Criminals for gun control, you think?

From Protest Warrior

We don't agree with everything on this site. However, there are a lot of good issues brought up and several that we do agree with.



Being here in Australia B and I have been able to view a society that has grown up without guns. It is strange for me to hear people freaking out when we mention that our family members, friends, and co-workers own guns. It is very surprising to some over here that we would know people or would own one ourselves. We did have a gun but it would take good aim and several shots to inflict any real damage.

Personally I think spending money on huge gun control programs is a waste. I see the guns not being the problem but the people. Seems like we should be spending the money in the justice system to make it work more efficiently then wasting time trying to control something out of reach ( sin nature, perhaps?). To me it seems that the focus should shift from the object of the crime to the crime itself and how best to deal out punishments. Granted there have been a lot of mistakes made when it comes to witnesses and evidence but all the more reason to spend the money in that area and to promote punishments for false witnesses and tampered evidence. I for one am for the death penalty, I think it shows people that there is value to human life. The death penalty when really enforced seems like a good motivator from certain crimes.

Brandon found an article about gun control in Australia and it is something all should read. It has been a decade since Australia enforced strict gun control laws throughout the country. This report looks at the data to see if these laws have helped in controlling homicides. Big surprise that homicide rates have not been effected by the controls put on guns. The only thing that has probably changed is the percentage of unregistered guns used in those crimes. It just goes to show that criminals can get a hold of whatever item they need to commit whatever crimes they want. The black market is something impossible to shut down completely.

Also a question - Is it wrong to own objects that could be used for protection? The sound of a gun being loaded would make any criminal think twice, just a thought.

Here is the article

Now, don't go assuming any wild ideas about me. I think it is good that there are background checks, hoops you have to jump through to carry one on you, etc. I just don't think taking guns out of the world will help solve the problem. If guns were not invented homicides would be committed with swords or something more medieval.

Human nature doesn't change just because an object is taken away. The heart, and as a result actions, can only be changed through Jesus Christ, everything else is futile.

M

New Music

Pic is from Threadless


A few bands we bought online recently, for all of you music buffs out there.

The Rapture - Cool website graphics, old school in a way

Peter, Bjorn, and John - their song "Young Folks" from the album Writer's Block is particularly fun to listen to.

The Raconteurs - Jack White's band, old scool website as well, reminds me of the old Strong Bad computer graphics.

The Killers-

The Cat Empire Project - Jazz sort of stuff

Beach pics

We went to the beach the other night for a few hours. We really must take advantage of it more often. I forget that we live so close. This particular beach is where the Barwon River meets the Bass Strait ( I think that is the name). On the river side the water is pretty calm and good for little children. A nice thing to do for a few hours before tea.

As you can see Brandon and Allen were having as much fun in the sand as Jolene.

Rain, rain please come our way and definitely stay another day

We have received the least amount of rain this past winter/spring ever recorded in the past 100 years of Victoria. Last week on Thursday the temp got up to 36 C which is over 100 F, along with the blistering heat were strong winds that basically wicked any surface water away. I felt as if I was slowly turning into a mummy. Even though it was so hot, it is dry here so you don't sweat much.

Our house doesn't have A/C so it got pretty hot that day. I think it was actually cooler outside because of the strong winds.

Because of the lack of rain we are already in Stage 2 of the water restrictions. This means...
-no watering your lawn
-can only wash car with bucket of water and you have to do it on the lawn
-only water garden and flowers on alternating days that correspond to your house number
-cannot use any water toys
-have to get permission to fill a swimming pool

Stage 3 restriction are supposed to be coming soon. Stage 3 is considered "critical".

I guess our family isn't really feeling the drought too much yet. It is the farmers with crops and animals that are being hit pretty hard. I read an article in the Age that told of farmers selling their animals and turning under their crops. They are going to have a pretty hard time if rain doesn't come soon. The problem is that the summer/fall seasons receive the lowest amount of rainfall during the year. Here in Geelong our water storage levels are only at %30 and we are going into the driest part of the year.

Here are a few articles if you are interested in reading about the drought...
1. Food prices will be on the rise due to drought
2. Extra cash to tackle drought

Living in a area faced with drought is something new for us. Back in Indiana there are not too many problems with droughts. I guess it could be more of the opposite, floods might be more of a problem.

If you think of it when you sit down to pray, pray for Australia's droughts. God is in control of the weather too.

Charity Footy match

First, to all of you who were so annoyed that we still had the "edit-me" link on the site....sorry. Thank Gabe for lighting the fire under our rear. I just don't think about that sort of thing until someone mentions it. If any of you don't want your blog link up there then let me know and I will take it off.

Last Saturday Brandon played in a charity football match. The match is to raise money for cancer patients. There is a girl (Sarah) that used to go to the Geelong church who was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. She is 27 and they say she has only a few more months to live. She is married and has a daughter about the same age as Jolene. Please pray for her and her family. I can't imagine how hard it is for them right now. They are currently in Mexico seeking treatment, both natural and medical. They estimate that the cost is going to be upwards of $40,000. Everyone who played in the match paid. Also, that evening some ladies from church put together a concert in Sarah's honor to help raise money. With the money from the footy game and the concert, we were able to raise over $1600 for her. That doesn't seem like a big dent but every little bit counts.


So the footy match was good, Brandon's team lost but that is ok. There were only a few injuries (broken rib(s) and a swollen knee) but on Sunday all the guys seemed rather stiff. Everytime we stood up for a psalm you could look around and see the guys standing up very slowly :-)

Brandon received the "best on ground" medal. He said that he is going to melt it down and sell it to the pawn shop :-)


The concert was entertaining. There were several different families that preformed, including the Blackwoods.


In short it was a long day but a lot of fun.