Bondi Beach Shows That You Can’t Buy a Gun Culture

Once more, the entire world has witnessed the failure of citizen disarmament policy, at least regarding the promise of safety from violence. Yes, I am speaking of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack that claimed fifteen dead and wounded forty.

It has been ten years since a spate of terror attacks in Germany, the aftermath of which had the German people scrambling for tools to defend themselves. We recall headlines such as “Germans Call for Gun Rights” or “German Right-Wing Backs Right to Arms.”  Of course, at the time, we shook our heads knowing full well what was actually going to happen. The socialists running Germany used the terrorist attacks as an excuse to exercise even more control over the citizens. 

Now, just as the definition of insanity has foretold, the Australian government has vowed to enact even stricter regulations on civilian firearms ownership.

Insanity; def: doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.

Naturally, no sane or thoughtful person expects even more gun control restrictions to prevent violent crime and terrorism. On Friday, November 13, 2015 Islamic terrorists used bombs and select-fire weapons to murder 131 innocents at six separate locations in Paris. Neither the bombs or the weapons were legal for sale to citizens of France. That did not stop the terrorists. 

The people of the UK were disarmed thirty years ago and they have no right to self-defense. That, however, hasn’t reduced the instances of violent crime. Quite the contrary, they have increased. Not having ready access to firearms, three terrorists easily mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge then got out and started stabbing people in 2017. Disarmed peasants are easy to kill.    

Gun Rights for Australians? 

The videos of the prolonged Bondi Beach attack showed several unarmed citizens trying to fight back in whatever way they could. In a sickening indication of the mental state of the Australian populace, a man and woman, described as elderly in news reports, died while trying to stop one of the attackers. I say a sickening because two elderly people did what much younger people did not, instead choosing to stand by and record the massacre on their phones. 

Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old fruit shop owner, distracted and inconvenienced one of the killers long enough to wrestle one of the terrorists’ gun away. We use the terms distracted and inconvenienced because after taking the shotgun from the terrorist, Mr. Ahmed pointed it at him, but let him walk back to where his son was shooting, pick up another gun and continue mowing down innocent people. Apparently, most people don’t know that part of the story.

Those on our side have rightly opined how the situation would have been much different had those with the courage to act been armed with the necessary tools. There are some in Australia who are speaking the truth, stating the obvious…that disarming the innocent will never stop those who are determined to kill them. To put it in even simpler terms for politicians and the mentally challenged, criminals and terrorists don’t follow gun laws.

Of course, the socialist government of Australia — the same one that forced citizens into Covid internment camps just a few years ago — is salivating at the prospect of enacting even more control over the people. This is just more proof that tyrants and dictators love violent criminals and terrorists because they provide the tyrants with the excuses they need to grab more power, and money, for themselves. 

Terrorism is defined as the use or threat of violence, particularly against a civilian population, in order to further political gains. Just as American Democrats dance in the blood of innocents in order to seize more power, the Australian government is using violence against civilians to further their political aims.

You Can’t Buy a Gun Culture

Let’s say that all of those who are in favor of giving the people, the victims of violence and terror, the means to defend themselves, get their way. Let’s say that, somehow, a miracle happens and the citizens of socialist hellholes are granted permission to arm themselves. Then what?

I am reminded of the story of John Brown, the abolitionist who raided the Harper’s Ferry Armory in October of 1959. Some four decades ago, I was fortunate to receive a solid education and we studied the raid in high school. Brown put much planning into the raid on the Harper’s Ferry Armory and, along with the arms he had secured from northern abolitionists, believed that he could begin a slave rebellion by arming them with both pikes and muskets.

Brown’s raid initially succeeded in taking control of the armory, but the hordes of slaves, ready to take up arms and rebel, never materialized. The US Marines famously ended the raid and took Brown and his men into custody. Brown was put on trial for murder (one Marine was killed as were six civilians) and insurrection, found guilty and hanged on December 2nd, 1859.

The success and failure of John Brown’s attempt to spur the slaves into action — to take up arms and fight — wasn’t so much a matter of hardware. There were lots of guns to be had. It was a software issue. My high school teacher explained it to us in simple terms. “Imagine having been a slave your entire life and then one day, a guy comes along and says, ‘Follow me, I’ll give you a gun and you can fight.’  While there may have indeed been some current or former slaves with the mentality and will to fight, the vast majority didn’t have it. 

Consider the socialist tax slaves who inhabit the aforementioned countries, including Australia. A few years ago, their socialist masters engaged in a fear campaign and bullied them into participating in a dangerous medical experiment. Australia proudly boasts that ninety-five percent of its population took the Covid vaccine. Australian citizens stood by and did nothing as their neighbors were carted off to Covid camps. The citizens of the UK similarly are doing nothing as their friends and neighbors are arrested and jailed for “offending” someone on Facebook or X.

Guns or no guns, how can you expect a society that has been conditioned to the point of slavish obedience to suddenly develop a gun culture and stand up against the violence and terrorist threats they are facing? The answer is, you can’t. 

Community or Culture? 

Members of the gun community can be collectors, hunters, competitive shooters, weekend enthusiasts or hobbyists. Carrying a firearm isn’t required for membership in the gun community. Neither is having any formal training in the use of arms. 

Some in the gun community claim to view the Second Amendment as absolute. However, for as many of those who hold the aforementioned view, there are folks who count themselves as members of the gun community who “Support the Second Amendment, but…” 

We hear from these folks all the time. They support the Second Amendment, but they say we need more common sense gun laws. They support the Second Amendment, but people shouldn’t be allowed to just carry a gun anywhere they want. They support the Second Amendment, but no civilian needs an “assault weapon.” They support the Second Amendment, but when their masters at the state capital command them to register their guns, they get in a long line and comply. 

For the American gun culture, the line of demarcation between them and the gun community isn’t about objects, it’s about mindset. This is the most critical aspect of the discussion.

The members of the gun culture do indeed view the Second Amendment as absolute, with no buts allowed or welcome. Those in the American gun culture view a firearm in the hands of a citizen, first and foremost, as an instrument of liberty. Games and hobbies come in a distant second to liberty. Regardless of the make, model, size or configuration, the gun culture understands that it’s the possession of arms that sets a citizen — a free man — apart from subjects, servants, and slaves who have to beg for permission from their masters.

Parting Shots

Before the blood on the streets around Bondi Beach was even dry, the tyrant government of Australia already had their plan to push for near-total and civilian disarmament. Criminals, terrorists, and foreign invaders will, by default, be exempted. Only those conditioned for slavish obedience will be affected.

No amount of sportsmen or collectors, hobbyists or competition shooters will be able to tip the scales and turn Australia back toward some semblance of a free state. The question isn’t so much about objects as it is about mindset.

Every tyrannical and dictatorial government in the world, including ours, will abuse the people to the length that the people allow. History has shown that, thus far, there is no amount of abuse that those who inhabit these nations are unwilling to tolerate. And so it goes. 

 

 

Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.