Gun Control Question

[seldear]

As I understand it, Australia has relatively strict gun control laws. I'm not sure exactly what those laws are, never having required the use of a firearm. (Any of the Aussies know?)

US Constitution's Second Amendment? Gun registration?

And where do you stand on the matter of "the right to bear arms" and why? Would love to hear from all sides of the fence and the pond.

Comments

[seldearslj.livejournal.com]

Soap? *wonders what else the Americans have sitting around their governing system*

First one is the right to free speech, yes?

[beatrice_otter]

Soap? *wonders what else the Americans have sitting around their governing system*

Um, it's an old saying. People who had wanted to express their opinions on an issue used to go out into a public place, stand on a box (use it kind of like a dais), and just start talking. (The only people who do anything like it these days are religious nutsos trying to convince people to repent because the end of the world is coming.) The main type of boxes used were crates to hold soap. So, if someone is lecturing/pontificating about something (usually something to do with morals and such), we say they're "on a soapbox." I actually had a teacher in high school who'd pull out an old crate when he wanted to rant about something.

First one is the right to free speech, yes?

Freedom of speech, religion, peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances. All the big ones. If it's gone, the rest of the Bill of Rights really aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Which, imho, is why they're ordered the way they are. If the government is denying the freedoms of the first amendment, there really isn't much of a peaceful way to get them back; and if you're going to try and get them back with non-peaceful needs, well, you need to be armed, y'know?