Johnny Howards "buy back" was a big con.
(how do you buy something "back"- if you never owned it in the first place)
The legislation in Western Australia had never been passed- but the govt. and police led the public to believe that if we didnt hand in our legally owned private property by the due date- the police would be knocking on doors to take them.
The W.A. police are still leaning on many of those who refused to voluntarily surrender thier property in the "buyback".
I had to hand in my much loved ruger 10/.22, and an ex US marine corp Ithica 37 shotgun- both were pretty well worn out- both had spare barrels and there were several .22 mags included.
I didnt want to hand them in- and resented being forced to do so (still do)
but at least the payout cheque bought me a pair of 5.56mm and 7.62mm target rifles, reloading gear, several thousand rounds of match grade ammo for each rifle and better commercial grade safes.
since off loaded those rifles- too fancy for me!
There were thousands of antique, historic and heirloom firearms that were needlessly destroyed in the "buyback" here in W.A.
From what I understand- not much was handed in by crims- just scared people being bluffed by the govt. into voluntarily being stripped of thier legally owned property.
Many people do not realise that in W.A. the police have a policy of letting you dump unwanted firearms at a police station for disposal- no questions asked. Of course they would prefer to know the firearms history- but they understand that you might not want the drama, and are happy enough that it is "off the streets"
There is a constant and steady trickle of old, un-needed firearms being disposed of in this way- but these dont get the sort of publicity that is generated by the police finding a firearm in a crims possession.
I have always wondered why a crim can be shot by another crim in a nightclub, and get away with it relatively easily.
There should have been charges (and hopefully convictions) for unlicensed possession of a concealable firearm, posession of a prohibited firearm, unlawfull use, unlawful wounding, discharging a firearm to cause fear, possession of unlicensed ammo, disposing of a firearm unlawfully, concealing evidence- and possibly a heap of other charges.
If I make the slightest mistake with my firearms, Mr Plod would land on me from a great height!
is it a case of criminals operate outside the law- so the law doesnt apply like it does to me?
P.S. little goats are cute, but much more cuterer on a spit