When lots of people die at the hands of gunmen, that’s the perfect time to make the point that guns don’t kill people. Chris Graham reports.
The bodies are still piling up in Paris, but Australian federal politician David Leyonhjelm is already looking ahead, to prevent the next tragedy, he says.
A few hours ago, in the spirit of every American gun nut known to man, Leyonhjelm retweeted his solution to the attacks in Paris.
The sheer irrationality of the hoplophobes @andwcampbell @Meegwah @shazdeeable @DrGCrisp @udderrunner @pluckyloser https://t.co/X21XiIjgzc
— David Leyonhjelm (@DavidLeyonhjelm) November 14, 2015
Like Australia – a nation of victims. The tragic outcome could be avoided if citizens were armed. @DavidLeyonhjelm https://t.co/5JGSmW48bi — Hilander (@Canisrah) November 13, 2015
Leyonhjelm is a federal Senator by dint of luck, and political cunning. Not only did many voters mistake his party – the ‘Liberal Democrats’ – for the Australian Liberal Party, but he also jagged the number one spot on the Australian Senate ballot paper, guaranteeing himself a strong ‘donkey vote’ from the more apathetic sections of the Australian public.
In September, Leyonhjelm branded people who opposed the spread of guns in Australia as psychologically challenged, in response to news that a lever action shotgun had been banned in Australia.
“These authoritarian types who don’t like guns … we call them hoplophobes,” he told ABC radio.
“It’s a psychological condition. They don’t attack guns all at once. Like slicing pieces off a salami they go after them one by one.”
‘Hoplophobes’ is not a real word – it was coined in 1962 by an American military officer to describe an “irrational” fear of guns, and armed citizens.
Debra Jopson, for The Saturday Paper, provides a very good précis of Leyonhjelm’s love of guns here.
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