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As the Australian government rapidly moves toward an authoritarian police state, does part of you wonder if they'd be so cavalier if their citizens had guns? Or
by gorwell 5y ago
As the Australian government rapidly moves toward an authoritarian police state, does part of you wonder if they'd be so cavalier if their citizens had guns? Or if that might be a deterrent to tyranny at some point?
- Nursie 5y agoI don't think it is moving towards being an authoritarian police state any more than any other western country, and I wouldn't want to live in a country where citizens had easy access to guns, and suffered the violence and mass shootings that seem to come from that, like in the US. Hope that helps.
- gorwell 5y ago"I don't think it is moving towards being an authoritarian police state any more than any other western country" The example on which this thread is based, and otherwise discussed within this thread (checking in every 15 minutes with the state or be visited by the police), is well beyond other western countries and especially the USA at this point. We'll see if that holds.
- King-Aaron 5y agolol you're kidding yourself if you think having armed citizens would make any difference to authoritarian policy anywhere.
- thallium205 5y agoI've personally witnessed a single gunman absolutely shutdown and preoccupy the entire Philadelphia police forever for several hours. One guy. You all seriously overestimate the capabilities of the police.
- gorwell 5y agoYou're kidding yourself if you think it wouldn't. Didn't the Taliban just win despite 20 years of military occupation?
- bserge 5y agoYou imagine some ragtag groups fighting against the police and military with the guns they bought a decade or two ago? Personal ownership of guns doesn't help that much. You need a lot of people, a lot of organized people. At which point you can acquire or even create the weapons you need.
- ipatec 5y agoNot really. Even an unorganized small group of armed people can create enough damage to the Police/Government forces that it's not worth the fight.
- bserge 5y agoPerhaps in the past. The sheer numbers and equipment of modern police and military forces are overwhelming. You need a lot of people, good organization, support from the inside. Not to mention you'll be hit with the media first, discrediting all of your efforts and painting you as a terrorist or traitor in everyone's minds. Then you're easy pickings.
- gorwell 5y agoYou don't have to imagine, look at Afghanistan. A ragtag group of people won against the strongest military in the world.