While there are strict restrictions on the sale of handguns in Australia, there appears to be no such restriction on handgun magazines. This latest issue of Concealed Carry Handguns went on sale yesterday.
While I don’t know if this magazine is promoting guns which are illegal in Australia, I would certainly be uncomfortable with this title on my shelves. It is from the US, a country with a very different approach to handguns compared to Australia, a country, too, with far more handgun related deaths than we see in Australia. In the US they report 15.22 firearm deaths per 100,000. In Australia we report 2.94.
While I am no prude, this magazine crosses a line for what I’d consider reasonable in an Australian newsagency.
The Parliamentary Library publishers a helpful guide on resources available on firearms in Australia.
Sorry to disagree Mark,we have two shooting ranges in our area,where on competition day people travel from all over QLD,always an interest in these magazines
This would have to be the smallest niche market in australia, but a market none the less
i would reakon there is maybe a couple of hundred individuals oz wide permitted to
carry a handgun.
The other part of the market would be security guys
With a husband who belongs to a pistol club I am sure their is an interest in these guns. Maybe just a curiosity but most of these members love to read about any hand gun.
Get of the grass Mark!
Who are you to decide what people read. Your thinking is antiquated to say the least.
Mark,
Sure hope you know more about the subject of your other magazines than you know about guns.
Even people who don’t have a handgun licence like to read about things they can’t have. Just the same as pornos
Big breasted ladies aren’t really available to come over and drop their clothes, but we still stock “Lads Mags”. Just because you can’t hold it doesn’t mean its not interesting reading 😛
Mark, are you serious? What possible harm does a magazine of this sort pose to anyone? Seriously, I can walk into a newsagency and be greeted by images of semi naked men and women, gay couplings, etc etc. These are all on OPEN DISPLAY for all and sundry and that includes the very youngest of children? Seriously, have you not got anything else to worry about? I’d have thought that with printed media and newsagencies possibly in their death throes thanks to e-zines and the internet in general as a source of information and reading material, the LAST thing newsagencies would be wanting is to offer LESS to potential customers?
You are more than happy to put porn on your shelf but want to call the moral police on a handgun mag?
Gun lobbyists, all magazines we sell are regulated, including what you may call porn.
Porn does not kill people.
Mark,
There are over 1 million licenced firearms owners in Australia, over 130,000 members of the sporting shooters association of Australia, and well over 50,000 privately licenced handgun sporting shooters, security guards and other armed professionals.
Well are ill-informed armchair experts like yourself planning to recognise that it’s not the law abiding firearm owners who protect our standard of living but gangs who import these weapons illegally who denigrate our society.
I’m sure these illegals don’t take the time to buy a handgun magazine before deciding which illegal pistol they choose to import.
I think you should take the time to visit a gunclub before you cast aspersions.
Chris
PS I recall a famous lead singer from INXS who died in a sex act. Perhaps it was one of your porn magazines that inspired him.
Mark, just how many deaths are from motoring accidents each year? Are you suggetsing we ban all types of car related magazines as well?
Mark also seems to be happy with the porn industry, probably because it is so drug free LOL
I thought you would be more concerned about the porno filth that is displayed by newsagents . That’s the sort of garbage that should be banned from the shelves.
not surprised the pro-gun armchair commentators found this very innocent comment to be honest. anything that even has the slightest message against guns online in Australia attracts these commentators like pigs to mud. Is it that hard to accept that the gun-control in this country been so tight is and has been a fact of life for the past decade and a half?
Obesity kills people, but we still sell confectionary. Stock any cigarettes? Hoon car or motor cycle mags that encourage speeding? All regulated, but subject to abuse like everything else in life.
Mark, what drugs are you on ? You wouldnt have noticed because your head is stuck too far up your bum, but the armed crime in Australia is actually committed by criminals. It will probably come as a complete shock to you to learn that outlaw bikie gangs are one of the biggest perpetrating criminal groups. So if you are really concerned that you should do your best for society, then ban tattoo magazines, ban bike magazines, ban hoon car magazines…….oh, and you had better ban knives too, so go back to eating with your fingers. You are an idiot.
For me, the “concealed” is the concern.
Mark,
“Tobacco kills more people than AIDS, legal and illegal drugs, road accidents, murder and suicide combined. Currently around 5 million people worldwide die each year from tobacco-related causes. In comparison HIV/AIDS is responsible for 3 million deaths per year.”
