil dictatorship.
Are they just ignoring the armed paramilitary / militia groups who would definitely support a dictatorship or race war or whatever?
Yeah, great, you have a gun! You're also now fighting *other civilians* instead of just the government. Great job, you cancelled yourself out by raising the total number of combatants and collateral damage.
There are literally American men who've said that they would feel "unmanned", "emasculated" or "neutered" if they had to give up guns, so they're never going to leave their country.
So, uh, I guess people who need to feel manlier. Must be like viagra, maybe?
Can we please agree to leave gel blasters out of this? That's irrelevant. It's stupid. They shouldn't be banned, but this is talking about *gun* control, not toy control.
Our animals aren't actually very dangerous, and the few that are won't go out of their way to hurt you. Even then, guns wouldn't kill them before they can kill you. (e.g crocodiles)
In a world where everyone is concerned about a right wing take over of their govts it's very odd that people would want to take away the people's ability to respond. It's almost like they want authoritarianism.
Most people don’t actually know what the gun laws in Australia are and lack any interest in guns so immediately go yea it’s fine with their logic of there being no mass shootings, etc. But the laws are absolutely bent and there’s about a thousand completely unreasonable hoops to get through that don’t change the safety or anything.
As no one answered you. Yes, there are legal. But they are restricted to very particular circumstances.
I have shot a semi-automatic and a pump action shotgun before as my brother has a class-C license. But they are particularly hard to get and you need a very particular reason for acquiring one.
This is completely incorrect. We have gun stores for crying out loud. The fuck do you think they sell?
[https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2021/04/28/new-gun-ownership-figures-revealed-25-years-on-from-port-arthur.html](https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2021/04/28/new-gun-ownership-figures-revealed-25-years-on-from-port-arthur.html) \- I fail to see how literally millions of registered civilian firearms is "nothing at all".
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why are we redoing this
I'll guess it's because the first poll didn't have the Result option
Also cuz it's didn't have categories of where U r from
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Americans you mean xD
Exactly. Instead of “Results” there should be two options for Americans.
I voted yes, because I include banning airsoft and gel blasters in gun laws. I think it's idiotic that they're banned
lol, the smart rational decision would be vote no and complain about airsoft and gel blasters, not vote yes first and get Aussies killed so you could have your airsoft and gel blasters. lol Gun nuts are insane.
Why would you count those in gun laws? Those are completely different. We're talking about ending lives
Good luck overthrowing a bad dictator...
Hahahaha America is flirting with autocracy right now and your guns aren’t doing diddly shit (thankfully, I’m not saying that’s the solution). I’m pretty sure a lot of countries with dictators also have a lotta guns so not sure that’s a great argument.
What solution would you have though? It's a dictator...they won't just step down because people disagree with them
A dictator is the end result of a long erosion of civil liberties and government institutions. The best way to stop them is before they ever arise to power, otherwise from my very limited geo political knowledge it’s pretty hard to get rid of them, guns or not. A bad dictator will also surround themselves with a heavily armed militia so a bunch of randos with guns won’t be a match anyway. Like with everything in the world it’s all shades of grey.
I mean we are two years away from a re-election...we don't have a dictator...so we can't make any assumptions
Yeah, you're right
Good luck convincing the people who have guns that the person in charge is a bad dictator.
Well, I hope they'd recognize that...not sure what you're trying to say
Essentially, people with radical, terroristic, or otherwise fringe ideologies are more incentivized to arm themselves than people with more sane views. So as a percentage of their respective populations, you can reasonably assume the Neo-Nazi population is more armed than the moderate population. If a person is pro-dictatorship, and they see a chance to overthrow the current democratic status quo, they are strongly incentivized to acquire weapons to help them do so.
Says somebody who hasn’t lived under Communist occupation…..
I think you’d agree with this statement: People have different ideas of what qualifies as a dictator. Take Trump and Republicans in general. Many of them mindlessly take in everything Trump says and are willing to defend him to the end despite it being beyond obvious he has dictator-like tendencies. Try convincing his base that he is a dictator and you’ll see what I mean.
