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A question for the AU peers

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by gbrownlee 1 view

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There is a story/rumour circulating here in the heartland of resistance to Canada's gun registration. So I am asking if the following is true.

a. The AU government forced gun owners to register their guns.
b. They then confiscated these guns.
c. The AU government is searching for markets for wild kangaroo meat, because with no hunters, the population has exploded.

Greg

21 replies

by black panther

In Au Gun Registration is compulsory. All semi-automatic and automatic were confiscated on a buy-back scheme.

More details here

http://www.gunsandcrime.org/aussiegc.html

http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/cib/1995-96/96cib16.htm

Also yes the Kangaroo population is exploding, along with rabbits, dingo fences exist in Australia and also the imported Cane Toad.

more info here

UNE surveys confirm that kangaroo numbers on Mulyungarie have increased from 20 per sq km to more than 50 per sq km in the past eight years. That increase is in line with a kangaroo population explosion across Australia, with total numbers fast approaching 40 million.

http://www.kangaroo-industry.asn.au/media/Bulletin_24401.html

by hereinoz

Point a. True - all gun owners had to register their guns, or run the risk of having an illegal firearm. So you required both a licence to own a gun, and the gun had to be registered.

Point b. Kinda true. Confiscation is a bit strong. Automatic and semi-automatic rifles and most handguns were unable to be registered and had to be handed in - the owners were paid for them.

Ordinary bolt action rifles and other "non-automatic" rifles were allowed to be kept provided you had the necessary permits, but there are fairly strict rules as to how you can keep them. They have to be locked up in a specified type of case - you can't just have them sitting on the wall. If you didn't want to be bothered doing this, then you could hand them in and you would be paid for them.

Most handguns had to be handed in unless you had a bloody good reason for having one - member of a pistol club, or something like that.

So, yes, there are still people who have guns around Australia, but we don't sell them in K-Mart, or places like that. In fact, there are not too many gun shops around Adelaide - at last count there were about 15, in a city of more than 1 million people. Personally I think that this is a good thing - it makes people come up with far more inventive ways of killing people :) Like vats of acid in disused bank vaults and things like that. (Trust me - that happened).

Point c. Probably true. The Kangaroo is not an endangered species in Australia, and it is highly probable that our trade people are out there looking for markets for roo meat. Given that we are now a significant primary producer of grain, beef and lamb, too many kangaroos can really spoil your day, (pity they were here first) and also given that they have indeed been here far longer than white fellas, sheep or cows, they are damnably well adapted, and breed very successfully.

If we feel we need to shoot them, and indeed there are a powerful lot of them, it is better to use the meat rather than pile them up and burn them. The meat, by the way, is very low in fat and cholesterol, and quite good eating, if you like strongly flavoured red meat dishes.

And last but not least, please save me from the comments about eating our national emblem on our coat of arms. That is an accident of history.

Maybe we should do what England did and choose animals like the Lion and the Griffon. You don't see many Lions in England these days, (did you ever?) so they are safe from having to kill and eat one of them, and I haven't noticed any Griffons about lately either. That was smart. Us silly buggers picked two real live animals, so that when we shoot them and eat them, the whole world is up in arms.

The explosion in Kangaroo numbers is not really as a result of the gun regulations, though. It would have happened anyway. More, it is caused by us growing lots of good food and storing lots of water for them to drink, hence they breed up.

This post got a bit rambly & out of hand. Hope you don't mind!

by husp1

yes brits did think something through compleatly. (for a change) but since I was born british and then later became a US citizen I can only claim half credit. by and by what is the secound animal? not a kewi is it?

by hereinoz

It is an Emu. We don't kill all that many of them, but there is a trade in Emu Oil, which is supposed to have thereateutic effects.

God knows how they press the Emus to get the oil out of them :)

Back on the numbers of kangaroos:

There is a motor race here in Australia each October, in a town in New South Wales called Bathurst. It involves about 30 large V8 saloon cars - somewhat modified - tearing around a rural road - also somewhat modified - for about 6 hours at speeds up to 290Km/Hr.

