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There are two issues here....

The first is that the banning and licencing of personal weapons has been demonstrably futile in this country (and all around the world)... This is a reality which has been demonstrated by historical experience and by quality research. Therefore the current move to ban swords (except by restrictive permit system) is NOT reasonable, and (as most Australian members of this board already know) is a matter of politics rather than a serious attempt to reduce crime.
Incidentally, murder is murder and dead is dead. The appearance of victims of edged-weapon attacks is not a valid reason to impose greater or lesser restrictions on swords... We've had to put up with this level of reasoning for way too long (and it's only out of politeness that I don't give rein to my feelings here..) We're having guns banned because they LOOK dangerous. We're having to put up with legislation based on the premise that people being shot are somehow more dead, or their killing is more dastardly that people killed by other means.
No-one should be surprised that Australian shooters who have had to put up with this level of illogical, knee-jerk ban-it-all regulation-without-reason should be a little bit shirty about yet another example of the same thing.

The second is the issue of live sheep exports. "Scabby Mouth", the disease which supposedly caused the rejection of a shipload of sheep to the Saudis is a species specific (ie, no threat to humans) minor infection of about the same level of seriousness as cold-sores. Its effect on otherwise healthy animals is no more than minor discomfort.
Having to play trade the Saudi way has long been one of the costs of doing business with them. Industry insiders will tell you that when counting sheep off the boat on delivery, when you get to "100" the local agent will state emphatically "95" the extra % uncounted are his little bonus ....... and of course the only way to account for the missing sheep are as "Died enroute"..
So now we have the bloody Animal Libbers accusing the trade of cruelty because of these "casualties", while having to put up with the cost of greasing palms to accomodate the local business practices over there.
It's all the same deal. Bloody politics and self-interest.
As a farmer, I have an interest in putting the other side of the story. Friend Iqbal only knows what he reads in his media, and non-farming Australians only see what's in our own sensationalist equivalent.

Shooters aren't the only ones to suffer.

Regards to you all....... (a very grumpy) Cooch

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"The only logical response to an animal that lives obsessed with avoiding capture is to chase it." - Jose Ortega y Gassett

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