Australian Anti-Gun Push Offers Stern Warning to American Hunters

The term “Fudd,” as I typically use it, refers to someone who owns guns, uses them, but is very quick to throw our rights under the bus because they think guns should only be for hunting or something. They’re more than willing to sell us down the river by supporting universal background checks, assault weapon bans, or even bans on many semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, and pistols. After all, it doesn’t impact their old .30-.30 lever action or bolt-action .30-06.

And, honestly, that’s a stupid way to look at things. After all, when they say they’ll never ban your hunting rifle, they mean it. They’ll call it a sniper rifle first, most likely.

Still, gun control is gun control, and the Australian Deer Association in Australia–the kind of group our Fudds might be proud members of–is seeing the effects of gun control’s mission creep, and they don’t like it.

The Australian Deer Association (ADA) has expressed disappointment at the Tasmanian Labor Party’s proposed firearm ownership limits, warning the policy unfairly targets responsible, law-abiding firearm owners while doing little to address criminal misuse.

Labor has proposed introducing limits on the number of firearms a person can own as part of changes aimed at strengthening gun laws in the state.

Opposition Leader Josh Willie said the policy would place a cap of five firearms for recreational shooters and hunters, while farmers and competitive shooters would be limited to 10 firearms.

The Tasmanian Liberal Government has said it does not support introducing firearm ownership caps.

Australian Deer Association Tasmanian coordinator Scott Freeman said the proposal outlined by Mr Willie would introduce arbitrary limits on the number of firearms recreational hunters and other lawful users may own.

“Recreational hunters, farmers and sporting shooters are among the most law-abiding members of the Tasmanian community,” Mr Freeman said.

“Policies that arbitrarily restrict lawful firearm ownership without clear evidence of a public safety benefit risk unfairly targeting working-class Tasmanians who rely on firearms for legitimate purposes.”

Mr Freeman said comparisons with Western Australia’s recent firearm reforms should concern Tasmanians.

“The Western Australian process has become an example of how a government can strong-arm an entire sector with no genuine engagement,” he said.

“It represents some of the worst examples of modern politics — policy developed without properly listening to the people most affected.”

“Tasmanians deserve better than seeing that approach imported here.”

I’m pretty sure many of the members of that group figure no one needs an AR-15 to hunt deer, thus they’re fine with those being banned. They figure no one needs certain guns, or certain calibers, or any number of things, so restrictions are fine.

But then someone used a variation of their hunting rifles to do something terrible at Bondi Beach, and now they’re finding that their beloved guns are being threatened.

Way too many American hunters feel much the same way. They don’t care about gun rights until their hunting guns are on the table. By the time that happens, though, we’ll be so deep down that particular rabbit hole that it’ll be difficult to stop the momentum. Someone will do something terrible with a gun they consider “safe,” and all bets will be off.

Suddenly, the alliance they made with anti-gunners will come back to bite them in the butt. All the goodwill they thought they’d built up will shatter as their one-time friends turn on them in an instant. Their hunting guns will need to be limited because of safety, you see, and since so many other guns have been restricted for the same reasons, it’ll be almost impossible to prevent.

Sure, it’s unlikely here and now, but not because the Fudds have done anything to help. It’s unlikely in spite of them, not because of them.

They’d do well to take this to heart, though. They’d do well to remember what’s happening in Australia, how hunters are being screwed over after years of anti-gun laws proved to be insufficient to stop terrible things from happening.

They’d do well to remember that it can happen here. America is exceptional in many ways. This isn’t one of them unless we make it so.

Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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