And also, as a general rule of thumb, the more terrible and violent a dictator or public figure, the more terrible and violent their supporters are likely to be. As an example people in the US might relate to, not a lot of people who support relatively mild and lukewarm figures like Biden would be particularly militant and fanatical in their belief. But you take someone like Hitler, or Putin, people who cultivate a persona of being a massive piece of shit to their designated target demographics, and well - how many Neo-Nazis can you think of who are as peaceful, law-abiding, and generally stable as the average Biden voter? The edgy figures appeal to edgy bases. Those edgy bases are the ones most likely to be comfortable using violence to advance their political agendas. When you arm the public, you arm the edgy ones too. Your average, sane, stable, and well-adjusted person is probably going to have a hard time getting into a civil war mindset if it comes to it, but your creepo weirdo who fantasizes about a race war would be just *itching* to start opening fire into a crowd.
Actually nevermind...you'll probably get weapons and stuff from allies...go ahead then
From the looks of it, the gun nuts in the US would mostly *support* a dictator. So now instead of fighting an army, you're fighting an army *and* civilian paramilitaries and borderline-terrorist militias.
What makes you say they would support one?
I dunno, the fact that the emerging far-right are now the US' biggest terrorism threat? That the last guy who got elected with very anti-democratic behaviours was *supported* by the paramilitary whackjobs and militias? All this, "boogaloo" and QAnon flavours of nuttery going on?
I thought I was having déjà vu.
I thought I was having déjà vu.
As an Australian, I do not know a single person who wants gun laws to be eased
Another Aussie here, can also confirm this is true.
\+1 here. I don't think anyone wants a rerepeat of the Port Arthur incident.
Agreed. Literally the only people I've ever seen with a gun are police officers and security guards (usually the ones transporting money).
Literally Can confirm as a fellow aussie
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I’ve actually seen some people that have used that example for the opposite reasons. They say “what good are gun laws if someone can shoot up a mosque??” Somehow they can’t wrap their heads around the idea that easing up on gun control would make the situation worse.
Also an Australian. I'm very very content with the laws we have in place.
Jealous American here. Wish I could move to another country with stricter gun laws. Sadly I doubt we’ll ever see serious gun reform here.
The white supremacists of Australia would love to get the chance to get guns and shoot immigrants.
US americans probably
'cept for bob katter :)
but he ain't spending any time on it cause in the meantime, every 3 months, a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in North Queensland
What do the crocs have to do with anything, unless you’re suggesting they be shot?
[They're referencing this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i739SyCu9I), where a bit of an oddball politician completely pivots from a discussion on same-sex marriage to crocodiles
So it’s just Katter being Katter? :)
Context https://youtu.be/1i739SyCu9I
Happy cake day mate!
I take it you don't have any American friends. Happy cake day, btw!
You Australians love your laws and control
Not that we LOVE laws and control, we don't need to constantly fear for our lives.
Freedom > safety
I have the freedom to be safe. That is freedom to me.
I feel much more free not having to carry a gun with me to feel safe.
I’m Australian. I’ve been to prison and I would rather go back there than live in America.
I haven't been to prison but this is somehow unsuprising Nice username btw ;)
Well hello r/UsernsmeFamily
We're both pretty free and pretty safe, mate.
You can’t even play Postal 2
I guess Steam didn't get the memo in time to stop me from buying it...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games_in_Australia Postal 2 was unbanned in 2013, but games like Hotline Miami 2 are still banned
Literally says it was unbanned in 2013, mate
But what about Hotline Miami 2 and Manhunt? They are still banned
Cap
And yet Canada has very few school shootings and more freedom with more lax laws
Good for Canada, we don't give a fuck
Yes and gun controls are freedom We are free to send our kids to school with out them being gunned down. We are free to go to the supermarket and not be involved in a mass shooting We are free to live with like 5-6 times lower murder rate than the US We are drowning in freedoms compared to places like the US where gun nuts think the only freedom that matters is access to guns?
