Australian Olympic Swimmers pose with some guns and put it on facebook. CRIKEY did the S ever HTF in Australia after that…
Full Story – HERE
Ok.. the very first line in the article already has me pissed off:
The pair smiled and looked smug as they handled automatic pistols and pump-action shot guns similar to those used in the Port Arthur massacre.
And “Swimming Australia” demanded Kenrick Monk remove the picture.
Oh but it gets better…
D’Arcy was pictured holding semi-automatic pistols, similar to those used by Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui.
And..
Australian Olympic team boss Nick Green said the photo was foolish.
So let me get this straight… Two Australian guys pose with guns INSIDE A GUN SHOP IN THE UNITED STATES… and get torn a new one for posting a picture of it? And on top of it all get compared to two killers in a couple of the worst firearm related massacres the world has seen to date.
If that’s what Australia is like, i’m glad I was never planning on visiting there. I don’t know if these guys have any legal recourse… but they should look into bankrupting the Australian Herald Sun for printing such bullshit.
Thoughts?
Hat tip: Jeff
Comments
58 responses to “Olympic Swimmer Gun Photo Controversy – Australia Needs To Grow A Pair”
I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.
Can I have your guns/stuff and gf/wife’s body (for 10 minutes)?
I’m Australian and unfortunately bullshit like this is par for the course over here. There is currently no major Australian Political Party or media outlet that doesn’t treat law abiding gun owners as dangerous lunatics.
I kept waiting to be told what these two had done wrong. Australia, it seems, is completely mental when it comes to guns.
Here is a gem from another article “We say again to our athletes, do not put anything up on social media that you would not share with your mother or your grandmother.”
I just read the two guys will be sent home after their events in London. They will not be able to stay for the closing ceremony and what not.
Good advice Australia… too bad that picture passes the test.
That’s extremely sad and ridiculous that they are being sent home.
Man, this political correctness shit is getting way out of hand. It’s just a goddamn photo, they weren’t kicking puppies or injecting heroin in babies’ heads…
With that trigger discipline, they should be ashamed.
They’re Australian, where guns are practically banned. That’s probably the first time they’d ever seen a real gun up close. Trusting the shop owner unloaded them first, I’ll let this one slide on account of that.
that guy on the right, I’m not sure if he has his fingers on the trigger. to me, it looks like he is just getting a good grip on the handle.
Yeah I was talking about the guy on the left, mostly. Nevertheless, establishing the habit of gripping the stock with three fingers and your thumb and having your trigger finger flush with the trigger guard is just a good habit to establish. But to Cameron’s point, they have probably never seen a real gun up close, let along handled it. It would suck to live there (aus) and love guns.
Australian shooter here, just like to point out the only people who give a shit about this are the IOC and Swimming Australia. These guys are known wankers with a history of doing stupid things, so on a slow news day the media decides to stir up some trouble. Read the comments below the article on any major australia news site, you will see that no one gives a shit. Australia doesn’t need to ‘grow a pair’ the media needs to stop scandalising crap like this, and you’re just helping them along.
Firearms in Australia are grouped into Categories with different levels of control. The categories are:
Category A: Rimfire rifles (not semi-automatic), shotguns (not pump-action or semi-automatic), air rifles, and paintball markers. A “Genuine Reason” must be provided for a Category A firearm.
Category B: Centrefire rifles (not semi-automatic), muzzleloading firearms made after 1 January 1901. A “Genuine Need” must be demonstrated, including why a Category A firearm would not be suitable.
Category C: Semi-automatic rimfire rifles holding 10 or fewer rounds and pump-action or semi-automatic shotguns holding 5 or fewer rounds. Category C firearms are strongly restricted: only primary producers, occupational shooters, collectors and some clay target shooters can own functional Category C firearms.
Category D: Semi-automatic centrefire rifles, pump-action or semi-automatic shotguns holding more than 5 rounds. Functional Category D firearms are restricted to government agencies and a few occupational shooters. Collectors may own deactivated Category D firearms.
Category H: Handguns including air pistols and deactivated handguns. this class is available to target shooters. To be eligible for a Category H firearm a target shooter must serve a probationary period of six months using club handguns, and a minimum number of matches yearly to retain each category of handgun.
Target shooters are limited to handguns of .38 or 9mm calibre or less and magazines may hold a maximum of 10 rounds. Participants in certain “approved” pistol competitions may acquire handguns up to .45″, currently Single Action Shooting and Metallic Silhouette. IPSC shooting is not “approved” for the larger calibres, for as 9mm/.38/.357 handguns meet the IPSC rules. Category H barrels must be at least 100mm (3.94″) long for revolvers, and 120mm (4.72″) for semi-automatic pistols unless the pistols are clearly ISSF target pistols: magazines are restricted to 10 rounds. Handguns held as part of a collection were exempted from these limits.
Category R/E: Restricted weapons: machine guns, rocket launchers, assault rifles, flame-throwers, anti-tank guns, Howitzers, artillery, etc. can be owned by collectors in some states provided that these weapons have been rendered permanently inoperable. They are subject to the same storage and licensing requirements as fully functioning firearms.
The above is 100% disgusting.
No, Australians don’t need to grow a pair. Hell, there are ants that can kill you with one bite. But you can’t expect gun owners here to not be outraged and to not comment.
If you get say a cat c does that include the lesser a and b weapon categories by default?
Really? Even a paintball gun? That seems completely absurd, especially since quite a few pro paintball players have come out of Australia.
Probably the reason for paintball restriction is the pepper rounds like these.
Stupid, but…
Being Australian and a shooter, I can see how you’re offended at what I wrote. That said, if the general consensus in Australia isn’t “GUNS ARE EVIL!!!” then why haven’t the laws relaxed since Port Arthur is in the past?
In reality, it’s ‘guns aren’t necessary’. We, unlike the US have no right to bear arms, therefore we lose a major driving force in policy change, the population of Australia doesn’t ‘need’ guns for defense, only for recreational hunting, sports and some occupations, therefore the population doesn’t care enough to change the laws.
This means that any changes to current laws would have to come from the perspective of ‘putting Australia in line with the rest of the world for shooting competitions’, and since our SSAA (kinda like the NRA) and the Shooters/Fishers political party are hopeless at what they do, and the fact that Australian shooters aren’t yelling loud enough, won’t be happening any time soon.
I’m all for removing stupid restrictions on firearms, ie, barrel length, calibre, mag size, but still believe that we need our licensing and registration structure, albeit slightly modified and streamlined.
I’m all for removing stupid restrictions on firearms, ie, barrel length, calibre, mag size, but still believe that we need our licensing and registration structure, albeit slightly modified and streamlined.
Nick,
The trick to fighting against stupid and unjust laws is to never admit to what you are willing to compromise on. Personally, I don’t think anyone should need a license to carry, concealed or openly, but I can compromise on the CCW license.
If you are going to win start with wanting absolutely no restrictions. Then compromise that pump shotguns with a barrel length, registration at the gun sellers and not the government, etc. That’s the way to win.
The issue with that is, Australia is a society where guns and gun culture doesn’t play a part in day to day life. For someone to stand up and say we should have unrestricted firearms across the board, would be akin to someone saying we should all be riding horses instead of driving cars. It would be such a far out there point of view, you would be laughed at and all subsequent argments ignored as you’ve now been branded as a ‘gun nut’ by every media outlet and limp wristed politician.
We have to argue for changes to the laws within the context of the firearm’s usage, for us, that would be sporting/hunting. If we argue smartly that barrel length, mag size and calibre are impacting our chances at world class shooting events we will see progress. If we argue that registration sucks and we should have all the guns we want, we shoot ourselves in the foot, as instead of just needing to convince politicians to make small changes, you now need to convince the population of a major change.
As for licensing and registration, I believe this is necessary in a sporting/hunting context. As I said, we have no 2nd amendment, but if this were to change (pigs flying, cats sleeping with dogs, etc) and we were allowed to defend ourselves against threats, goverment or otherwise, yes, registration and licencing should disappear as what was once a privilege has now become a right, and of course the government should always fear its population.
I can’t think of one country in modern times, that has gone from no guns, or some guns, to every single gun and/or allowed self defense.
Canada. They’re not there yet but they are making significant progress.
Asking for and supporting licensing and registration requirements is shooting yourself in the foot. More freedom, not less.
Mike,
I’m Aussie,
And I would agree with you that the general consenus in Aus is “GUNS ARE EVIL”. Aussies do need to grow balls and stop being such idealistic controlling twats, after all its how we got our gun laws in the first place. We are over governed and everyone in Australia thinks they know what’s best for me and everyone else.
True the majority of comments in the major publications were saying it was BS and that it shouldn’t even be news but there is a very, very strong anti-gun sentiment in Australia with both left and right wing parties,with the exception of The Shooters & Fishers Party (who do a damn good job considering) and some other minor parties are all anti-gun.
After all it was our conservative right wing party that imposed the restrictions on semi-automatic rifles and handgun in the first place.
Shooting in Australia I feel will ultimately be doomed, it may go along fine for the next 20 or so years but I cannot help but think I will be alive when we are completely disarmed. I’m not a defeatist or anything like that, I do and will fight harder than most shooters do to keep what we have and roll back some of the crazier laws we have but there isn’t enough unity in the Australian shooting fraternity to effectively combat our dickhead politicians and the latte sect of Australian Society.
There’s a lot to love about Australia but there is also a lot to hate about it as well.
I often ponder whether it would be better living in the USA, just from a freedom perspective alone.
