You have to wonder in what world is is considered reasonable that someone can own 141 firearms?
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Well, in this country at least.
We watch mass shootings happen in America and we thank God and John Howard for introducing stricter gun laws into this country after the terrible Port Arthur massacre.
Remember Port Arthur in April of 1996 when a lunatic named Martin Bryant went on a rampage using his own personal collection of high-powered weapons?
How could this country ever possibly forget Port Arthur.
We count ourselves lucky that we are not America.
Yet, the figures released by the Greens on Thursday paint a somewhat different picture – a terrifying prospect.
The new data reveals there are 19,000 guns in the Illawarra.
Yes, 19,000. That’s not a misprint.
The scary thing about that number is they are only the ones we know about.
The data does not count firearms held by arms dealers or by collectors, who require a different category of license, than the one revealed in the Greens’ information.
Dare we even mentioned the firearms which are held illegally.
Aside from that, the data revealed some alarming terrifying individual statistics.
The data showed 141 guns held by a single owner living in the 2518 postcode, and arsenals of 79 and 62 guns in the 2517 and 2502 postcodes, respectively.
Who could be comfortable with one person owning such arsenals?
“The problem is there is a loophole in NSW’s gun laws that allows people to recycle the same allegedly good reason to get their first gun, then their second gun, then their 120th gun,” Mr Shoebridge told the Mercury.
“I think it is essential that the public know how many guns are out there in the community because there is often too much complacency about our firearms laws – smug, self-satisfaction that we’ve got it perfect, when there are some significant flaws and loopholes that need to be closed,” Mr Shoebridge said.
Maybe, after all, we are not as safe as we would like to think?
Maybe we are not as different from America as we would like to hope?
In the end we should be okay because as we supposedly know it’s not the guns that kill people really is it.
Or is it?