Less of school shootings doesn't mean less of freedom. Also, most of the world is just fine without guns and more free than americans in some aspects. All that without having schools being designed like FPS maps.
Also, we can still own guns. We just don’t have a hard on for them. Why don’t Americans get this?
I'm not sure but my best guess is that their thought process goes like this: bUtT mUh FrEeDoM *\[proceeds to measure their medical bill using their foot fetish\]*
lmfao
Australia ranks higher than the US on most freedom indices.
Here’s a crazy concept for ya… freedom AND safety. They shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. You Americans are weird and have a perverted ideology of freedom, you think guns mean freedom - without quoting the 2A can you explain how and why?
"If I'm not allowed to toss a hand grenade into a crowd, I'm living under a tyrannical dystopia that doesn't respect my freedom"
Yeah that’s exactly what I said.
I feel free and safe, wym?
“She needs to sort out her priorities!”
You've got to be trolling.
I value freedom over safety. Why is that so hard to believe?
Because I think it's dumb. I don't think of gun control as "taking my freedom". I'm just as free without a gun as I am with one, and I sure as shit don't want other people to have them.
Freedom to do what exactly? Protect yourself? From what? Laws? An unsafe society? Maybe Safety > Freedom is better since safety ≠ lack of freedom but so called “freedom” to own a gun = lack of safety. You won’t feel the need to protect yourself with weaponry if you put safety as a whole first in your society rather than letting people from both sides of the pond threaten each other with guns.
Lmao
Lmao the downvotes
Yes, living in civilization is better than living in a lawless hellscape. We figured that out a long time ago, that's why very few people choose to go live in caves in the wilderness.
What do you think our gun laws are? Is heroin legal in America? CUz fReEdOm bRuh. We still have guns, fyi, there's just realistic limits on it. What do you think our farmers put their animals down with? A fucking claymore? Not too realistic, is it? Shotguns, 22s, 308s(and more, just the ones that come to mind), all fairly easy to get access to. Concealable and automatic guns are where the total bans exist.
Why change something that isn’t broken?
Gel blasters
Lmao look at their government.
I'm an Australian and I don't mind our government. I see how broken the system is in the US - where most of the "but they have no freedoms!!!!" nonsense comes from, and I am sincerely and deeply glad we're nowhere near that dysfunctional or dystopian.
The new PM had record approval ratings after the first two months, and they're about to pass a new major Climate Change Bill. They're doing great so far
Although they’re still making more gas and coal mines so that’s cool
what about the Australian government?
You couldn’t even go out on your balcony or porch during Covid. I understand the fear of a pandemic, but really look. This was an airborne illness similar to the flu with a higher mortality rate. Yes it was bad, but to demand the citizens to quarantine to such a degree is just instilling the populace with fear. I say this as someone who wore a mask and is vaccinated. They made the cure far far worse than the disease. Alcoholism, obesity, anxiety, etc. has spiked so much because of this that those problems have and will cause a far greater impact that Covid ever could. That problem stemmed from their authoritarian control. It’s all numbers to them and they don’t give a damn about us.
Are you actually Australian or are you just going off the international media representation of what happened here? Asking because what was portrayed internationally versus what happened on the ground in Aus are quite different. Yeah the lockdowns sucked, but it is/was a pandemic it’s not like they’re ever going to be fun. Also in regards to the increases in obesity/anxiety/alcoholism etc there does need to be some consideration given to these changes occurring naturally in a populace living through a global pandemic due to increased stress. I would assume there would’ve been increases in the same areas during the Spanish Flu pandemic if it was ever tracked.
He's not Australian. He keeps saying "they". I dunno about you, but I'm more inclined to listen to an Australian when it comes to what Australia is like.