After about 4 hours of this shattering noise and fumes and all the thousands of humans gathered around the track, not to mention the previous days practice and qualifying, a kangaroo hopped across the track in front of a car doing about 180 Km/Hr.

The collision was rather significant and damaging to both the roo and the car, so if roos hang around those areas under those conditions, there must be a fair few of them.

Hence the problem of culling in the first place.

Alan

by protiusx

Here in the states we have been experimenting with alternative meat products such as Ostrich and Emus. Ostrich is very good but do to a lack of supply rather expensive. Now if you could figure out a way to cheaply transport the animals or the meat to the US for a reasonable price I?m sure we will eat it up. I would be willing if the price was reasonable.

by hereinoz

Roos are a bit difficult to transport, because they are not really a herd animal, and tend to brawl when put together.

So it would have to be meat export I think rather than live animal export. We have enough trouble with live sheep exports let alone kangaroos.

You can even make an excellent soup out of the tail. Skin it, boil it up in an appropriately spiced concoction of water and vegies and it is quite nice. The tail is way too muscled to be able to eat as meat, but it does make a great soup.

by hal 9000

For human consumption but the tariffs make it almost impossible to export it to the States.

I suspose that your Government is protecting its own Roo meat industry. But seriously if they allowed Roo meat in it would adversely impact on the Beef industry.

But watch out the Crocodile, Emu and Possum meat industry is beginning to get going and within a few years they will be very big. Currently most of their output goes to SE Asia so we do not get to see too much of their products either.

Col

by gbrownlee

I look forward to the opportunity to set the facts straight hereabouts. The redneck types would have us believe that even hunting rifles were confiscated and the roo population explosion was caused by a lack of hunting pressure.

I have registered my firearms and they have to be stored under secure conditions. But very few around here have. In fact, the local gun repair shop has a sign out front that states: If your gun is registered or you plan on registering it, don't bring it in here.

Greg

by hal 9000

That if you are the criminal type you could import a machine pistol in parts from somewhere around the world. Most likely it would not be picked up by customs particularly if it was marked as something gun related.

When you receive all the parts assemble it and then go into any gun shop and buy 100,000 rounds of ammo without causing a single incident. Buying the ammo is perfectly legal in any amount. What happened was typical of most Governments who have a Knee Jerk reaction to an incident and rush off without thinking. All that has been achieved is that the "Legal" people have gone without but even the buyback scheme was a farce as there where some small engineering companies running off M16 barrels without heat treating for something like $10.00 per piece and getting paid $120.00 per piece. The same applied to machine gun belts/clips whatever they are called I know of at least one company who was making them for $1.50 and getting well in excess of $20.00 per unit. They where working flat out and making a mint. But what I found really ridiculous was that they where buying the scrap from the Government agency to melt down at knock down prices to remake the units that they where selling to the exact same agency for a massive profit.

The Roo's and Wallabies are a common thing as they are very well adapted to the conditions here and breed like wild fire because we make a totally artificial environment from what they where used to and essentially if there is water available they will breed. Because we run vast areas of cattle and sheep we place regular water supplies for these animals so the Roo's just take advantage of the situation.

But we have had a fairly major drought for the last few years now particularly on the East Coast so I would think that the Roo numbers are down quite a lot right at the moment. If you take a drive along our longer roads away from the populated areas you'll see your fair share of "Road Kill" Roo's and the like because they are attracted to the roadside where the grass is to feed and get hit by trucks & cars as they pass.

Here in Brisbane we have a fair number of Koalas hit on roads mostly at the early evening as they attempt to cross roads to get to trees on the other side. It is so common that there are numerous organizations around who look after these injured animals {a lot of the time a mother will get killed and there will be a baby either in the pouch or on her back these quite often survive and require a lot of caring} and the local Vets have to treat them for free because they are wild native animals.

Really the bottom line is that the Roo problem is self induced and has nothing at all to do with the so called "Gun Control" measures that where introduced by this current Government. Even the Semi Auto's are legal provided you have a need for them like Roo hunters. The real problem is wild pigs however as you need something with a lot of stopping power to kill them anything smaller than a 303 only makes them more unhappy and they where never all that happy in the first place.

