After the Port Arthur mass shooting of 1996, during which 35 people were murdered and 23 wounded in the deadliest massacre in modern Australian history, Australia enforced what was celebrated by anti-gun advocates as the gold standard of gun laws, “among the most stringent — and effective — in the world,” as the Guardian put it.
“In an almost unprecedented display of national collaboration, the federal government worked with the states to restrict semiautomatic weapons, toughen up licensing requirements, and introduce a new requirement for gun holders to demonstrate a ‘genuine reason’ for ownership,” the left-wing outlet explained, neglecting to note that self-defense is explicitly not a genuine reason recognized by the Australian government.
Almost 30 years later, we witnessed the latest Islamic terrorist attack targeting Jews for the crime of being Jews. An apparent father-son duo besieged a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Australia, and proceeded to slaughter innocent civilians with their, apparently legally-owned, bolt-action rifles and shotguns. And the response of the Australian government should fill every Jew in Australia with dread.
“The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced. “Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws.”
Right, because the solution to any failure of legislation is more legislation, no matter the consequences.
Let’s not miss a key detail here. While hundreds of Jews were disarmed and helpless thanks to Australia’s gun laws, what were several Australian police officers busy doing? According to some eye-witness reports, they were hiding or even fleeing the scene, abandoning those they swore to protect to the merciless, bloodthirsty barbarity of Islamic terrorists as they were allowed to fire upon Jews for almost 15 minutes. Indeed, the only act of resistance we’ve seen so far came from an unarmed civilian, Ahmed al-Ahmed.
The truth is that when governments call for gun control, it is always presented as one side of an equation of guaranteed safety. Sure, you’re giving up your weapons, but what do you need them for anyway? Just call the police! They’ll protect you! Except they won’t.
Not only was this attack in Australia another example of the proliferation of anti-Western Islamism, literally the globalization of intifada, but it was also another example of precisely why the Second Amendment exists and why, crucially, it can never be infringed.
DEMOCRATS BLAME GUNS, NOT EVIL, FOR BONDI BEACH AND BROWN UNIVERSITY SHOOTINGS
The right to self-defense is a God-given right that absolutely no one, including government officials and their constant armed security, can take away from you. But the right to self-defense is also a responsibility that we all, as free individuals, must embrace. If we do not, and we instead outsource our own protection to those who will leave us to be slaughtered, then we have no one but ourselves to blame.
Never give up your guns. Your enemies sure won’t.
Ian Haworth is a syndicated columnist. Follow him on X (@ighaworth) or Substack.