Australia punishes two athletes for posing with guns.

[JeffinNZ]

This is the article:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/7073367/Dumb-and-dumber-to-be-sent-home-early-from-London

This is the message I sent to the AU Olympic management. Nuff said:

"I would like to express my dismay at the decision to send home two Australian athletes because of photos they posted of themselves posing with firearms. The AU team has shooters in the pistol and shotgun events. The boys were holding pistols and shotguns. In my opinion the decision is yet another example of politically correct claptrap by officials devoid of any testicular fortitude. Get real."

[Jim]

This is the article:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/7073367/Dumb-and-dumber-to-be-sent-home-early-from-London

This is the message I sent to the AU Olympic management. Nuff said:

"I would like to express my dismay at the decision to send home two Australian athletes because of photos they posted of themselves posing with firearms. The AU team has shooters in the pistol and shotgun events. The boys were holding pistols and shotguns. In my opinion the decision is yet another example of politically correct claptrap by officials devoid of any testicular fortitude. Get real."

GOOD on ya', Jeff!!

[Reg]

Bet CBS dosn't cover that one !!!

[Wal']

+1.....Its bureaucratic **** taken to a new level, when will this end, its just getting silly!!!!!!!!

[sav300]

Ah,but Jeff.one is in trouble and cannot stay out of trouble.He king hit a team mate ans faced a ban on swimming.

[bruce drake]

King hit??? A blindside hit or a low blow?

Yet again, we are a common culture divided by a common language :)

Bruce

[Wal']

King hit??? A blindside hit or a low blow?

Yet again, we are a common culture divided by a common language :)

Bruce

I think it would be a blind side hit, low blow ?????? got me on that one.

[Wal']

Ah,but Jeff.one is in trouble and cannot stay out of trouble.He king hit a team mate ans faced a ban on swimming.

Not withstanding their past stupidity, are we to now going punish our Olympians for fun photo's, God forbid if they jaywalk. [smilie=l:

[bruce drake]

a low blow is a punch below the belt which will make a man sing soprano...

Blind side hits are definite cheap shots and call into question the man's character as well.

Bruce

[runfiverun]

brandishing is waving your guns at a crowd of people/person or using them for force.

that's just a picture of a couple of idiots holding a couple of shotguns and some pistols.
but i see they earned the honour/privelege [and not the right through hard work and talent] to be on the team.

besides that they were in california so how dangerous could those guns possibly have been?
the ammo was probably 6 blocks away in a cement bunker.

[canyon-ghost]

As you can see by the comments, most Americans consider it silly:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/australian-olympic-swimmers-criticized-facebook-gun-photo-154500136.html

[bearcove]

King hit??? A blindside hit or a low blow?

Yet again, we are a common culture divided by a common language :)

Bruce

Sucker punch is how I've heard it translated. From a blind side also. Head shot not low.

[nvbirdman]

Heaven forbid a member of the ski team should pose with his skis, or a member of the tennis team posing with a racquet.

[Thumbcocker]

Were there prior problems with these guys?

[MtGun44]

The ownership and use of guns is legal, both where the picture was taken and where they
live.
What possible offense was taken from these pictures? What if they had been photographed
with a bow?

Silly, stupid and inexplicable. Just what is the claimed "problem"??? No illegality and no
unsafe behavior. What the heck is the issue?

Bill

[JeffinNZ]

Bill: I believe I highlighted the issue in my second last sentence.

[Plate plinker]

A bow? Worse than that, what if they had sticks or rocks?

[Blacksmith]

Without a doubt if the boys want to stop in the good old USA on their way home we could arrange a chance for them to actually shoot guns like those and some even more interesting. Maybe even arrange a special shooting match in their honor.

[Wal']

Sucker punch is how I've heard it translated. From a blind side also. Head shot not low.

Thats the one ..............Sucker punch = King hit!!!

[Wal']

The ownership and use of guns is legal, both where the picture was taken and where they
live.
What possible offense was taken from these pictures? What if they had been photographed
with a bow?

Silly, stupid and inexplicable. Just what is the claimed "problem"??? No illegality and no
unsafe behavior. What the heck is the issue?

Bill

It's hypocrisy at it's best, protect your gun rights or one day it will be happening there. :cry: it's to late here.

[9.3X62AL]

Positively asinine.

