Gun control advocates are fond of telling us that stringent gun controls, or even outright prohibition of firearms, will not only make us safer, but they will be no threat to our civil liberties either.

Read the following story and judge for yourselves.

Source:hhtp://www.smh.com.au/breaking/2002/05/16/FFXZA58J91D.html


New laws to target illegal guns
SYDNEY, May 16 AAP|Published: Thursday May 16, 7:39 PM

New laws proposed by the NSW government would allow police to use firearm detector dogs in all public areas, Police Minister Michael Costa said today.

Mr Costa said firearms laws would be updated to create new offences and increase penalties for existing offences.

The changes will allow police to use firearm detector dogs in all public places, including streets, public transport and entertainment venues, without a warrant.

Just nine days ago, the government announced an open-slather policy for the use of drug sniffer dogs on trains.

Mr Costa said in line with the newest measures, the NSW Firearm Detection Dog Unit would be expanded from six to 26 dogs.

The dogs were being trained to trace firearms, gunshot residue and explosives, he said.

However, Mr Costa said porous borders were a problem and this had not been addressed in the federal budget.

"Handguns will still come in, but we need to detect them on the street, and these powers will enable the police to do that," Mr Costa told reporters.

"We make no apologies for moving down this path."

In other planned measures, a person caught with three or more unregistered guns would be deemed a supplier, making them liable to 20 years' jail.

Police would also be able to refuse licence applications without having to explain the rejection.

An offence would also be created of knowingly supplying materials or information to illegally modify firearms.

Changes would also be made to knife and move-on legislation.

Anyone convicted of three knife-related offences would face a penalty of two years' jail or a fine of $2,200.

Civil Libertarians opposed the expanded use of firearm detector dogs, saying they believed the legislation covering the dogs was invalid.

"All you are doing is wasting valuable resources by sniffing and searching the vast majority of people who are not carrying guns," NSW Civil Liberties Council president Cameron Murphy said.

"What I would rather see is intelligence-based policing where they target the people who are going to be carrying the guns."

By Janine O'Neill, Police Reporter

If those So called civil libertarians were any kind of libertarians at all they would oppose the illegalization of guns and the carrying of guns more than the use of dogs to enforce it. I would advise you and any of your liberty loving friends nada to put trace amounts of gun powder on your person so as to give a scent without proof of it so as to cause the dogs to be viewed as unreliable and give cause for the program to be disbanded.