Source: http://www.ash.org.uk//files/documents/ASH_562.pdf
So, if you sell cigarettes, I suggest you pull your head in now as you are a hypocrite of the highest order.
I pulled cigarettes out of my newsagency in 1996 because of the damage nocitine does.
Not sure what any of this has to do with concealed handguns.
Mick, I’ve personally never heard of anyone pulling out a cigarette and murdering someone with it. To compare cigarettes with concealed weapons is a bit of a stretch dont you think. One is legal one is not.
Wow, I see the gun lobby is thriving – quite a heated response considering it is simply 1 newsagent, Mark, expressing his concern over a magazine title.
Wish you were all as concerned & motivated about more important things that affect newsagents every day!
Narelle, I guess we of the thriving “gun lobby” are concerned. Some of us are the security and law enforcement that carry concealed weapons whilst escorting your money to and from the bank, report to your shop after theft and so on. As consumers we are concerned as we buy our gun related magazines from you and appreciate the chance to browse over the “many” titles you stock while we grab a scratchy/lotto ticket and a bday card. Its just when our hobby, interest and our morals and ethics are questioned and compared to that of criminals we are, and quite righlty, offended. As gun owners we represtent not only law enforcment but your medical professionals, transport drivers, farmers and food providers, accountants, business men and women and Mums and Dads oh yes and Newsagents. Gun owners are a mix from all the community and share the exact same concerns as the entire community as a whole. Its just that we become offended when our morals, ethics and motivation is shown as backward, criminal and less than non gun owners. IM sure you would understand.
Narelle, we support the right for newagents to defend themselves when they’re being robbed or attacked by violent criminals.
Ian, my original post did not question the ethics or morals of legitimate handgun users. The core point of the post was to note that while handguns are regulated, magazines promoting them are not.
Actually, handguns are LEGAL in Australia. If you don’t want to sell it, don’t stock it. But you don’t have the right to say what choose to read. No gun lobby here. Just a law abiding firearm owner sick and tired of people with no idea thinking that they can dictate how I choose to send my time.
No objection to guns per se, or gun magazines. I do however have a problem when gun posession becomes part of a country’s culture (see USA).
Ted, our circumstance can’t be compared with the US even if gun possession does become a part of our culture. How about comparing countries in Europe that allow their citizens to carry guns in self defence and have a gun registry like Germany, Norway (which does have a bit of a gun culture) and Switzerland.
Mark,
Do they really need regulation? Why? What evidence is there to support a need?
These sort of statements regarding regulation infer an antisocial element to gun ownership.
Is there a need for regulation of sports magazines? Chainsaw, automobile, farm equipment? Im sure you will suggest that these, unlike guns arent designed to kill but they are infact responsible for more deaths and injuries than these “dangerous” guns. I think this speaks for the responsible nature of the gun owners when those owning and operating a tool designed to kill cause less damage to life and health than those designed to make life easier.
I guess what im getting at here , in relation to your statement regarding the sale and regulation of a hand gun publication is, that the consumers of this publication deserve more credit in their chosen hobby and their choice of magazine and its availabilty.
The US also have a much higher per capita non hand gun related death statistic. I think its cultural not gun related.
Mark,
Handgun mags aren’t regulated because they don’t fire bullets.
What’s wrong with everyday folk taking an interest in guns, who may well one day become a sporting shooter representing Australia at the Olympics or another international competition?
Rather than regulation, what ever happened to good parenting and taking responsibility for ones own actions?
Did you know the Swiss have compulsory national service and it’s a crime to not have your fully automatic rifle in good working order at all times? You don’t see the Swiss or any other European countries imitating Americans (who are indeed a breed of their own) despite some having guns laws that are just as liberal.
I think you have succumbed to the fear of almost anything and everything drummed into your head by the media and our Government.
Do yourself a favour – go visit a pistol club, talk to some chaps and have a shoot. At least be informed about our sport before you make comment about our paraphernalia (magazines included).
Chris
Narelle,
Our freedoms form the basis of what is important in life. Are you also advocating Julian Assange be executed by the Americans for espionage?
Chris
My blog post is not telling anyone how to spend their time. As a responsible retailer I am questioning whether a concealed handgun magazine ought to have a classification. I have also noted that I don;t what to carry the title. This is my right just as it it your right to do what you want within the law.
Faggot.
Ted, you obviously have no idea of the “gun culture” in the US, the jurisdictions with the strongest restrictions on private ownership have the worst crime rates.
