ARCHIVE: Danger, Public School Ahead (Written April 24, 1999)

[Prisca]

Evangelion, you said, “The very fact that Australia (along with every other nation in the developed West) has never found any need for such a policy, should tell you that we are getting it right where you are getting it wrong. ”

My aunt and uncle are currently visiting Australia and sent an email about a memorial they visited in Port Arthur. They said they visited a site where a gunman killed 35 people in 1996. A rare incident in your country, but we see that it can happen almost anywhere.

Don’t misunderstand me, I realize that Australia has an incredibly low homicide rate (somewhere around 2.1 per 100,000 compared with the current US rate of 5.5 per 100,000.) They point is, “monsters” can be created almost anywhere. It could be that Australia, with its small population of only 18.5 million (in 2000) just hasn’t “caught up” demographically with the US and its population of 287 million (POPClock).

 

[Evangelion]

Becky -

They point is, “monsters” can be created almost anywhere.

Agreed. I was in Tasmania at the time when the Port Arthur massacre took place.
I have friends who were personally affected by it - friends who lost friends and business colleagues of their own.

It could be that Australia, with its small population of only 18.5 million (in 2000) just hasn’t “caught up” demographically with the US and its population of 287 million (POPClock).

It's tempting to think that demographics is the only factor at work here. But history proves otherwise. (Compare the US homicide record with a nation of comparable size, and you'll see what I mean.)

The bottom line is that Australia does not have a gun culture (and doesn't want one!), while America does.

This is the most significant factor. Before you address anything else, this issue must first be dealt with.

 

[Prisca]

Evangelion

Evangelion

I was sorry to hear that your friends were affected by the 1996 shooting. That incident must have been very painful to your otherwise peaceful country. No community expects such a terrible thing to happen. I know that from first hand experience. The cross that hangs in our church was made by the father of one of the victims of the Columbine High School shooting. It was very difficult to witness the pain this family went through following the loss of their son.

You said, “It's tempting to think that demographics is the only factor at work here. But history proves otherwise. (Compare the US homicide record with a nation of comparable size, and you'll see what I mean.)”

I in no way meant to imply that demographics were the only factor. It seemed worth noting that there is a huge population difference between our two countries that could contribute to the difference in murder rates. Certainly there are many factors involved that we have not even considered.

In 1840 the US population was 16,987,946. That’s as close as I could get to the Australia’s current population. A lot has changed in the US since then, so it is almost impossible to make a comparison based on population alone. We will just have to wait and see. You might check out the info at: http://www.agd.nsw.gov.au/bocsar1.nsf/pages/media160699
The info is a few years old but still worth noting.

 

[Sozo]

:think: