“Something is broken in our firearm laws when people are allowed to build up their own private arsenals. It is seriously frightening to think that there are 100 people across the state, who aren’t collectors or firearms dealers, who own more than 70 guns each.” – Green Party MP David Shoebridge in Private gun arsenals of hundreds of weapons stockpiled in suburban Sydney [at smh.com.au]

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85 COMMENTS

  1. Last time I checked humans only have two hands, so anything above 2 is just redundant as far as ability to criminally use at one time.

    • Had a debate with a family member about something along these lines. I was talking about how history shows the importance for the people to be as well or better armed than their government and they said “what good’s a gun going to do someone against a tank?”
      “That’s why you have 10 guns”
      “You can shoot 10 guns at once???”
      “No but my neighbors can”
      …no response. Of course if anything, this would more likely illustrate the importance for people to have tank-busting weapons.

      • If I have 10 guns, and the government confiscates 5 of them, how many do I have left? 37, I lied about the 10 part.

      • Tanks are generally poor use against people or heavy populated areas. You don’t need to shoot a tank to stop it, they have several vulnerabilities to people on foot that doesn’t require the need to breach armor. Is why you rarely see our tanks in a populated area with out infantry support to protect it from getting disabled. So the argument of “you can’t shoot a tank” is just dumb to start with.

      • Actually firearms ARE useful against tanks! If the tank is buttoned down you can shoot the driver’s periscopes and potentially blind the driver forcing him to A) drive blind or B) come out of the hatch exposing him to fire.
        The commander will likely remotely operate his crew served weapon but he also would use a similar system to the driver which is vulnerable to small arms fire and a well placed shot will take out the crew served too…
        A .50BMG may be enough to disabled the track if the shot is placed just right.
        And that being said, The Gunner’s scope can be shot out too…
        While this alone is not enough to destroy the tank, It will give someone on the ground a chance to place a satchel charge but you would likely have to neutralize the patrol that is likely pulling security on the ground…
        Problem is, The vehicles are often in a convoy that has everything from HMMWV’s with mounted weapons, M2A3 Bradley’s and probably some MRAPs too but if you can take out the lead vehicle you can pin them down at the very least…At this point ground forces could very easily overwhelm them, It would be risky and the militia forces would likely sustain heavy casualties but if successful they could capture several armored vehicles and mount a more effective resistance, They may also obtain some anti-armor weapons as well.
        While very dangerous and citizens would be at a major disadvantage, A guerilla offensive could prove quite effective even with basic small arms and improvised explosives, Many veterans know that IED’s wreak havoc on ground units overseas and that would likely be the best way to resist vehicular threats, IED’s could be made simply with black powder which is easily produced with naturally occurring products and you could also make Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFP’s) with an explosive and a copper disc which has been known to destroy armor with ease…Remember that Guerilla fighters have waged such effective warfare on us that in many cases we were never able to win, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan all used these types of tactics with a high degree of success and it wouldn’t be impossible to smuggle anti-tank weapons in the country since rule of law would not apply anyway…

        • I’m sure the alarm bells at NSA are ringing themselves apart with that post.

          That said, I’d add that many of the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan probably know how to properly build the IED’s you mention. Add to this that in the US, they’d also have access to far more sophisticated tools and electronic components and would know exactly where to target on a vehicle.

          Instead of pressure plates, they’d be able to use an induction coil and control circuit to only set off the charge when some really big piece of metal (tank or big truck) rolled over it. This would be extremely difficult to counteract, and if made properly, difficult to detect. Use of a non-conductive (ceramic, fiberglass, etc) body would greatly reduce detection chances

          Of course, you also can’t rule out the availability of ANFO in the US either, it would be far easier and safer for an insurgent fighter to manufacture.

    • Yeah I’ve never understood the gun ignorant and their preoccupation with the number of guns I own. It’s always the first question I get when they find out I’m a gun guy. I usually tell them I don’t know, I’ve never counted them. My only measure is can I get them all in the safe. Yeah the safe is either maxed out or not. Then I hit them with what difference does it make how many I have? I can only carry 3 or 4 at a time and can only shoot 2 at the same time and not even well.

