Hillary: Australia-style gun control ‘worth looking at’

[SecularMotion]

Hillary Clinton says a gun buyback program similar to the one Australia implemented in 1996 is “worth considering” in the United States.

“I don’t know enough details to tell you how we would do it or how it would work, but certainly the Australia example is worth looking at,” Clinton said at a New Hampshire town hall on Friday.

The Democratic presidential front-runner said data indicate the Australian program reduced the number of firearms in circulation by paying citizens to turn over their weapons.

“The Australian government, as part of trying to clamp down on the availability of automatic weapons, offered a good price for buying hundreds of thousands of guns, and then they basically clamped down going forward in terms of having, you know, more of a background-check approach, more of a permitting approach,” Clinton said.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/dem-primaries/257172-hillary-australia-style-gun-control-worth-looking-at

[Duckhunter935]

1. I commented on the other 6 times this has been posted

SM, you are getting a little slow on your Google cut and pasting. I did not see you comment on those posts either, funny.

[SecularMotion]

4. Thanks for your support

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7252793

[Duckhunter935]

7. And once again my answer is the same

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7252810

[tularetom]

2. What happens if you don't want to sell?

Sounds like the first step toward confiscation to me.

First of all in order to make you an offer they'll have to know how many and what kind of guns you possess. And then, even if you don't agree to sell, they have established a sort of de facto gun registry. They now have information they didn't possess before.

I'm not sure she's really serious about this. She's famous for saying one thing in the primaries to get Dems to support her and then doing a 180 in the general election when she needs support of independent voters. But I don't believe even Democratic primary voters will buy this. She's going to get her ears pinned back if she pursues it.

[Duckhunter935]

11. You really think you will get an answer from the OP

He never can comment on his Google cut and paste posts. I do not even think he bothers to read them. You know it takes a lot of effort to do the cut and paste thing and I think it wears him out.

[Lizzie Poppet]

3. "The Australian government purchased more than 650,000 guns from citizens..."

Even if our version were like theirs and only focused on semi-auto rifles and shotguns (guns involved in an absolutely minuscule fraction of gun crimes...), the total would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000,000 weapons. These are not, for the most part, inexpensive weapons.. I'd be very surprised indeed if the average value for all of these guns isn't around $500, minimum.

At least $50 billion (not counting operating costs) to try and collect weapons that are very, very seldom used in crimes? No thanks. I'd rather spend it on trying to deal with the (far, far greater) problem of handguns in criminal hands.

[krispos42]

5. That would buy a lot of college scholarships...

... vo-tech certificates, and birth control.

Which, of course, would do far more to lower crime rates than simply destroying semiautomatic rifles.

[Lizzie Poppet]

6. Excellent point!

Want to make a real dent in gun-related murder (and homicide in general)? Address income inequality via education and economic development that isn't solely for corporate benefit. End the War on Drugs. Figure out how to heal the rift between the police and black communities. And so forth...

Of course, we tend to be preaching to the choir in the matter of those kinds of reforms here.

[Straw Man]

8. You estimate is low.

I'd be very surprised indeed if the average value for all of these guns isn't around $500, minimum.

Your $500 figure is below the low end for AR-style rifles and about average for AK-style rifles. Considering that some premium ARs can go well into four figures, I think the real average is much higher.

[Lizzie Poppet]

10. I suspect so, too.

I was trying to account for inexpensive shotguns and such, too...but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the average were a good bit higher.

[Eleanors38]

9. She'll "look at it" as long as Sanders is around, then back the other way. nt

[OakCliffDem]

12. " ' clamp down on the availability of automatic weapons ' "

“The Australian government, as part of trying to clamp down on the availability of automatic weapons, offered a good price for buying hundreds of thousands of guns ..."



I had no idea there were 'hundreds of thousands' of automatic weapons in civilian hands in Australia.

[branford]

13. Alternative Headline

Millions of Democratic Gun Rights Voters in Important Swing States: Candidates Other Than Hillary Clinton or Just Staying Home On Election Day Worth "Looking At."


Alternative Headline 2:

NRA Expected to Reap Historic Fundraising Windfall in 2105 and 2016 To Spend on Supporting Republican Candidates.

[Snobblevitch]

14. This plan would need a federal gun registry.

That's not gonna happen and HRC knows that. She is not serious about this. She is only trying to score political points during a campaign.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

15. You have to give it to her

Registration in the US won't be happening in a year that starts with a 2.
Pro-control folks will never give up the hope and that earns her points with them.

It's basically a win-win.