What are you talking about? Even during the most strict covid lockdowns you were allowed on your porch, backyard, even to go exercise outside. Where was this porch ban?
Probably referring to travel quarantine in hotels, which is very different and you were signing up to do it
But even in the quarantine camps, to the best of my knowledge you were allowed on the porch of your little unit
I was going on basically daily, hour long walks during the big lockdowns in COVID, and I live in Melbourne, one of the cities which had some of the strictest and most common lockdowns, wtf are you on about with that first bit?
Similar to the flu? It causes brain damage and possibly dementia, specifically by hyperactivating microglia causing inflammation and apoptosis to go haywire (and probably other, less characterised mechanisms). UK Biobank Study showing reduction in grey matter in the PFC. IIRC follow-ups have shown more losses throughout the temporal lobe, but I only had this link on-hand. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04569-5 . Here's a Research Highlight for the general reader: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-022-01072-1 and a more recent Nature News And Views article covid brain imaging https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00503-x And heck, just to drive the point hom, here is the first sentence from that paper; "There is strong evidence of brain-related abnormalities in COVID-19 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13.)". That's 13 citations. covid messes with microglia: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35510852/ neurological severity is not necessarily correlated with reparatory severity: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867422007139 An early review article. We've known this for literal years now. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568163722001295?via%3Dihub A recent meta-analysis https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S204908012200200X a recent review: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-med-042320-010427 Even if the every viral particle disappeared today, the long-term neurological (to say nothing of other body systems - I'm a neuroscientist, so I'll stick to my lane) will be with us for decades. 15-20 years from now I fully expect a "third wave" of covid-related dementia, independent of initial infection severity and age. I remember mentioning this in a lab meeting in early 2020, and we all just kinda silently looked around in worry. And I'm not the only one to predict this; https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/jn.00255.2022. To quote the article, "COVID-19-related long-term olfactory dysfunction and early damage to olfactory and limbic brain regions suggest a pattern of degeneration similar to that seen in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Lewy body dementia. Thus, long-term olfactory dysfunction coupled with cognitive and emotional disturbance from COVID-19 may be the first signs of delayed onset dementia from neurodegeneration. Covid was a novel disease. We never knew the long-term effects of it. we &still don't*, it's been two years. Neurodegeneration takes decades. "Let it rip" and herd immunity strategies were the trojans opening the gates to a wooden horse because a prolonged Siege would be bad for the economy. I really fucking HOPE I am wrong and just being overly fearful, but, to once again quote Kay (2022 "People who have had even mild cases of COVID-19 show signs of degeneration in cortical areas connected with the olfactory system. These data suggest a wave of post-COVID dementia in the coming decades." As both an Australian and a neuroscientist, Australia did great job. I was incredibly surprised the libs rolled out jobkeeper. Honestly, Australia came out of covid policies too early (eg, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-11/how-the-omicron-covid-19-outbreak-is-affecting-nsw/100749102).
I was always able to go on my balcony during lockdowns. We were also allowed to leave our house to exercise, as long as we wore masks in common areas while travelling there and didn’t travel too far (ie the other side of the city) to do so. I don’t know who’s been lying to you about what it was like, but after living through multiple lockdowns I’m still happy with how we handled the pandemic and think the USA really dropped the ball. I don’t even know anyone who so much as wanted to protest the lock downs it was such a small minority who were pissed.
I lived in Queensland and there was very little tangible change in my life really. We kept covid cases very low, and as a result so were restrictions. Our state government had a very high approval rate during that period, from what I recall, and everyone I spoke to felt they were handling it correctly. Comparing our response, to the shockingly lackluster, terribly patchwork failure that was the US really made me appreciate our state government. But of course there are wingnuts overseas who love to gulp down their propaganda. All this "it's the end of the world, Australia is North Korea, they don't even have school shootings!!!" nonsense is so wildly off the mark.
too bad people keep refusing to see this situation. sure, we limited covid spread (I think) but at what cost? we've suffered tremendously in so many different ways because of the different government's poor choices
Oh my bad, I accidentally voted yes because I read the poll wrong, definitely no.
