“Gun control has long been about control rather than guns.” That’s the key point articulated by former Senator David Leyonhjelm in his address to the 2024 National Gun Conference, and he believes it is the major issue underlying gun control efforts in Australia and globally.
“Our problem is that many people, perhaps even the majority of Australians, believe that the case for gun control is so obvious it needs no justification,” he said.
“As they see it, proper gun control would bring an end to [all shootings], resulting in a safer and kinder society.
“What we are really talking about is perceptions, feelings — and it is only about guns. Murders in which other types of methods are used, such as knives or flammable liquids, rarely spark calls for their restrictions.”
Mr Leyonhjelm said the situation was compounded by the fact most people — including those calling for ever-tighter gun laws — simply have no idea what are current laws are.
“If you ask them to explain the current gun laws, almost none of them could do it. Never having owned a gun, they’ve not had to deal with the laws,” he said.
“The fact is, most of the opposition to gun ownership is irrational — based on ignorance and devoid of facts.
“For most people, their only knowledge of guns is what they’ve seen on TV and in movies.
“In Australia I’d guess less than 1 in 20 have ever fired a gun — they don’t know what it feels like or sounds like.”
This meant people didn’t realise how loud guns are, the hearing damage they can cause, or the reality that suppressors do not turn shooters into silent assassins.
This is exacerbated by public servants — the ones who come up with the laws — who tend to be no better informed than the general public, leading to things like suppressors essentially being banned for 99% of gun owners in the country.
The lack of knowledge of guns includes many police, Mr Leyonhjelm said, who were given to “massive overreactions” regarding incidents involving firearms.
“Even an unsubstantiated rumour of a gun leads to a lockdown that can last hours and leads to officers roaming around in balaclavas with M-16 rifles like they’re going off to fight a war,” he said.
“What we are talking about is gun control based on feelings, not facts… This is very much a 21st Century phenomenon.
“Only this century was the law invoked to protect people from offence and hurt feelings. Previously we did not hear demands for safe spaces, for freedom from micro-aggressions and hate speech.”
Mr Leyonhjelm said ultimately this was what a lot of the key motivations for gun control boiled down to — some people simply do not like guns, and the law protects their feelings.
“When they say ‘I am afraid of guns’ or ‘guns offend me’, we can no longer tell them that it’s their problem and to get over it — now, it’s our problem,” he said.
You can watch David Leyonhjelm’s speech as part of the National Gun Conference broadcast on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t_xiWWOj-8&t=239s
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