Monday, May 01, 2006 at 16:52
We tried rational discussion on the firearms issue back in 1996 - it didn't work then and it won't work, with these people, now - they are zealots and will have _no problem_ in convincing the apathetic and self obsessed ("I'm alright Jack - this doesn't affect me") Australian public that anyone who doesn't think living in a city and watching TV whilst paying Safeway to slaughter your food (somewhere you can't see - 'cause we all want to believe a kilo of sausages didn't really use to be an animal) but who wishes to drive some dreadful, fuel guzzling, huge, forest destroying vehicle into those beautiful, pristine
places just like Walt Disney portrays is a crazed loony who, obviously, should be locked out of the forest and, ideally, prevented from owning a 4WD at all - after all, you don't _need_ one, do you?
We (firearms owners) put 150,000 people onto the streets of
Melbourne in 1996 and we failed to stop the legislation - whatever makes you think anything the "4WD lobby" (what bloody lobby?) does will change it. Hell! they don't even need legislation this time they already have it in place, they'll just keep on Gazetting more and more tracks and you won't even notice.
You are _never_ going to convince the public that 4WDs and people like us are a "good thing" so the only way left is to fight and tell them to stuff their rules both in practice (angle grinder man) and politically by pressure on individual MPs (they hate the idea of loosing their cushy jobs) and aligning with other groups under threat - shooters, fishermen, whoever. If we stand alone we'll fail - together we will win. Where was the 4WD fraternity in 1996? How many of you were saying back then "Restricting these people's access to firearms is a "good thing""? Divide and conquer is the practice of government and it works
well but lets see them try it against something like 3 million people.
Bad laws should be broken – not meekly obeyed.
The French have just changed legislation by street protest - when I lived in the UK the POMs did the same with the Poll Tax (and many other unjust laws in history) it's about time Australians were prepared to stand up for their rights. However, I suspect I’m whistling in the wind.
Mike Harding
mike_harding@fastmail.fm
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