I actually suggested to Ms Bishop at one meeting that instead of wasting all the money on the Gun Buy Back Scheme it would be far more cost effective to forget about the firearms and license the ammo and reloads. After all any firearm is useless with out the ammo but that was far too simple for them to accept.

Currently I have a 400 Year Old French Dulling Flintlock Pistol with a flared barrel hanging on my wall and I have yet to receive a single comment about it from any Police person who been here. However locally the police had all of their firearms locked away in a Police Station over night and when they came in next morning the safe containing the weapons and ammo had been stolen, they never recovered those weapons and it is a sure bet that they where not taken by collectors.

Col

by jardinier

I posted that link about questions surrounding what is commonly referred to as "The Port Arthur Massacre," to support similar claims in the link provided by subtropicalmist.

While the conspiracy theory seems to be well documented, I believe that there may have been another factor involved.

This shooting occurred very soon after John Howard was first elected Prime Minister. At the time (and I have since found no reason to change my view) I suspected that the gun buy-back scheme was initiated by Howard just to demonstrate that he was a tough leader. I felt that he had over-reacted to the situation.

At the time I felt strongly that the man he replaced, Labor PM Paul Keating, would not have taken this radical step just for his own kudos.

As for the flavour of roo meat, the proprietor of a local takeaway assures me that it is most agreeable, and offered to let me sample it.

However, as I am in many ways a creature of habit, I preferred to stick with what I know.

by hereinoz

Up north in the Territory, Jules, the local indigenous eat Flying Fox, (a type of bat for the uninitiated). They say that the taste is pretty ordinary but the smell comes out through your skin and keeps mosquitoes away.

Having smelt someone who has eaten Flying Fox, it is not only the mosquities who want to stay away, let me tell you!!

Apparently what it actually does is mask the presence of high levels of CO2, which is what the mosquito uses to track you down.

I wonder if that would have International potential as a preventative for malaria :)

Alan

by hal 9000

Was handed into Victorian Police and marked for destruction but was sold to some one out of state for a huge profit to someone with a history of shooting in the general direction of people that he didn't like.

If it had of been anyone else he would have been before the courts so fast that his feet wouldn't have touched the ground. The whole thing stank to me as a setup that was waiting to happen by stupid people in authority namely the Police and Governments Involved.

If you get the chance to have some Roo properly cooked grab it you'll love it but the trick is to know how to cook it properly and not end up with a tough uneatable piece of charred meat. About 10 years ago now there was a push on to farm Roo's for their skin and meat because they have soft paws they do far less damage to the land and are a far easier animal to look after. Cattle and Sheep just wreck the place and you need to rest a paddock that they have been in for about 3 times as long as you have stock in the paddock just so it can recover.

Col

by hal 9000

Quite a few years ago now at Bathurst a cow wonder onto the back straight and was collected by a car somewhere around the bottom of Conrod about where the Caltex Chase is now.

That caused quite a few comments and all the live stock after that had to be moved prior to any race meeting. There was also the "Famous" rock incident where Dick Johnson found one on the middle of the track over the top of the hill just at a place where there was nowhere to move. I don't suspose you've ever seen it but on the other side of that concreat wall on the left hand side there is something like a 100 foot drop onto the top of trees and they are not all that short I might add.

I of course had to have a look one Easter durring the old bike meet that they used to have and that wall is just high enough to keep the bike on the track but of course the rider would get thrown straight over the top. Kind of makes you very cautious at that part of the circuit.

Col

by jardinier

Elvis Presley used to shoot TVs to let off steam.

Now if all computer techies carried pump-action shotguns, the number of computers in use would drop dramatically, and techies would feel great at the end of the day, instead of tearing out their hair.

by hal 9000

I can just imagine letting a problem unit having it with both barrels of a 12 gauge shotgun.

At one of the places where I used to work I did try to back a 40 tom excavator over one but they wouldn't give me the keys for the bloody thing!

While it would have fixed the computer properly I sure as hell would have felt a lot better.