      I cap it off with the guy with 100 guns doesn’t worry me a bit. He loves guns too much to risk doing anything that would get them all scooped up by the ATF and locked away. Now, the guy with just one gun…I’m keeping an eye on that guy, cuz he bought that gun for a reason.

      Show me a dude with 100 pipe bombs and we can all start worrying, but forget about the gun collectors.

  3. I’d hope some of them are self-propelled by the time you hit 70. What is the point otherwise?

  5. Yet there is no spate of shootings, mass or otherwise. How is that possible? Doesn’t the possession of even one gun drive its owner to murder? (See: Reefer Madness)

    Why so many pols get so wrapped up in what _could_ happen instead of what _is_ happening? (That was semi-rhetorical.)

    • I know it’s rhetorical, but I can’t help it….

      To admit what IS happening would be to admit total failure in every single one of their policies.

    • Why fly all the way there? Shit in a bag, and mail it to him with a note. Sent by UPS of course, because, well, brown.

  7. It is pretty frightening to hear that.

    Even with the restrictions in place, even though they do so much to try and stop people from possessing any firearm, there are at least 100 people just in that bit of Australia with more than 70 guns, who are not recognized dealers or collectors.

    You don’t think that HRC, et al, know this? And yet they continue down the path that patterning restrictions like this are a good idea? Put more obstacles in the way, generate more revenue, ensure the wealthy can obtain more firepower unabated, while denying the poor among us the ability to do so. And all the while saying this will remove guns from our streets – they not only lie to us, they lie to their own.

    And they want to be trusted to live in the WH?

  8. Not trying to incite a riot or limit liberty, but 70 guns is a lot. I never understood the point of “collecting.” When you die, your family then has the hassle of disposing of them or handing them down. And what did you get out of it? Guaranteed you weren’t proficient with most of them. Why not instead have a few you’re good at using; treat them as the tools they are and not as gods. It would be like me collecting every variant of Bostitch hardwood floor staple and cleat nailers yet not having enough money to buy an air compressor to run them. But what you use and use what you buy. You do what you like (free-ish country), but 30, 40, 50, 70 guns is a fetish.

    • I know people who collect dozens of sneakers that they do not and will not wear. At least people who collect that many guns will shoot them once or twice.

    • So is it better to have a house full of sports memorabilia that does nothing other than sit there?

      Are you proficient with your framed SuperBowl tickets, or even that autographed football in the corner?

      Perhaps it’s a hobby like anything else, with people appreciating the design and craftsmanship that goes into various firearms.

    • I like variety. While I’m not at even 20 yet, I’m approaching that number. When ammo became hard to find, I was glad that I had various guns in different calibers so I always had something I could shoot.

    • Why do people collect cars? Why do people collect stamps? Why do people collect Air Jordan shoes? Why do single women collect cats? Why do people have hobbies? Why do people do things?

      • Probably because they are introverted? I don’t know. Always puzzled me. If I don’t use it, I pitch it or sell it.

        • That’s horseshit. Anyone who has a collection is therefore introverted??? Please.

          We are not all the same as David B, and shouldn’t be forced to be so either.

        • No, you are just a bigot.

          A loud-mouthed bigot dictating how others should live their lives. What do you do that is so great and wonderful that you can belittle and insult others?? I bet I can come up with ways to say what you do in your spare time is stupid, ignorant, or a waste of time as well.

          Maybe you can’t fathom collecting because you are an idiot with a small mind who wastes his days watching sports or doing other shit that morons do but are so insecure they have to talk down to those who would rather do more meaningful things that require plan, thought, the thrill of the hunt, and enjoying their time not just drinking beer and watching the game like what all the other morons in this country do.

          • I think it’s funny when people use words that project their own tendencies on others. I’m not intolerant of others–that seems to be what you are. I just don’t understand the overwhelming need to accumulate things that all essentially do the same thing. How many 9mm’s do you really need?

