SO IT GOES

Yesterday a person walked onto a University campus in Virginia USA and murdered 32 people then shot himself. That made me angry. It made me think back to this guy Martin Bryant and what he did in Port Arthur 11 years ago and then I thought about how close my own brother was to being there on that day. Only a late decision to go to Port Arthur on the Saturday and not the Sunday meant he wasn't part of that carnage.

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It made me think of the US and my trip there a few years ago and how I met some really nice Americans. Sadly though even the nice Americans have a fear instilled in them, a fear that makes them own guns. "If you don't have one you're in trouble because the other guy will".

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Lucky I live in Australia right? Well except for the Martin Bryants. But I rest easy that it's now damn hard for people like Bryant to get a gun and go on a rampage in Australia, not impossible but a shitload harder than it is in the US.

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I think this book and site - Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes - is .... well very very sad. The pictures and quotes speak for themselves. More pics and quotes at the above link.

Beth, Paul, Gavin and Emma

AK-47, Bersa .380, Ruger P345

Paul: My family had guns the whole time I was a kid. then i went off and joined the army and went away and come back. I have guns now largely for the same reason I have fire extinguishers in the house and spare tires in the car. I'm a self reliant kind of guy. and there could come a time when I need to protect my family and i'm a self reliant kind of guy.

Beth: I have one for self protection. I was raised to never rely on anyone else to protect me or watch my back. It took me a year to pick out one that I liked.

Dan and his Mossberg Model 88, Bushmaster AR-15, Rock Island Armory / Sendra M16, Remington 700 PSS, Springfield XD, FN Five-seveN, H&K USP, Sig Sauer P226, Colt Commander 1911, and Glock 22

Dan: I consider the ownership of arms not only a right, but the duty of a free people to themselves and future generations

Bashir, his Bushmaster CAR-15 and Cisco

Bashir: I just think it's a good thing to have.

Stan with his Taurus PT38s .38 Super

Stan: I think everybody should have a gun. It levels the playing field.