Keith, there is a group here in America, we call them Progressive, who believe in Marx and want a socialist state. They gave up on my fathers generation because he grew up SEEING communism and how evil it was. They began reaching out to my generation in school and began teaching m the virtues of big government. My generation, and even more so for those after mine, have largely bought into it and think it’s the responsibility of the government to care for the people.
It sounds to me like something similar is happening down in Australia but with guns. The youth, the future voters, are key to your gun rights.
Wow, I thought Australia had decent gun laws, but after reading the Wikipedia entry on it, it is clear that I was quite wrong. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Australia
I took a leak this morning holding a penis very similar to the one used by Johnny Wad, (ok, not THAT similar but you get the drift).
Dolts….
The Australian govt/big wigs just loathe guns and the people who own them. The former Prime Minister John Howard gave a speech before the Australian equivalent of the NRA visably wearing body armor. That is a degree of insult leveled at law abiding gun owners that has not (yet) been seen in the US.
The only thing that amazes me about this is that the Australian govt is not prosecuting these guys for shooting restricted firearms.
here is a pic of the vest and the angry crowd
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/anger-lingers-among-those-who-lost-their-firearms/2006/04/27/1145861489398.html
Ha! What a tw*t.
OMG !! that’s so stupid.. I’m pretty sure that 100% of those gun owners don’t own guns with the intention to shoot at another person.
It was in the US so they can’t. I’m sure they would if they could. The AOC and Swimming Australia have already disciplined these guys for this.
Do you honestly think a silly little thing like the law will stop rabid, anti-gun, left wingers (from the American perspective) from putting together a Kangaroo (no pun intended) court proceeding to punish someone for having fun with guns on foriegn soil?
Did they shoot them or just pose for a picture? Did that Steve the gun guy face charges for everything he shot?
I think there are charges pending against Steve Lee for embarrassing Australia on a musical level, not sure about the shooting part of it though. haha :P
I can see were this is going”
“Pictured here is Angelina Jolie with a petrol can containing gasoline, similar to that which was used by Julio González in the Happyland Massacre”
Wow, people need to chill out, I read the article on yahoo and was amazed at the pure ignorance of the writer.
One of my favorite comments was “Holding guns in a gun store!? What’s next? Holding beer in a bar!?”
This is why you’ll hear more of the “Dingo ate my baby.” in the outback. A farmer can barely have a double-barrel, let alone a nice Mossberg 500.
Either I am navigating their website incorrectly or they deleted all the comments because they know they are wrong.
Same here.
me too, but the Australian swim teams facebook page doesnt have anyone coming out in favor of the decision
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Australian-Swim-Team/137443826283449
“You call that a knoife? This is a knoife . . . .” No wonder Crocodile Dundee packed such a big blade. But then again, who needs guns when you have boomerangs. Maybe if they design a bullet that can fly out, turn, and then come back the shooter they’d be okay with it. Actually, no, that may not be a good idea.
australians need a genuine reason to own a paintball gun lol
“pictured above is Susie Q, mother of three and wife of John Q. Susie is seen handling a butcher knife, much like the one used by a 15 year old adolescent in New Orleans to kill a fellow classmate over a playground dispute. Police are looking into the matter although Mrs. Q claims she was “just trying to be a good wife and prepare dinner for her family…” Investigators claim there was red on the blade, tomatoes nearby appeared to have been misused and half a carrot, clearly cut by the same blade, was found on the floor not two meters from the same kitchen counter.”
-the future as we know it.
so, none of the guns pictured above were used in port arthur, so i dont get that part, plus assie media and politicians are some of the wimpiest in the world i think.
We all know that Australia is entirely peopled with criminals, and criminals are used to having people not trust them.
duh, that explains why they are no allowed guns, it started out as a prison, you cant have guns in prison.
There may be something to this theory…
That’s austrailia for ya!
I mean why do you expect, their deer have pouches and hop around. How much more fucked up can you get
Win
I’m ashamed to be called an Aussie! What a load of crap. I heard the Victorian Police Commissioner on the radio being critical of these guys and questioning the kind the image they are portraying. Obecity kills more Aussies then guns, who many fat cops are there? How many cops smoke. Perfectly legal firearms in a country where they are legal. Worry about stuff that affects us like not being able to heat our homes because of fucking greenies.
Any Aussies who want to immigrate due to the firearm laws are certainly welcome IMHO.
especially the women
For a country that has a, “rough men,” rep, their gun policies sure are balls…
Unfortunately ANY kind of change in the Australian gun laws will be just as improbable as a change in Britain’s gun laws. Recall that Australia has a Queen and a bicameral parliament. The Australian people are “Subjects of the Queen”. This also applies to Canada as well, and we can see the effects from a closer perspective.
Imagine if these guys had gone to a war museum and posed with a tank….
Anyone noticed that D’Arcy is holding a revolver in his right hand? “Semi-automatic” all right.
Countries like that deserve to be invaded then they’ll learn the error of their ways.