            To me, collecting anything is like playing a video game where you can’t wait to reach level 80 Horde mage (WoW). But I don’t get what it does for you. What does it really matter? It’s just more stuff to worry about getting stolen. At least that’s how I see it.

        • And what is wrong with being introverted? Being introverted doesn’t equal anti-social, idiot. Have you heard the average intelligence of Americans lately? I would rather keep to myself than be around a bunch of idiots talking about nonsensical, ignorant babble.

        • You are the one projecting, not myself. I am not the one belittling others for collecting like you are.

          Funny how you can’t answer my questions while you keep digging your hole of bigotry. Keep watching those sports and drinking that beer. So much better time spent.

        • You know something, David? You sound like the guy I had a conversation with who couldn’t understand why some people didn’t want to live in the 600 sq. ft. that he thought was a right and proper living space. Sorry, but my cars take up a lot more space than that. Then there’s the guitars . . . and, of course, the guns.

    • Air tools neither increase in value, or maintain their value. (I own and use a lot of them.) Guns that are tools typically don’t gain much value either. But if I had $10,000 to invest today, I would buy as many AR’s as I could find. And I could sell them for probably 100%-300% profit on November 9th, 2016 if ANYONE besides Cruz gets elected. And that’s just one of dozens of reasons to own a gun besides using it as a tool.

      • You’re right, I am one of those guys. It’s not an unlimited right. Abuse your wife, do drugs, have any DUI’s, are a felon, are a non-citizen, beat your kids, have mental health issues, etc you shouldn’t have access to a gun.
        I have no issue with legalizing any and all drugs. Give the government it’s cut to start. But there would be a trade off. First, if you sign on to be a legal drug user, you agree to sterilization and giving up any kids you have. Second, you lose all gun rights. Third, you lose the right to vote. Fourth, you lose your drivers license. Stupid people who use drugs should note trusted with anything especially firearms and voting and kids.

        • So what you are telling us, Dave, is you have arbitrary opinions you want to force on the rest of us?

          Also, I can make a gun in my garage. Other people can too. How you going to stop that?

          • Never said I wanted to force you to change your opinion or to accept mine. Just commenting on what I value.
            Whether you make guns in your garage or not is no concern of mine. In fact, I’d love to join you sometime just to see how it’s done.

        • There is no excuse for ignorance, Dave. None. I’d advise you to do even a modicum of research into various drugs, their uses and effects, before spouting off such insanity. Hint: watching Reefer Madness doesn’t count.

          • I don’t get why you’re all chuffed up. I support the full and unfettered legalization of all drugs and you’re mad because? What–the government gets a cut? It’s no different from folks who drink alcohol shouldn’t drive. Give a little and gain a lot, right?

        • Working backwards, you compare your observations to drunk driving. While a person currently cannot legally operate a vehicle while under the influence of any substance (not just alcohol), you have suggested that once a person decides to have consumed drugs – at any point in their lives – they would suffer a series of permanent bans. That is hardly the legalization you proclaim to support.

          Regarding many of your restrictions on firearm possession, you ignore the possibility of any kind of reform. That seems rather extreme and in line with the current view supported by many gun control advocates, but somehow still too far for even them. Unless, you are simply advocating for denial of weapons during the commission of any of those heinous and violent acts.

    • Hey your right, I tell you what, let’s just make it so when someone dies the government comes in and takes all their stuff away. That way their families don’t have to go though all the grief of disposing or handing it down.

      Heck when I die my daughter will have to dispose of my wolf sander, 2 clark edgers, 3 power nailer 50p, 2 powernaile 445 and 2 445 staplers., my hand tools, routers, table saws, jointer, moulder, planner, as well as all the personal stuff. My truck, my mustang, cloths, kitchen stuff, furniture, guns, and heck even my razor. Taking control of bank, savings acoounts, ira, sep and stocks.

      Then after all that reminiscing she has to sell them, give them away or keep them, boo hoo, this was daddy’s and now he’s dead. “Oh I hate the hassle, I wish the government would take all the hard choices away and just take care of me!!”