I think we can probably do without newsagents, most of what they sell can be had elsewhere generally cheaper too. Still I buy from our local bloke, he’s a mate, and he’s not some ignorant moral nazi.
Oh, and porn does kill, have a look at the wreckage behind the scenes in the industry.
Mark,
Sounds like you have already made up your mind. You still fail to mention why the magazine ought to have classification. Are you suggesting it may influence law abiding citizens to obtain firearms to go on mass killing sprees?
For someone who campaigns actively about the decline in newsagency business, you should probably take a step back and consider where his profits actually come from.
Chris
Narelle
“Wow, I see the gun lobby is thriving – quite a heated response considering it is simply 1 newsagent, Mark, expressing his concern over a magazine title.”
We are learning from The Greens and have two members of Upper House in NSW parliament and maybe 3 after next March election.
Mark, you say that porn does not kill people – true. Gun magazines do not kill people either. Nor do magazines about martial arts, boxing, knives, etc etc. Should all those be regulated too? Boxing and martial arts are violent sports after all – so why not? A magazine depicting the lawful and legitimate use of firearms does not hurt anyone – it does not encourage or incite people to break any laws at all. So I don’t see what the issue is with this particular magazine. As I said earlier, if you seek to have more and more material classified for what seem to largely be “PC” reasons you as a newsagency proprietor will eventually have less and less to sell – and the internet must surely have made a big dent in to newsagency business as it is. I for one rarely buy magazines anymore, choosing to source the information and articles I want online, and for free. And to Narelle, regarding the “gun lobby” – we are fed up with the persecution in this country, that we have put up with for decades. No longer will we sit there like ashamed little naughty boys while we are scapegoated for the ills of society and the actions of criminals. Maybe if every licensed shooter (and there are hundreds of thousands in Australia) and their families boycotted newsagencies then you might sit up and take notice?
The internet has not made a “big dent in the newsagency business”. The GFC has had a bigger impact.
There is no point in me restating, again, the points I made in the original post. I stand by those. They reflect one man’s opinion.
However, I would add – this magazine is a US publication, published in a very different culture to Australia. I think this cultural difference around guns is one reason our gun related deaths as a percentage of population are considerably lower than in the US.
Like I said, faggot.
I bet if my 15 year old went to your shop you would have no problem selling him a Picture or People magazine! They have gone way past soft porn, but if he wanted to buy a magazine that depicted legal firearms in another country that he may be interested in you have a problem..Huh!
Bill we take our obligation to sell within the law seriously. We are at Forest Hill Chase in Victoria if you want to try us out.
Actually there is a large selection of people who have concealed carry authorization from the police commissioners in their state.
Some of these people are doctors, diamond merchants/jewellers and specialist security consultants servicing ministers of parliament.
Other people who have licenses under special privileges are veterinarians. Often it is more human to euthanase an animal with a firearm than an injection of a chemical, when the animal is larger than a dog.
Gun ownership laws in the country especially for pistols is extremely restricted.
But most importantly owning any type of firearm legally does not make you a criminal. Overall you must be a more responsible citizen than non-gun owners due to the many conditions associated with gun ownership laws in Australia.
Mark,
Gun related deaths in the US are considerably higher because of the ready access to guns for the purpose of suicide. Once you compare the suicide stats of America, alongside our own and comparatively high standard of living, it makes you question why our sensationalist media organisations perpetrate the statistical misinformation that they do with regard to gun deaths.
In reference to the magazine you refer to, perhaps you might care to note a single article that disturbs you, or encourages you to believe it may entice illegal activity that is currently predominant.
Chris
Shayne,
“Mick, I’ve personally never heard of anyone pulling out a cigarette and murdering someone with it. To compare cigarettes with concealed weapons is a bit of a stretch dont you think. One is legal one is not”
Are you serious?, ever heard of passive smoking?.
They are both legal by the way, I hold a concealed handgun permit and I have never killed anyone with my handgun. When you can say that cigarettes don’t kill anyone, come back to me.
The whole argument is about death at the end of the day, and you are ignoring the fact that cigarettes kill more people daily than guns do annually.
On that alone, cigarettes should be banned, not guns.
Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.
Mark, I commend you for taking cigarettes out of your shop, its a pity you can’t grasp the point I am making.
Mark,
You’re a wanker.
Tom – you are part of the reason why there are such harsh gun restrictions in australia . anger gets you no where .