Ethnocentrism - we should all be so lucky.

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Swimming lessons from drowning men? Hardly! In Australia I can walk down the
street at night without fear of being mugged in the vast majority of places,
a few exceptions in the capital cities. I can send my kids to school without
fear that some kid is going to front up with a gun and start shooting his
classmates. Fundamentally I live in a very safe place! We have mandatory
seat belt and drink driving laws, gun ownership is controlled so that in the
majority of cases it is a lot harder for crooks to get access to and carry a
firearm. We don't have the same gang culture and we don't have drive by
shootings, and most of our gang related conflicts are knife and baton type
fights, no denying people are significantly injured in these, but not as
many as would be with firearms involved. I don't think that's a glass house
you are living in Jim its more like a crystal palace!

We are still free, I own several firearms, and the process is not too odious
to keep them, provided I meet certain sensible storage requirements. The
police cannot legally enter our homes without a warrant unless they have
reasonable cause, nor can they seize property  without a warrant. As for the
ban on knives, one could argue that the need to carry a flick or butterfly
knife (especially in the city) is rather limited other than for dubious
means, so why not make it illegal to conceal a dangerous weapon? Hardly
leftist, more like sensible.

Whilst I don't argue that the buy back was expensive, and that in many
respects it went too far (I really miss my semi automatic beretta shotgun!).
It has had a huge impact on the number of guns under beds in the community,
legitimate shooters soon reallocated the funds and purchased legal
replacements. If folks wanted to keep their guns, they could readily go
through the process and obtain a shooters permit, again not too odious if
you are a genuine sporting shooter.

Lastly Crocodile Dundee is a fictional character, Rodney Ansel was just a
guy, who when the armed police man said "stop or I'll shoot", he
didn't..........clearly he was not the brightest crayon in the box. Some
might argue its natural selection at work? Where did you get the man of the
year bit from, I lived in the NT and have never heard of that award, it
sounds decidedly propaganda'ish I'd love to know what the source information
was.

regards

Greg Benton
Nurse Unit Manager
Emergency Department

Wangaratta District Base Hospital
Green St Wangaratta 3677

E-mail 	Greg.Benton@wdbh.hume.org.au
Ph 	03 57220162
Fax 	03 57220236


	-----Original Message-----
	From:	James S Cowan [SMTP:jscowan10@earthlink.net]
	Sent:	Wednesday, 17 April 2002 5:28
	To:	trauma-list@trauma.org
	Subject:	Ethnocentrism - we should all be so lucky.

		 
		Interesting. Pointing to a monumental failure as an example.
(swimming lessons from drowning men?) 
		 
		American citizens enjoy protections and freedoms not shared
by most other countries. Australia for example. In the USA, a warrant is
necessary
		before the police can enter a home and search for guns, copy
the hard drive on your computer and seize records. Now you must have a
reason
		to own a firearm and self or family protection is not
considered a valid reason
		 
		Yes, AU spent $500,000,000 on a program to buy back about
600,000 guns and in the process they reversed a downward trend in homicide
with
		firearms and robbery among other things. It gets even more
bizarre; in 1988 the leftist government even banned many types of knives.
		 
		But all of this avoids the real harm done by the AU gun ban,
the bastards killed Crocodile Dundee. 
		 
		Yes, that's right. Rodney William Ansel who inspired the
movie was a rugged survivalist type. He was voted 1988 Man of the Year for
AU's Northern Territory, 
		He was no angel and had had run ins with the police but he
was killed in a mysterious shoot out with the police which also killed a
police sergeant 
		over this issue.
		 
		Yes, there is difference between the United States and many
other countries. Despite the best efforts of the left, we are still free.
		 
		Jim Cowan
		 
		 -----Original Message-----
		From: trauma-list-admin@trauma.org
[mailto:trauma-list-admin@trauma.org]On Behalf Of michael riordan
		Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 4:46 AM
		To: trauma-list@trauma.org
		Subject: enthnocentrism
		
		
		Guns,guns,Guns.ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
		 
		What I cannot understand is that citizens of the US do not
look at like societies for some sensible direction. What does Europe do? For
instance?
		 
		You go through such a circuitous and painful route to arrive
at what many other countries did some years ago. Look at the reluctance to
apply seat belt laws and blood alcohol restrictions for drivers. Because you
(and we) are reluctant to protect the majority at the expense of individual
rights. What therefore should the balance be?
		Here in OZ we have gun control and the vast majority of us
accept it. Most of our society is urban,despite our vast area. Most of us do
not need,nor want a gun. Despite having some politically volatile
neighbours.  
		We do not ban guns but place sensible restrictions on those
who wish to own one. You need a purpose to own one (law enforcement,farmer,
sporting shooter,security etc) and not be mentally ill, or otherwise legally
undesirable. The police issue licences. Seems reasonable.
		Further more, those who own a gun must keep it under lock
and key and the bullets away from the weapon. This tends to take the heat
out of a domestic. 
		Admittedly the people who wish to get a gun on the black
market can. and always will. 
		The bottom line is that we do not suffer the incidence of
ballistic injury, unintentional nor intentional. they are a relative rarity,
well, at least compared to the US. 
		As for Liberalism,a much vaunted icon of all western
societies, US included, is probably the historical fault of the current gun
laws in the US,as it espouses the right of the individual. And Liberal(as in
political party) is a dirty word.

	  _____  
	
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