    • First – Who cares what someone wants to spend their money on and collect? If it makes you happy? be happy. Is a room full of guns any more or less dangerous than a room full of fertilizer and diesel? Are the steak knives in your kitchen any more or less dangerous than that old naked picture of your first girlfriend you are holding on to?

      Have a hobby. Be happy. Be an adult. Its cheaper and more productive than spending that time and money on therapy.

      I have over 80 HO scale locomotives. Track can only run about 12 at a time. Do I need to justify my overage of 68 locomotives?

      Second – It is not an arsenal unless they are all the same.

      • Agree….I have a large collection of military history books and magazines. So what?
        I suppose I have a vast library which a liberal would consider an arsenal of dangerous information.

      • Apparently to this Dave B. moron if you are not some bozo who drinks beer, watches sports, and only buys what you need then you are an “introverted” loser because talking about the Kardashians or whatever hoopla he wastes his time on is such a better way to live life.

        Obviously he knows more than we do so we should just accept what he says as truth because his bigotry can’t see past his nose that people are different.

        BTW nice collection on your HO trains. I am building a layout myself and building up a roster of locomotives.

    • Not trying to incite a riot or limit liberty, but 70 guns is a lot. I never understood the point of “collecting.” When you die, your family then has the hassle of disposing of them or handing them down. And what did you get out of it? Guaranteed you weren’t proficient with most of them. Why not instead have a few you’re good at using; treat them as the tools they are and not as gods. It would be like me collecting every variant of Bostitch hardwood floor staple and cleat nailers yet not having enough money to buy an air compressor to run them. But what you use and use what you buy. You do what you like (free-ish country), but 30, 40, 50, 70 guns is a fetish.

      My grandfather collected stamps and had hundreds – was that a fetish? I had a friend that collected Coca Cola antiques. I collected baseball and football cards as a kid. Why is any collection a fetish???? Please consult a dictionary and educate yourself on the definition of the word “fetish” rather than play the hand irrational freedom hating opinionated anti gun people play.

      • My granddad collected coins. I got the bulk of them which I promptly liquidated to buy an LCR. An LCR by the way that I do not shoot enough to warrant keeping. Am I sentimental? Nope. Will sell it 1st chance I get. If you amass a huge collection of ink pens from hotels, bully good for you. The reality is that it does nothing for you. When I was in college, I was hired to clean up the house of a lady who died with orders to pretty much pitch everything. All her collections of figurines, knick-knacks, bric-à-brac went into the trash. I buy to use. If something I buy increases in value, great–lucky me. To buy something and then just have it sit on the shelf is beyond me. I’d rather have my money work for me, or help somebody, or go towards making a memory with my kids.
        Here’s an example–I am not one of those guys with boxes of holsters. If something doesn’t work for me, it goes on eBay. Or in other words, my garage is clean and both cars fit inside it. Can you say that?

        • I have too many dogs which shelter in the garage to put cars inside. Where would the dogs sleep at night?

        • That’s great Dave, sell off your family heirlooms without a moments hesitation – I couldn’t care less. But I fail to see the logic behind messy garages or collections (gun or otherwise) equating to “fetishes.”

        • So, you don’t see the point of keeping something that doesn’t see regular use. Ok, cool, that’s fair. But there’s a very big difference between “I personally don’t choose to keep things I don’t use regularly” and “You shouldn’t be allowed to own something that you don’t use regularly”. If you don’t see the difference between those, than you’re insane.

          • Never advocated that there should be a law against it. My opinion only. There should be a law against 14 year olds commenting on adult blogs with poor grammar. It’s “then” not “than.”

        • Maybe someday your programmer will install that emotion chip into your central processor so that you can understand us mere hu-mons better.

          I bet you’re a blast at parties.

    • Collect 100 of Uncle Sams paper bills down at your local bank. What are you going to have in one year. After Obama inflation? LESS than you started with.

      OR buy hard assets smart (at wholesale).

