The Aussies Know That We Are Packing

Out for a morning walk during a recent trip to Australia I struck up a conversation with three 10-year-old boys who were fishing the Patalawonga River near Adelaide.

I asked what they were catching.

“Brim and bass,” they told me.

Recognizing my accent, they asked if I was from the U.S.

“Montana,” I replied.

“Do you have any automatic weapons?” they asked in unison, eagerly awaiting my reply.

“No,” I said, explaining automatic weapons remain off-limits to most Americans.

“Do you have Jolly Ranchers?” was their next question.

I told them yes, we do.

It shouldn’t have surprised me that guns were the first thing they asked about. Firearms are strictly regulated in Australia, self-defense not even a valid reason to own a gun there.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that shootings down under are rare.

Apparently, an unarmed society can function.

Not that we’d want to try it here.

Just the opposite.

Everybody’s packing.

Support of the Second Amendment is touted by political candidates of all stripes. What that support involves is difficult to explain. It typically means lack of support for any legislation restricting gun ownership even for the mentally impaired.

Instead of limiting who can own a gun we’ve decided everyone should be armed. It will be safer that way.

It used to be that a cache of weapons and ammunition meant something nefarious was under way. Now it’s commonplace.

Were I to be arrested tomorrow and my home searched, it would be reported that I was in possession of more than a dozen weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

While my collection of firearms is made up primarily of shotguns, hunting rifles, and a few antiques, I know folks who have military arms and ammo stockpiled for the coming apocalypse.

Ten-year-old boys in Australia are envious.

They see the same violent movies we do. They play the same video games. They just don’t have access to weapons like we do.

Consequently they have little chance of being shot in the classroom or being shot anywhere else.

Poor kids.

They don’t even have Jolly Ranchers.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]