I made a post on Bluesky the day it happened saying they'd almost certainly use this as an excuse to crack down on protest rights. Hate being right about this.

[–] vas@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't mean to contradict, and I'm not an AU citizen/resident. But can you please clarify, how does the article connect to "protest rights" that you mentioned?

I see that it talks about gun laws and exclusively about them. Can you in AU protest without guns? I'm an outsider, but for me an obvious "yes" comes to mind. So what's the problem with not having a gun then?

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

While you're right that guns wouldn't be needed at a protest, and I absolutely agree, similar to the government in the UK there has been a lot of crackdowns on pro-Palestine protests that have been labelled as antisemitism. My worry is that this incident will result in further crackdowns on legal protest rights that don't have anything to do with guns. My concern is also validated by the article, which mentions the NSW government is working on laws to restrict protest rights. That might have been unrelated and prior to this incident, but this is only going to galvanise this effort.

[–] vas@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

Aww, I think I just failed to read the article carefully, because how otherwise could I have missed the mention of protest laws? (It's really there, even though once.)

Thanks for the explanation!

I'm curious about this, will also be watching how it evolves

[–] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago

So I shoot an ancient 22 for fun. Cards on the table.

I actually think Australian gun laws are a mix of good and bad but the reaction to this is very kneejerk.

Some stuff like magazine limits is hilarious, it's a metal box and a spring. If you wanna kill people it's trivial to make. The new limits in nsw are a bit low and don't really account for the different risks guns pose, nor do they address the problematic aspect of stockpiling ammo.

Cartridges are hard to make, give me a cartridge and I can turn a nail and pipe into a crude but lethal firearm. A 3d printer and a pretty decent disposable gun. A few months with a computer and a garage and I could make an extremely lethal and durable weapon from scratch.

We currently don't do much to stop people piling up ammo. In nsw at least less scrutiny is applied to the nth gun in a calibre than the first which is arse backwards.

I wish more people knew more about these things so we could have better laws.

Also as a vegan, every carnist that feels disgust at hunting but not farms makes me actually sick. Hunting is way less brutal for a number of reasons, even horrific stuff like hunting pigs is waaaaaay less bad in scale than your nommy bacon farming where they die screaming in gas chambers by the billion.

[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 1 points 2 weeks ago

No shit, we've just seen a mass shooting.

And yeah, there should be a discussion about tightening ownership requirements, it's been a while. We just can't let political cunts railroad things through while we're emotionally compromised

[–] freedickpics@lemmy.ml 0 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Australia is also overwhelmingly against affordable housing. Being in the majority doesn't make it right

[–] galoisghost@aussie.zone 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Gun regulations. Not protest regulations. As mind numbingly stupid we are as a nation. I don’t think most people really think the Akram’s were protestors.

I will ask though where are the unions? You know the reason the Labor party exists in the first place. Surely their rights to protest are sacrosanct . If a Labor government can just opportunistically ban one kind of protest an LNP can easily just ban another.

[–] hanrahan@piefed.social 2 points 2 weeks ago

If a Labor government can just opportunistically ban one kind of protest an LNP can easily just ban another.

A lot of aged Qld ALP members were dismayed when Qld cracked down on protests under the previous state ALP government, saying the legislation nearly exacrly mirrored the Bjelke-Petersen Governments Union anti protest laws. Didn't help though... (mostly climaye protests becase protesting the destruction of the enviorment and the likely collapse of civilisation is apparently not on)

I notice the Greens supported the revised gun laws but were against more protest crack downs, so voters do have a choice.

[–] maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Say what?

[–] freedickpics@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

What do you need me to clarify?

[–] maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Maybe a source or two for your leading statement. FYI, any downvotes are not mine.

[–] freedickpics@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

This country has spent the last 25 years voting for policy designed to supercharge housing prices and sell out future generations. Even with our current crisis we still vote to drive prices up. No government with a plan to even stagnate housing costs has a hope in hell of being elected. Australians won't have it. Besides younger and poorer demographics who walk through life knowing they'll never own a house and that their peers want to keep it that way.

[–] Fleur_@aussie.zone 4 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah... Every measure to make houses more affordable has just been, we'll give young home buyers more money. Which only increases house prices by whatever amount they decide on. Oh and how could I forget that it's actually the fault of immigrants because Australia has never been able to affordably house an immigrant population.

[–] okwithmydecay@leminal.space 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If we're not going to listen to what the majority Australians think about gunrcontrol, what's your alternative?

[–] freedickpics@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Recognise the mass shooting for the tragic but extremely rare occurrence that it is, address the intelligence failures that led to the shooters not being discovered earlier, and leave protestors and lawful gun owners alone

[–] Salvo@aussie.zone 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

This is the most rational path forward.

Unfortunately, the LNP will use the excuse to crack down on immigration, the ALP will use the excuse to crack down on protesters and the Greens will use the excuse to crack down on legitimate gun owners.

[–] MisterFrog@aussie.zone 3 points 2 weeks ago

Yes to everything except the gun control.

In what world does legitimate need for a gun include unlimited guns per owner? In what world does a hobby count as a legitimate use? (both things that lead the shooters to having the guns in the first place).

Sorry gun hobbyists, get a new hobby. Like how is it a sane position that you can have a hobby that puts the community at risk. Do archery ffs. It's way cooler and you can't kill a bunch of people in rapid succession (I mean, unless you're Legolas)

Collecting every element as a hobby could be done responsibly, but we don't allow that either, and for good reason. We, as a society, deem it an unacceptable risk.

Unfortunately this tragedy will be co-opted for the other bad things you mentioned, but tightening our kinda loose gun laws is not one of them.

Farmers, the military, specialised police and animal control need a certain amount of guns. The current laws do not achieve this.