  9. The crew is missing the pearl, “data obtained by the NSW Greens under freedom of information laws shows.”

    There it is folks, a blueprint for our politicians to shame gun owners via third party inquires through freedom of information. Democracy in action infringing on individual liberty…Hillary wants to “look” into Australian gun control.
    Should a democrat be elected…this is our future.

    • Yet none of them are bright enough to understand why the POTG are so against the de-facto gun registry that is Universal Background Checks. Then again, some probably are bright enough to understand why, but to say so would be to admit the true purpose behind UBC…

  10. The world is full of monday morning quarterbacks…….live and let live.
    As long as no one is injured or abused or involed in a criminal activities then i say go f..k your opinions on limits to anyone’s interest.
    What one man sees as a excess another may see it as just a good start.
    At what point do you go from too many of anything to “collector”?
    What makes being a collector safe and reasonable in your mind?
    I say….do what you like and live, as long as it’s not having a negative impact on anyone else.

  11. Since ideas have been responsible not only for the deaths of millions, but, even more frighteningly, for the overthrow of many regimes, anyone discovered with more than 70 books is clearly a revolutionary and needs governmental attention…

  12. 70 guns at a time! Oh my!

    When the kangaroos and Koala bears down there learn how to shoot, those liberal Aussies are done for.

  13. What’s truly funny, is the left’s complete abhorrence with western religion, yet so many of thier theories, require blind faith, and lockstep religious like conviction.

  14. Jerry Seinfeld owns one of every Porsche ever made. Why that’s an Arsenal! He’s stockpiling. No one needs that many. You can only drive one at a time! It will be anarchy! He’s going to give them to unlicensed 15 year olds who will terrorize the streets. When will it end? Owning that many encourages car theft, someone said. Someone just stole my ’85 Buick. There you go.l

    There ought to be a law.

  15. What are we to call someone with a legal private stock of over 70 guns, if not a collector? “Colonel?”

  16. Here in lovely Australia you can’t shoot the firearms you own on a collectors licence (with very few exceptions to that general rule).

    Indeed in many states it is illegal to even own or possess ammunition for the firearms on a collectors licence so may shooters will try everything they can to avoid having to get a collectors licence when building a collection.

    Every time a poorly written piece of legislation is circumvented, usually by sticking to the exact letter of the law and ignoring the writers intent, then someone, usually the greens, will bitch and complain and try to force through changes to impinge on whatever current freedom they have decided to dislike.

    Now the skill with which Australian politicians write firearms legislation could be accurately compared to how well a prehistoric man would be able to write a service manual for a jet engine shop is no surprise that “frightening arsenals” are amassed.

  17. getting a bit off the topic of the pin headed Aussie and his hysterics.

    When I was 12 years old I came across a copy of Small Arms of the World. It was love at first sight!
    My early goal was to learn about and acquire one example of each of the guns described in the 735 page book.
    Although I have never come close to owing the number guns included in that early goal.

    I have learned much more than facts about guns.
    To name only a few, My quest has taught me lessons in history, science, politics,ethics, geography, business, manners both good and bad, friendship, the art of listening, responsibility. The list goes on and on. 40 plus years later, I am still learning.

    I see no difference in collecting guns than in collecting stamps or coins or art. Some of us are collectors and other are not. My collecting does not infringe on the safety or rights of others. Who should care what I collect? Who am I to think I have a right to limit or dictate was is or is not reasonable in other peoples collections? I do not try and stop others from collecting what intrigues them, simply because I do not like or understand their collections. Something about a splinter in someone Else’s eye and a log in mine comes to mind.

  18. The broader question is who the F is he?
    Australia has no queen, and if people are honest even a queen is a human being. Anywhere on earth that you find a government it will be a conglomeration of people. [whether the work they do is essential or not] Those “people” are comprised of your a-hole neighbors who needed a job.
    In America, we have the right to keep and bear “arms” (open-ended) for use on our FING POS neighbors who seek those jobs, and then try to usurp more power and oppress us. 70 guns might not be enough.

    BTW Aussie’s – y’all used to have bigeer stones.

    • Actually Joe you’ll find that Her Royal Highness Elizabeth II holds the title of Queen of Australia.