Col

by jardinier

Our American friends might like to know that despite their unusal and unique structure, kangroos are by no means sluggish.

"The best known of the Australian kangaroos is the red (or plains) kangaroo. Big Red, or Old Man Red, is depicted on the Australian coat of arms. He is the biggest of the kangaroos. The male has bright wine-red coloring and the female is smoky-blue. The females, or Blue Fliers, can travel up to 48 kilometres an hour (30 miles per hour), or move at almost the same speed as a racing greyhound."

It is quite a sight to see these creatures effortlessy loping past you when you are driving at moderate speeds in the outback.

by hal 9000

The fact that fences in no way even begin to slow them down.

I'm surprised that no one here has mentioned just how dangerous those things can be as well. They just sit back on their tails and rake you with their rear paws and tear you to bits.

Once a long time ago I hit a Grey in a Lotus Europa and it slid up the bonnet through the windscreen and after we jumped out of the car it proceeded to kick the car to bits. While there was very little external damage to the car it was completely underivable and the inside was a total mess.

Col

by hereinoz

I have been told by a station owner that he has lost a cattle dog to a roo in the past. Apparently the two had a coming together beside a dam on the property, and the roo got the best of the dog, then put it in the water and drowned it.

Apparently this is a fairly common technique used to deal with dingoes if the raw material (water) is available.

It could be an "rural myth", Col, but I know the bloke, and you can tell when he is having you on, and he did sem fairly genuine on this occasion.

You were actually quite lucky to get out of that Europa unscathed, Col. There have been people seriously hurt when a roo came through the windscreen at speed, and not because of the impact with the roo, but because of what it does out of sheer terror once it is inside the car.

I have seen a dog disembowelled due to what looked like a disagreement with a roo. As you say, they will even hold the animal with their front paws and rake its belly with their rear legs. Pretty impressive damage, I must say, although the dog probably didn't think so at the time.

They are not gentle furry creatures, that is for sure.

by hal 9000

You should try driving in what we call the "BUSH" at night. It gets really exciting seeing a whole bunch jump out in front of your car into the headlights and hopefully disappear again just as fast.

Unfortunately they often do not all quite make it and you end up with a very damaged car.

The worst one I've ever had was going up a mountain range when a truck coming the other way cleaned up a Roo and threw in into my path. I lost both front tire's {with leg bones sticking through the walls of them} and after I changed the wheels I drove the next 120 K's smelling burning Roo on the exhaust. The next day I spent a couple of hours with a steam cleaner cleaning the underside of the car from all the bits of Roo that had become lodged under it.

Col

by hal 9000

Was the police where directly behind and I just reefed on the handbrake and bailed out. We where going fairly slow at the time Thank God! But the cop was another matter as he at first seemed to think we where mucking around until I asked him to remove the Roo.

Personally I wouldn't doubt that story one little bit as I've seen some interesting things that Roo's actually do, but in all honesty the pigs are far worse as they will attack anything just for the hell of it without regard for themselves. I've seen one big old bore rush out and disembowel a horse which was being ridden at the time the rider had his leg broken in several places, we had to lift the dead horse off him after shotting it, the pig on the other hand got away and I didn't see it again. Which was a good thing as I only had a .22 at the time and that was useless against the pig unless I got very lucky and I wasn't all that interested in shooting close to a thrashing horse and a man under it.

Apparently the pigs are not thought of as such a bad thing by most overseas people but they are by far worse than any of our native species although wild Koalas can be a real handful when you upset them. At the Burdekin Dam just after it was built several Park Rangers where given the job of relocating the trapped Koalas on the land as the water rose. Well one of the guys mishandled one of the males and it fell onto him dug its claws into his shoulders and upper legs and then bit him in the groin. After we got him free we had to disinfect him where the koala had pissed on him and then rush him to the nearest hospital only 90 K's away where he was admitted for 3 weeks and got well in excess of 100 stitches. I saw him latter and he was full of praise for the nursing staff for the way he was treated particularly the groin injury but I'll leave that to another time and not on this forum.

Col

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