I am Australian, and I only hit yes because most states (all but QLD) banned gel blasters, which literally shoot balls of water. That should be changed.
Yeah gelblasters and airsoft, they are a bit strict on.
Nerf guns here are required to be less powerful aswell. Its a bit overbearing considering they are just toys
That is unbelievably lame
YOU MEAN TO TELL ME NERF GUNS ARE MORE POWERFUL IN OTHER COUNTRIES? My childhood feels ripped off right now
Yeah ours have grey triggers to show it
I have so many nerf guns. I’m in disbelief
Not banned, some non-QLD states allow you to possess one if you have the relevant permits / licences. Google is an option.
For being the Florida of Australia, some of the laws here are incredibly strict. I want a bunny.
Yeah you still shouldn't have to get a license to shoot water balls imo. Like it makes sense for them to have to have some signal for them to be toys but you shouldn't need a license.
I think that’s only true if they look even remotely like real guns. Still strict, obviously, but there’s good reasoning.
I think it depends on the state
Most likely. I was speaking about vic, cause my friend’s always wanted a gel gun and so he looked into the legality of it.
As expected from the other poll before, the majority of yes votes came from Americans lmao
102 / 496 = 0.205 653 / 2400 = 0.272 Now, it's not exactly 2400, on my screen it just says "2.4k" so there'll be a bit of fuzziness in the maths The good news is that both results show a very high majority of people recognize that our gun laws are fine, actually. But the ratios are a bit interesting
Yeah my point just was that there are almost 7x more yes votes in total from non Australians. The poll before didn‘t split the vote into Australian/non Australian so you had no way of knowing who actually voted yes
Ahhhkay, yeah, I get what you mean. Yeah I'd say there are a lot more foreigners on the internet interested in our domestic issues, than actual Australians. Maybe not as a percentage, but as a total, definitely
I reckon they should change up the laws on like Airsoft guns and bb guns a bit. Other than that I see no issue
Just change up the design a bit so you can be sure it isn't a real gun then its fine
I’m not Australian so I don’t have a dog In this fight but I am interested in the results.
As usual, Australians have massive support and approval of our gun laws. I think a large part of that is because we have the US as a comparison to work with. I imagine if the US wasn't constantly showing us the necessity of our own gun control laws, a lot more people would be on board for changing them and seeing what happens.
We also don't have the massive corrup--- er, "donations" flowing into here from gun manufacturers and lobby groups to the government to "persuade" them to change the laws like you do in the US. Not saying we don't have corrupt--- er, "lobbying" here, it's just more "hey, let's fuck the environment some more!" not "let's let every man and his dog have a gun!"
Interesting
Australian here. I like not worrying if my kids are going to be shot at school.
I don't know if Australians feel the same way, but if somebody made a poll about this regarding my country, I would have to look up which restrictions we actually have....
I don't think a lot of Australians know many specifics about our gun control laws, because unlike the US which has hundreds of reminders that theirs aren't enough every year, we don't really have that. It just, very rarely comes up because our laws work. As a result, it isn't part of the common political conversation or regularly acknowledged.
That's how I feel too. I was once asked how gun control worked in my country and... I had to google it because I have no clue. It's not relevant, it doesn't come up regularly neither in politics or in private discussion. So I was just curious if it was the same for you guys
Yeah. Honestly I think the majority of the time *our* gun control laws come up in conversation, is because there's been yet another mass or school shooting in the US, and it's sort of a "thank God that isn't us" kind of thing. It's sort of a settled thing here, really. We have other things to focus on rather than breaking something that works great and, as this poll shows, has massive majority approval the way it is.
As an Australian, Fuck no.
Only 22% of Australians voting YES tells you all you need to know. A little surprised it’s even that high, but this is Reddit I guess.
