[Aussie Mike]

Even as a shooter I don't see a need for military style semi auto weapons to be in the hands of regular Joe Public. They may be interesting to enthusiasts I guess and they can be entertaining to shoot (I've had a go with quite a few i.e AK47, M16, SLR, SKS and even a machine gun or two). It's no great loss to me as they are crap for hunting. If you can't hit something with one shot then you shouldn't be out there so having 25 rounds in the mag is a waste.

Again hand guns been very strictly controlled for a long time. We don't have the option for Joe public to carry a hand gun and the only way to get a permit to carry is if you work in security or police etc. Some big hoops to jump through there.

Personally I don't like hand guns. They can be entertaining but ethically they are not for me. A hand gun is only designed to shoot people. A rifle or a shot gun has a purpose outside of armed conflict. A pistol is harder to justify away from that function.

I think Australia has always had a different attitude towards firearms. Our nation wasn't born out of armed conflict. We just don't have the militia attitude. Our county was forged with shovel and pick and pen and paper. It kind of shows through in our national motto of "No Worries".

We don't worry much about invasion by another country. The closest we came was Japan attacking Darwin in WW2. any invader is probably more likely to be met with a Beer and a sausage than a rifle. If thay mannage to battle their way through most of our hostile country to get to us the'll probably need a refreshing beverage.

Cheers