One Day Causes and One Day Politics

 Greetings,

So, Australia Day is upon us again, as per usual there is the protest about how Australia's indigenous people have been treated in the past. It should not be doubted that I think that they were treated poorly in the past, they were. Native peoples were treated poorly by colonial powers as a rule rather than an exception and this is seen throughout the world. Some were treated worse than others, but this is not the time nor the place to make comparison. This is an examination of the current protests, and protests in general, and their sustainability. Or more to the point, those who participate in them on a populist basis...

Why is that one day a year people feel that they can get all cross about how people have been treated, because it happens to be a particular celebration that day, yet they do nothing about the same cause for the rest of the year? I find this particularly populist and weak. We find this with many political issues and many causes. People will get on the bandwagon while it is popular, but as soon as it is out of the public eye, i.e. off the media, or finished for that particular day, then they stop making their complaints and demonstrations. This can be seen with many different political issues and many different causes.

I will cite a few causes to begin with... first let us begin with, the big one, Climate Change. This one seems to be on people's minds whenever there is a Climate Change Summit, or some government makes some decision about which way they are going on some paper, but then it dies down pretty quickly again. So, this one affects the entire planet. Yet, there is little said about it on a regular basis, only when the media picks up on some story and spreads it around the world for people to get agitated. So this one is left to the dedicated people, and us to recycle as we do normally.

Terrorism. Another global phenomenon. So everyone thinks that because COVID-19 has struck that the terrorists are all going to go back into hiding and give everyone a break? The extremists in countries are just going to put down their weapons? No, sorry, doesn't work like that. Even when the cameras are not pointed at the latest terrorist incident, they are still occurring. People don't get to hear about the thousands of terrorist incidents which happen in countries because they don't involve the right people, so there is no media coverage. Is anyone voicing protest about these incidents? Campaigning for their right to live in peace? 

Black Lives Matter. Months ago you could not go on social media without seeing posts about the horrid way people of colour were being treated by the law enforcement agencies in the United States. This spread all over the world, there was nowhere you could escape it. Now, you see the occasional bumper sticker, if you manage to get outside. The occasional post on social media, but this has died down. Not popular any more, who is doing anything about it?

Gun Control. One that always stirs the pot. There is a shooting at a shopping mall, or mostly at a school, mostly in the United States that gets screened around the world, thanks to the internet and the media, and people start looking at gun violence. Then they start trying to compare their own gun control laws with the United States. This one only rears its head when some person shoots lots of people. Other than that it is not popular enough, so who bothers?

Income Gap. Not as sexy as all the rest so it rarely gets media time. The media still has the policy, "If it bleeds, it leads." There is still an income gap, and it is only getting worse. The gap between the rich and the poor is not a gap it is a trench and it gets wider and wider and the politicians do not want to know, "In Australia there is no official measurement of the extent of poverty." (Parliament of Australia) Where is the fight and protest for them? Where is the argument for these people? Where is the action?

These are five causes which have been pointed out, all of which are current. Yet there is no media coverage. There is no social media coverage for them. There is only what is popular to complain or be offended about today, depending on what celebration day it is. If people were serious they would continue their protest beyond the single day causes, beyond the popular protest, beyond the popular media coverage and make it part of their lives, take political action, but most don't and most won't. This is the problem with the world. People care only when it is convenient and when it is popular, then it is forgotten. Words are cheap. When action is asked, then you find out who cares. There are a lot of keyboard warriors out there, few real ones.

Cheers,

Henry.

Weapons Control... Not Just Guns

Greetings,

The subject of gun control is not one I usually post about simply because it does not seem to be a subject which it is possible to have a calm discussion about as people become too emotional about it. Before I begin the core of this discussion I will note some important biases which will colour my opinions with regard to this matter. I have a family history with regard to firearms. My father was a part-time gunsmith, both my parents were licensed shooters. I fired my first rifle at the age of 8 years old and was taught my first lessons about firearm safety at the age of 7. I am also a Life Member of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA). With all of these details noted, we move on.

The first thing that needs to be noted is the subject of terminology, we are not talking about guns, we are talking about firearms. Firearm is the term knowledgeable people use when discussing this particular subject, gun is the generic term. Firearm is also the one which appears in the Weapons Act.

With regards to our Weapons Acts, as we have one for each state and territory of Australia. Almost every time there is some sort of mass shooting in the United States or elsewhere, people get up in arms about tightening our weapons laws. Why? Did it happen in Australia? How will tightening our weapons laws prevent something from happening in another country? Further, it should be noted that the last time we had a mass shooting in Australia, primarily in 1996, the Port Arthur massacre, and then in 2014 after the Lindt Cafe siege, some 18 years apart. Incidences such as these are used as "evidence" for the need for tighter weapons laws. In both instances the weapons were illegally obtained, thus obtained outside the law so tighter weapons laws would not have stopped them anyway.

Likewise to compare the SSAA and the NRA is ludicrous. Both organisations have their similarities but they also have their stark differences. From my own personal point of view, I am proud to be a member of the SSAA, I would never become a member of the NRA. I personally think that what the NRA does is push the bounds of the reasonable way too far. Needless to say Australia does not have gun ownership enshrined in its constitution unlike the United States, and this aspect is what gives the gun lobby in the United States its power. The gun lobby in Australia is not such a fearsome beast.

What needs to be noted is that the legislation in each of the states and territories in Australia is a Weapons Act not a Firearms Act. What does this mean? What this means is that they do not just cover firearms but other weapons as well. Crossbows are legal in Queensland so long as you are licensed, in New South Wales they are prohibited, they are not firearms. Swords are fine to be carried in a normal bag and taken care of as any other piece of sporting equipment, and so long as you are not waving it around in public without a good reason you will not be hassled about it. In Victoria, they need to be locked away in a lockable container in a similar way to firearms. This goes for the blunt weapons we use for medieval and Renaissance recreation as well. At one point in time consideration was made toward legislating bows, but was considered too difficult to enforce.

Firearms may be the popular target when it comes to the Weapons Act, but it does not mean that government agencies are not looking to restrict other weapons. This is one of the reasons why it is vital that anyone who is involved with any sort of weapons whatsoever is careful and treats them with respect. All it needs is for someone to draw the wrong sort of attention and restrictions can be brought against other weapons not just firearms.

When you consider your support for tougher firearms laws, or weapons laws as the case truly is consider what you are really asking for. Consider what you are asking the politicians to do. Consider that they may decide that the weapons which belong with your medieval and Renaissance hobby are too dangerous and you should not be able to use them anymore, or not without severe restriction. When we take action for a cause we should always consider what sort of flow-on effect this may have with other aspects which are related to that cause, things are more connected than you realise. It also means that we should all take care to ensure that we do not perform any action which may draw any unwanted attention our way. There is always someone willing to get annoyed with any excuse with what we are doing.

Cheers,

Henry.