[Stephen Cohen]

Sorry folks but it seems you are being asked to make an oppinion without the full story, these lads are not strangers to controversy, D'Arcy commited assult on a mate causing seriouse bodily harm, he was found guilty ordered to pay $250,000 in damages which would not cover the medical bills of victim, D'Arcy then used our law to claim bankrupcy and avoid paying victim a cent. his side kick Monk was the clown who fell off his skate board and broke his arm, to avoid embarresment he told Police he was hit by hit and run driver. Thus wasting two day Police time and much taxpayyer money. these clowns do not deserve our support as I believe that those who are convicted of crime should not have access to guns at all. This pair should not be allowed to represent Australia at all.

[Wal']

Sorry folks but it seems you are being asked to make an opinion without the full story, these lads are not strangers to controversy, D'Arcy committed assault on a mate causing serious bodily harm, he was found guilty ordered to pay $250,000 in damages which would not cover the medical bills of victim, D'Arcy then used our law to claim bankruptcy and avoid paying victim a cent. his side kick Monk was the clown who fell off his skate board and broke his arm, to avoid embarrassment he told Police he was hit by hit and run driver. Thus wasting two day Police time and much taxpayer money. these clowns do not deserve our support as I believe that those who are convicted of crime should not have access to guns at all. This pair should not be allowed to represent Australia at all.


That may be your opinion, thankfully most of Australians disagree with you, if you had taken the time to read the poll's. [smilie=b:

Its a beat up by the media & nobody is listening to the Australian publics views.

What they have done in the past has nothing to do with the photo.

The anti gunners have jumped on board, including yourself!!!!!!!!!!!

Will be a different story if they come home from the Olympics with a couple of gold medals. the media will be all over them. :sad: :kissarse:



"as I believe that those who are convicted of crime"

what crime, try & get your facts right. :groner:

[Stephen Cohen]

Wal last time I checked the criminal code assult was a crime, as is making false police reports, sorry mate but by defending these guys we are telling anti gun brigade we support criminal actions, and that my friend is a fact.

[iomskp]

I agree to a point, neither one of them should be representing Australia ever because of their previous behavior, however this time they have done nothing wrong in any way and should tell Swim Australia and the media to p**s off.

[Wal']

Wal last time I checked the criminal code assult was a crime, as is making false police reports, sorry mate but by defending these guys we are telling anti gun brigade we support criminal actions, and that my friend is a fact.

He was sued in a civil court for damages, as I asked what conviction.???????????

He had a fight with a fellow competitor & won, & paid the price. :evil:

Now if he had lost the fight. :eek: & was the one beat up. ??????????

[Stephen Cohen]

I agree to a point, neither one of them should be representing Australia ever because of their previous behavior, however this time they have done nothing wrong in any way and should tell Swim Australia and the media to p**s off.

Yes from a purely common sence point of view, swimming Australia should be told to suck a lemon. but they do have rules about bringing their organisation into bad light, these clowns knew what they were doing before they posted those pics, they were given a chance many Australian kids will never know to represent their country and make millions in sponsorship, all they had to do was show a little common sence but that seems to allude this pair. It is not the picture of them with guns that bothers me it is the arogance and lack of respect for rules this pair have shown. should they actually get to go to the games what message are we sending to our kids about national heroes. We in this country have to be very carefull who we support if we wish to keep what gun ownership rights we have. there are no winners in this one.

[Wal']

Its just been revealed that back in 2007, Swimming Australia took their Olympic team to a Canberra rifle range as part of a bonding session.

Just getting back to the hypocritical part. :veryconfu [smilie=l:

[btroj]

I am not Autralian but my take on it is this. The photo was no big deal. Overblown by the media and antigunners. No way around that.

The other side is this. From what I can find put about these guys it sounds like they are a couple of arrogant little pissants who think because they are good athletes they can do as they please. I would not personally give one penny to them towards their training, they are not worthy of my support.

The two issues need to remain separate. This specific incident was blown way out of proportion. It was seized by antigunners and used as a tool to further that agenda. The fact they are absolute jerks is beside the point.

[MBTcustom]

I'm with btroj on this one. Its a shame that the anti-gunners have ammunition, but idiots like this should not be allowed to continue.
I'll tell you what bugs me. If Australia is so dead set on their swimmers appearance of moral forthrightness, prudence, self control, and respect, why the heck did these kids get a free ride all expenses paid? Why did not some other more deserving kid not get the chance to go and represent the country? Oh yes, I suppose its because they don't swim quite as fast? Shame on Austrailia! They were the ones that compromised their values before these ********* ever walked into that gun-shop.
In a way, those two idiots accurately represented the organization that sent them.
I mean no disrespect to any of our members from Australia, and I have nothing against you, but your swim team has much to be desired.
Pretty much came to our country and took a political dump. Thanks.

