Did Australia Destroy Firearms Used in The Pacific?

(UPDATED: Weapons Confiscated were from the film The Great Raid)

As news continues to (barely) flow about the reported ban on the importation of vintage M1 rifles from South Korea news has surfaced that many other vintage World War II era equipment was recently destroyed in Australia.

At the Historicon Convention, historian consultant Dale Dye reportedly related his troubles with the Australian government. Apparently Dye had imported scads of World War II era rifles, Thompson submachine guns and other firearms from Korea to use in filming The Pacific, which aired earlier this year on HBO. When the time came to leave Australia the government confiscated all of them, and had the firearms cut up into scrap metal!

And we thought the American gun buybacks were bad news for collectors!

Updated: We spoke with Dale Dye, who clarified:

“It wasn’t The Pacific but it was the film The Great Raid, which was also filmed in Australia. I was told that after production wrapped the Australian government confiscated the firearms and these were ‘dealt with.’ I told that to mean destroyed. That’s what I was told, but I can’t confirm for a fact that the guns were in fact destroyed. As for the weapons used in The Pacific, those did in fact come home with us.”

Firing Back: MSM Fails to Pick up on M1 Rifle Story

Last week The Korea Times reported that the Obama administration has blocked efforts by the South Korean government to sell more than 100,000 vintage M1 Garand and M1 Carbine rifles in the United States. The rifles, which were actually produced in America, were supplied to the South Koreas during the Korean War. So far the mainstream media in the United States has been silent on the issue. But should we really be the least bit surprised?

The MSM has gone out of its way to note that the Democratic controlled congress, along with President Obama have not made any effort to draft new gun legislation. However, there has been no mention of this ban of the importation of the M1 rifles. The irony is that these rifles, which were the first semi-automatic rifles generally issued to infantry soldiers, were in fact made in the United States. Thus these are not a foreign-made import firearm. These guns could be seen as “simply coming home,” and they would appeal to collectors. Prices of M1s have gone up dramatically in recent years. So why the holdup?

As we previously noted, The Korea Times reported that concerns from the United States government included the age of the rifles, and that gangs or terrorists could obtain these weapons. The latter is of course ridiculous as the weapons are pre-World War II technology, and again these would hardly be sold at bargain basement prices – thus not even close to the first choice for either terrorists or gangbangers.

Of course the real question is why isn’t the American media bothering to report on this issue?

Gun Collecting: Machine Guns Vs. Assault Weapons

This week we launch a new column that will run every weekend on facets of gun collecting.

As we’ve reported on since launching this site more than a year ago, the fact is simple: the mainstream media does a terrible job in reporting on guns, and much of it is misunderstood even when the reporting is close to accurate. The media would have you believe that “assault weapons” are in fact “machine guns,” but that’s not really the case. Here is why. Read more

NY Times Article Looks at Elderly and Guns

It seems that the Old Gray Lady is just gunning for guns any way it can. How else do you explain an article that looks at guns and the elderly? The paper adds, quite deep in the article however, that there are “few reports of elderly gun owners shooting relatives or caregivers,” the article addresses the possible concerns.

Yes, this is an issue, just as much as how elderly individuals with dementia and other mental problems shouldn’t be driving or possibly living alone, but this seems to be yet another case where the media can take fire at gun owners. So should we be surprised that The New York Times chose this time, as the gun debate is hotly in the news, to come out with this one sided article?

We say one-sided because one aspect that seems to be missing is a counter point. While the article does address dementia and other issues, it fails to note that some elderly individuals do indeed need guns to protect themselves, such as Mr. Otis McDonald of Chicago. The paper also ignores the fact that many of today’s elderly men fought in World War II and as such certainly know to handle a gun with respect and confidence.

Tiny Gun Causes Child Big Trouble

While toy guns have evolved – devolved even – over the years, we sort of understand if these look realistic. Considering that police have enough to worry about we agree that realistic guns can be a problem. But is this about keeping guns safe, or really about teaching guns that all guns are bad. That’s a question we ask because of a story making the rounds this week on how a child in New York City was in trouble for a toy gun for an action figure. MSNBC notes this fact:

“Department of Education policy states that there can be no imitation guns on school property, and a representative said that the principal has ultimate discretion, and this one felt there was reason for ‘concern.’”

So why is a toy gun for an action figure a problem? Is this even an imitation gun? Imitations in our opinion at least would be replicas – as in full-size or approximate size to the real deal. A toy gun for an action figure or toy is just that – a toy. It isn’t an imitation. No one calls a Matchbox car an imitation toy. It is a scale replica, with scale being the key word.

But this is no surprise in New York City, where it is a crime to sell toy guns. Soon we might expect toy stores to ban action figures, or anything “violent,” regardless of whether it is historical. We assume this would mean no knights sold at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has a fine gallery of arms and armor. And soon we might expect that the military planes need to be removed from the U.S.S. Intrepid, the World War II era aircraft carrier turned floating museum. But that’s New York City for you!