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Australia has announced national gun amnesty, allowing people to hand in illegal or unregistered firearms to authorities. The move is aimed at curbing growing numbers of illegal weapons and comes amid an increased terrorist threat.
[...] The program starts on July 1 and within three months – until September 30 – anyone who possesses an unwanted or unregistered firearm, or a firearm-related item such as ammunition, can legally dispose of or register their firearm at "approved drop-off points in each State and Territory", without fear of being prosecuted, Justice Minister said.
Outside the amnesty period, however, those who are caught with illegal guns could face a fine of up to AU$280,000 (US$212,000), up to 14 years in prison and a criminal record.
“My expectation is it will probably not be the case that we will have hardened criminals who have made a big effort to get a hold on illegal guns would necessarily hand them in. The purpose is to reduce the number of unregistered and illicit firearms in the community,” Keenan said, as cited by AAP.
[...] Earlier this month, the authorities announced plans to build its first prison solely for militants with extreme views to prevent the radicalization of other inmates.
Source: RT
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday June 19 2017, @03:34PM
Oh, and I should also point out there are MANY parliamentary democracies around the word where a "prime minister" or similar leader is chosen by a legislature, again -- people elect representatives who ultimately choose the leader. The Founders of the U.S. considered options to have Congress elect the President, which would have basically moved the U.S. in that direction too. But the Founders were concerned with corruption and wanted independent folks to select the president, rather than "political insiders" like Congressmen. Ultimately that experiment failed (and failed quickly), but that was the intent... which makes sense in theory, though it never really worked in practice.