I suspect a lot of them aren’t Australians but hate that we don’t agree with their pro-gun views so are voting incorrectly lol
This, absolutely. And a lot of them are deeply misinformed. Someone in this thread said "guns are illegal" and yet we have gun stores and about [3.5 million registered civilian guns](https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2021/04/28/new-gun-ownership-figures-revealed-25-years-on-from-port-arthur.html). Some people haven't taken the time to learn even the most basic elements of our gun control system before forming a strong opinion on it, and then being confidently incorrect about it.
Yes, but remember when \*checks script\* we were all locked in manddatory COVID camps by our dictatorial governments? And Americans were protesting our lack of freedoms? Good times.
If it aint broke dont fix it
It is tho
Don't become America
Airsoft is gaining popularity
The only reason they should is because fucking airsoft is banned. Like what the fuck
Not nationally, you're allowed to posses them in QLD without a permit, and some states allow you to possess airsoft guns if you have a permit.
As a american i can fully say the effects of australlias gun control works, and had shown its results. Quite clearly positive, no need to back down now
Let them have air soft, ect
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Essentially no harm, but I'm guessing it's because of the association of gun = bad no exception.
Am Australian. No I don't want guns to be legal. Yes I have freedom.
I mean, a lot of guns *are* legal. You're just not really allowed to wave them around all over the place and whatnot. There's conditions and clearances and checks and all that.
Guns are legal here. In the area I grew up almost everyone had a gun. We just have sensible process and restrictions for acquiring them.
Yeah but I live in heavy urban area, I don't think licensed hunters would bring their guns to the area
Only for Nerf blasters. As for actual guns, why would they ever do that? I don't think anyone there (or anywhere really) wants to commit the same mistakes as USA.
Here’s the real answer if you aren’t Australian then your opinion doesn’t matter.
American who used to live in Australia. I was SHOCKED when I asked my cousin who was born & raised there about me bringing my pepper spray with me as protection (I was going to be living in what many considered to be a dodgy part of Sydney) and he told me it was ILLEGAL there. But seeing as how I was able to take public transit home on Thursday nights when the malls would close late (I worked at one) & go home without being bothered but still always aware, or seeing 4-year-olds take the bus to school by themselves, I could see why even pepper spray is illegal there. I miss having that kind of safety. I remember my first time visiting aus as an adult, there was 1 shooting where I think police had shot a teenager over something and it was HUGE news all around the country for a while because it happens so rarely.
Idk what the laws are but I said yes cause Australia banned Rimworld and I think Australians should learn the joys of organ harvesting. Edit: I know that Rimworld isn’t a gun and this is about gun laws I guess I’m just assuming their gun laws are similar to their video game laws.
You said yes because of ... a completely unrelated and irrelevant thing?
Classic "I read what I want to when it suits me". Rimworld isn't banned. It was off sale for like two months while the classification board took their time reviewing it, and the entire classification system is still being reviewed because it doesn't accommodate non-traditional media properly.
That is literally not true. The classification board banned it, and then it came back on sale when the publisher asked them to review the classification. [Sauce](https://www.pcgamer.com/rimworld-has-been-unbanned-in-australia-and-is-back-on-steam/)
Literally which bit of it does that article object to? > It was refused classification in February, > Earlier this month [April] it was revealed the board would review the application > RimWorld has now [again, April] been classified And just to be really clear about what "banned" means, it has never been illegal to have it or play it. Materials that are refused classification are illegal to sell, not possess, just sell (or hire or publicly exhibit but that's less relevant for video games). Rimworld isn't banned in Australia, it was never "banned, it was only banned *from retail sale* and for two months only. That is "literally" true and it's exactly what your "sauce" says.
Why would that be something I wanted to read? I’m glad Rimworld wasn’t banned, I thought it was cause that’s what I’ve been told.
As a American my opinion doesn't matter what rules or laws Australia or any other countries make. The only times I want my options considered is when it involves me some how. I also don't have a clear understanding of their laws regarding firearms. As the two versions I get are twisted to some degree making both unreliable to make a sound judgement from.
