“Melbourne comedian Richard McKenzie was jolted from behind with a stun gun in the city’s inner-north as he walked home from the Lord Newry Hotel in Fitzroy North in the early hours of Sunday,” theaustralian.com.au reports. “A group of men who had jumped out from a following car assaulted him and used the stun gun twice more before fleeing with his bag. ‘My arms and legs just wouldn’t work. I couldn’t grip anything. I couldn’t hold on to my bag. I couldn’t stand up.'” Hey this is no laughing matter! That said, a stand-up comedian who couldn’t stand up? But seriously, bastards. What’s more . . .
There are fears [that a] weekend robbery, which put a 37-year-old man in hospital with a dislocated shoulder, could be the start of a new crime wave as thugs exploit the availability of the electro-shock devices from overseas.
Hold the phone . . . You mean criminals will use something else if you ban civilian handgun ownership? Does that mean Australia’s gun control policies—which leave its law-abiding population unarmed against violent attacks—is working?
Melbourne youth worker Les Twentyman said a growing black market was emerging for such weapons as drug addicts become more desperate.
More desperate because . . . handguns are banned? Drugs are in short supply? That’s just the way they are? All news stories must contain the meme that “this sucks and it’s getting worse”?
Yes, it’s a trend! Mind you, it’s an old one. But any story that plays to Australians’ fear of crime, dependence on the state and xenophobia is worth pursuing.
“The use of Tasers for an assault like this is very rare,” Detective Senior Constable Sean Schimizzi told reporters on Monday.
“It is rare, but we are very concerned.”
In 2010, police in Victoria seized 200 stun guns, and South Australian authorities found hundreds more shipped from China and disguised as battery-operated torches.
“There is no legitimate use for stun guns in the community,” states the latest Customs and Border Protection Service annual report.
Well what do you expect from a device designed purely to restart people’s hearts in an emergency? Oh wait . . .
Stun guns are currently restricted in Oz (permit required in some states). They’ll be completely banned for civilians use in three . . . two . . . one . . .
INB4 back to daggers/steak knives.
Shortly followed by a ban on pointy sticks. No citizen may carry a concealed pointy stick within city limits. Outside city limits concealed carry of a pointy stick is OK, so long as the stick is less than 8 inches in total length, with a point less than 2 inches, and an average girth of less than 1 inch.
I can’t help but think of Monty Python…
“Ooh, ooh, ooh; want to learn how to defend yourself against pointed sticks, do we? Getting all high and mighty, eh? Fresh fruit not good enough for you, eh? Well let me tell you something my lad! When you’re walking home tonight and some great homicidal maniac comes after YOU with a bunch of loganberries, don’t come cryin’ to me!”
“I fart in your general direction.
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries”.
Priceless.
Better get the ball rolling on that Assault Brick Ban legislation. Its important to stay proactive.
OMG! These things are a total joke. As I’ve said before on this site, I got yelled at by a vendor at a gun show who was selling stun guns. Why? Because I started shocking myself in the arm with his demos. Kinda felt weird and tickled a bit. Anyway, my laughter probably cost him a sale or two..and maybe saved some poor sap’s life.
If robbers armed with these things tried to get me to fork over my wallet I’d probably just attempt to kick their ass with good old fashioned fists.
Why would criminals there go with these instead of knives?
The arm is about the worst place to use one of these things to disable someone. Had you shocked yourself in a large muscle group, like the thigh or back, you may have had a worse experience. You may also be particularly resistant to pain. For most people, including myself when I got Taser certified, getting shocked sucks massively. And with a Taser and proper separation of the contact points, it can be disabling for the duration of the power cycle.
Also for most people, the movies and television have made these things scary. To someone with a victim mindset who believes getting shot with a handgun will make them fly several feet backwards and die instantly, the mere arc across a stun gun’s electrodes may terrify them into submission without having to get shocked.
Don’t know if the law over there would look at a stun gun as not being a deadly weapon for prosecution.
The thing is there’s a world of difference between a taser and a stun gun.
And say the gun grabbers achieve their brand of utopia and all guns are removed from civilian hands. Then what. # healthy young men decide to overpower and take whatever they want from those less physically capable?
What of the 12 yo girl that’s just had her door kicked in by a 32 yo man with a history of violence against women.
What of the 92 yo veteran with 3 healthy young thugs in his house?
The list is endless. All you do by taking guns away from citizens is create more victims and create a safer work environment for the bad guys.
Just like not knowing the dif between a 10/22 and a pump shotgun, we also get the conflation between tasers and stun guns – media is awsumz!
“There is no legitimate use for stun guns in the community”
— “There is no legitimate use for ________ (fill in the blank) in the community” Where have I heard this line before?
“There is no legitimate use for pointy sticks in the community.”
It may be rare but it’s going to be more common. Tazers are cheap and easily disquised as other devices. They can even be home made.
Interesting side effects of trying to adapt your dangerous environment, instead of adapting to it. You might call that wishful thinking.
Maybe if everybody open carries stun guns, it will deter these less-than-upstanding urbanites.
Correct me if I am wrong.
1 —- There was a Federal “committee” that recommended that a non-lethal weapon suitable for civilians to use for self-defense should be developed.
2 —- The “stun gun” was then developed and marketed to fill this perceived need.
3 —- A few NYC cops were nailed for using one of these “stun guns” as a torture instrument in an “interrogation” of a prisoner.
4 —- Laws were swiftly passed to ban such devices, not only in NYC but nationwide.
Is there any weapon that cannot be used for EITHER self-defense, OR criminal assault ?
Why do we not punish such criminal assault, instead of eliminating the possibility of using any given instrument for the lawful purpose of self-defense?
Comments are closed.