      In answer to your broader question he is a typical (read worthless) aussie politician and is in the upper house of the New South Wales parliament. In line with the greater greens party philosophy he espouses a range of ludicrously unworkable policies across numerous fields.

      He is a small part of the proof of the sad reality of Australian politics that almost everyone that seeks public office is unfit to hold it.

  19. It puzzles me why politicians that want to control peoples thoughts and actions get elected. Why is this man more concerned about this than child molesters or rapists or killers? Why do we tolerate his ilk?

    • Nanny staters (aka statists) care about what you want to do in your own home, with your own property. It is all about big government looking after (controlling/regulating) every aspect of our lives so those that never cut the umbilical cord have a parental authority telling them what to eat and when to go to bed so they don’t need to be exposed to reality and can remain wrapped in a protective layer of cotton wool for the entirety of their (what must be truly) miserable lives.

      NSW has enough like minded idiots to elect 5 greens members to the upper house but this is balanced by an alliance which includes the Shooters and Fishers party that holds the balance of power and does its best to limit the reach of the long arm of the nanny state.

    • It puzzles me why politicians that want to control peoples thoughts and actions get elected.
      Uhmmmm….because we live in Oceania where people are indoctrinated to love Big Bother?
      He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.

  20. I just don’t get the”seriously frightening” bit. And these people accuse we the armed of living in a state of perpetual paranoia? Oh, that’s rich!

  21. “…It is seriously frightening to think that there are 100 people across the state…”

    Why so scared of people who don’t think and act like you?

    If those 100 people were of a different skin color, or different religion, or any number of other ways to be different than you then you would be justifiably shouted down for being a bigot. You feel safe ‘othering’ those people because gun ownership is one of the few ways you can be a bigot and not get in trouble for being a bigot.

    • I think he wants to set the Sturmtruppen after those 100 people so he can cheer from the safety of his own home, surrounded by security as his fellow countrymen are filled full of lead and their dogs get shot. For the children of course! But not those 100 people’s children. They can rot for all he cares.

  22. My hats off to those POTG in Australia who have gone through all that bs to collect 70 guns. May the libtards everywhere cry.

  24. It is seriously frightening to think that there are 100 people across the state, who aren’t collectors or firearms dealers, who own more than 70 guns each.”
    Soooo….are any of these 100 people really menacing and threatening anyone?

  25. It depends on the licence if you can shot them or not. Collector normally means older guns where you can’t get ammunition to fire it
    I have met people with 100 plus working firearms in my state, not NSW. I have more than 10

    The “greens” are an inner city left wing party who promise “free” stuff to people. They have had balance of power in the upper house due to convoluted voting laws. The same laws also gave The Shooters and Fishers Party two seats in NSW

  26. Back in the 1980s conservative politicians said the greens were really “red” behind closed doors. The conservatives were right.
    The green party never believed in individual freedom. They originally came from Europe a place that has no second amendment in its history.

    • “Back in the 1980s conservative politicians said the greens were really “red” behind closed doors.”

      Yep, the actual term was ‘Watermelons’, green on inside and red on the inside…

  27. “Something is broken working just fine in our firearm laws when people … who aren’t (registered) collectors or firearms dealers, … own more than 70 guns each and nothing bad happens with any of their guns.”

    There, fixed it.

    He seems to be bemoaning the uncomfortable demonstration that “just folks” may do nothing bad or wrong even absent his government-implemented guidance. If the world fails to implode when left to its own devices, what’s a Geen Weenie to do? Worse, those crazy gun-enthusiasts seem to be non-violent as well, even when possessing an “arsenal.” There goes another perfectly good stereotype.

    The kicker is that this is another unfortunate demonstration that the evil, energetic demon-guns won’t actually do anything at all. 100’s of them just sitting there, not killing anybody.

    Is this guy’s name “Francis?” He needs to lighten up.

  28. Do Americans finally understand the plight Australian Gun owners have to endure, fighting against tighter gun regulations and a public that fully supports this movement. I Hope that Americans can continue fighting against the gun control and successfully push back the tide.

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