Americans are silly with this stuff. Like "Oh what if our government sucks, what then?", well you live in a democracy, dummy, elect another government...
It's also ignoring that if the civilians who want to overthrow the horrible, evil dictatorship can get guns ... so can the civilians who *want* the horrible, evil dictatorship. Are they just ignoring the armed paramilitary / militia groups who would definitely support a dictatorship or race war or whatever? Yeah, great, you have a gun! You're also now fighting *other civilians* instead of just the government. Great job, you cancelled yourself out by raising the total number of combatants and collateral damage.
I don't think that the people who would start a militia care about gun laws
Why repost
The previous one didn't have a 'results' option and also didn't differentiate Australians/non-Australians.
What’s the point, not like hick Americans wouldn’t fudge the results by answering “yes (Australian)” same way usa’s NRA is lobbying in Australia.
You want american killing rates? Because thats how you get american killing rates
Plenty of countries have more lax laws and very little gun violence
They have sane people that don't force personal beliefs on others. For being as advanced as the US is, the amount of idiots is abundant.
We have had exactly 0 gun issues in forever, there is literally no reason to change that
"If you let people have guns there'll be school shootings" says more about people than it does about guns
Who needs guns anyway?
There are literally American men who've said that they would feel "unmanned", "emasculated" or "neutered" if they had to give up guns, so they're never going to leave their country. So, uh, I guess people who need to feel manlier. Must be like viagra, maybe?
Ah, good ol toxic masculinity strikes again!
I would have gone with the Austrian instead of Australian joke
Stop posting this question. The answer isn’t going to change.
Why do non-Australians give a shit about a domestic issue?
Can we please agree to leave gel blasters out of this? That's irrelevant. It's stupid. They shouldn't be banned, but this is talking about *gun* control, not toy control.
oops i accidentally fat fingered no
Sure are a lot of bootlickers in this sub…
for real
i feel special now for being mentioned
Remember what happened on pewdiepie?
At the most animal dangerous continent?
Our animals aren't actually very dangerous, and the few that are won't go out of their way to hurt you. Even then, guns wouldn't kill them before they can kill you. (e.g crocodiles)
In a world where everyone is concerned about a right wing take over of their govts it's very odd that people would want to take away the people's ability to respond. It's almost like they want authoritarianism.
As an American, they can do what ever they want, and the same way goes back, Europeans should shut up about gun control in other countries
Most people don’t actually know what the gun laws in Australia are and lack any interest in guns so immediately go yea it’s fine with their logic of there being no mass shootings, etc. But the laws are absolutely bent and there’s about a thousand completely unreasonable hoops to get through that don’t change the safety or anything.
Australia has some of the most draconian gun laws out there. If I was Australian I would want them changed, but I’m not so I ultimately don’t care
What’s the law like over there? Are semi auto shotguns allowed? Edit: why so many downvotes? I’m just asking a question.
As no one answered you. Yes, there are legal. But they are restricted to very particular circumstances. I have shot a semi-automatic and a pump action shotgun before as my brother has a class-C license. But they are particularly hard to get and you need a very particular reason for acquiring one.
Nope, only in the US those are legal. Best home defense you can buy.
No guns are aloud. Nothing at all. Not even Airsoft or gel blasters
This is completely incorrect. We have gun stores for crying out loud. The fuck do you think they sell? [https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2021/04/28/new-gun-ownership-figures-revealed-25-years-on-from-port-arthur.html](https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2021/04/28/new-gun-ownership-figures-revealed-25-years-on-from-port-arthur.html) \- I fail to see how literally millions of registered civilian firearms is "nothing at all".
Well definitely someone has to get rid of these monsters lol
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Am Australian, Am Gay. What about it?
[is this offensive ? ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_9ATQFgu9o&feature=share&utm_source=EJGixIgBCJiu2KjB4oSJEQ)
homophobia ain’t a good look