“Robust” gun laws, and cultural diversity would reduce Australia’s risk to terrorism Justice Minister, Michael Keenan said today.
Minister K
eenan told Sky News that the combination meant it would be very difficult to “perpetrate something like we saw in Paris here in Australia”.
“We manage our diversity in Australia better than anywhere in the world and part of our process of going through and strengthening our anti-terror laws has been that reassurance to the Muslim community and working very closely with them,” he said.
“It would be very hard to get those sorts of weapons here in Australia because of our very robust gun laws.”
If only terrorists conformed to the wishful thinking of Minister Keenan.
Last time I checked, terrorists weren’t especially concerned about “law”, especially the laws of western nations. All those laws about not killing and maiming people, or committing acts of terror; terrorists frankly don’t care about them. Gun laws and gun control – again, are matters that terrorists wouldn’t give a second or even first thought.
Assault rifles such as AK-47s, as well as suicide vests are not legal for civilian use in France (just in case you were wondering), and their prohibited status certainly wasn’t a concern of the terrorists in plotting and executing their attacks in Paris.
Furthermore, Australia’s strict gun laws did not prevent terrorists acquiring and using illegal firearms in Australia’s two most recent terrorists attacks.
Last December, Man Monis held hostages in Martin Place and shot Tori Johnson in the back of the head, killing him with a sawn-off shotgun.
In October, Farhad Mohammad shot police worker Curtis Cheng in the back of the head with a 38 revolver, killing him instantly.
Both these weapons are illegal in Australia. Perhaps the terrorists missed the minister’s memo?
Back in the real world, strict gun laws that only stop law abiding citizens from acquiring firearms are going to have virtually no impact on preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons and using them in future attacks.