[Wal']

Having a couple of fun photos taken at a local gun shop is a political dump. ????????

[MBTcustom]

Well, lets see, a couple of jerks cross the pond, saunter into one of our gunshops, takes a few stupid photos and it gets worldwide anti-gun attention. That's appalling because it is so incredibly disrespectful. I meant no personal slam to you Wal', every bit of my post was aimed at Tweedledee and Tweedledum and the organization that sent them here.
I see how you would take personal patriotic offence to what I said, but it was not meant that way, and I apologize, but flip the table and think about how you would feel about something like this, if your country had managed to preserve its gun rights when all the others flopped on that issue, and the same thing was done in your country by one of my countrymen. Kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
I realize that what they did, was in and of itself kind of tame, but those kids history, and the way Swimming Australia and the media is using this to attack gun rights kind of sucks. I am much more angry at the organizations behind these two than I am about their actions. What a mess!

[Wal']

First off, I apologize for being half a planet away, makes responding to your thoughts a little difficult.

"A couple of jerks" they are members of our Olympic swimming team.

How about a bit of a reality check here, what have these young men done, one fell of his skateboard,[smilie=l: & came up with a bunch of excuses to cover his behind, never been guilty of that yourself as a kid ?????????

The other got into a fight with a fellow competitor & decked him, a much larger gentleman by the way, again, have you never been in that situation in your younger days ??????

And you have obviously gone along with all the media beat up on them "but those kids history" what history, I'm just glad I wasn't held to all those high standards as a kid/young man.

[MBTcustom]

Sometimes its hard to cipher out the truth from what we read. This story is so political, its like its standing in front of a carnival mirror! What you say sounds reasonable enough.

[Wal']

You would not believe the media reaction to any gun related incident down here.

They took most of our gun rights away & now sink the boot in at any & all opportunities.

Guard your rights with the upmost diligence, once they're gone its forever. :-x :evil:

[1Shirt]

Well stated Jeff!
1Shirt!

[littlejack]

Looks to me like the only one's making a big issue out of the photo, is the beauocratic
idiots , MAKING it a big issue.
As long as those type of idiots are making the rules, things will never change.
Jack

[bowfin]

Let's not lose sight of what got these two in "trouble" this time. They had their pictures taken while holding guns, and some consider this a bad thing.

Bringing anything else into the mix is just muddying the waters and giving cover to the gun grabbers...

...and it is not "too late" for Australia as far as gun control is concerned. Cut your ties with the Queen Mum and then do a reverse banishment by sending back to England all those who seek to rule you.

Poland keeps getting back up after being knocked down for the last 225 years. Don't be so quick to throw in towel.

[TheBigBang]

This is ABSURD!!!

I haven't researched what their "previous history" was & I don't care. In the first place it has NO bearing on this incident, in the second I wouldn't trust the word of a press or government officials that are so twisted. For those of you who are saying these guys are jerks or punks or criminals, you don't know them, & you can't trust an obviously biased media to give you the truth. According to the story in the OPs link, these guys were sent home because they posted pictures of themselves holding guns. The pictures are described as "inappropriate" for no other reason than they are holding guns! They were also banned from blogging, Facebook & Twitter, in other words, deprived, at least partially, of their right to free speech, BECAUSE THEY POSED WITH GUNS - THINK ABOUT THIS!!!

What is being said here is that liking guns, even holding guns, is inappropriate, that it is wrong, immoral, EVIL. They are getting the same treatment they would get if they were posing in t-shirts with Nazi swastikas on them! This is a chilling reminder of the anti-gunners agenda - to portray guns & those who have any affinity at all for them as immoral, as EVIL. It is interesting that, while the swimmers are Australian, they are being sent home from London. I recall a snippet of a program I saw fairly recently, on, I believe, the National Geographic channel here in the states, I was just "flipping channels" & do not know the name of it. I believe it was about high-school age Amish kids who had been brought to London, to experience teenage life in that city. In one of the few scenes I saw, they were in a class in a London high-school, the teacher asked a question about fundamental rights or human rights, something along those lines, one of the Amish guys says "the right to keep & bear arms" (YES!!!). I cannot adequately describe the GASP of shock & disdain that came from the British kids, you should have seen it, he might as well have said "the right to set puppies on fire"!

Do not under-estimate the danger of the anti-gunners or the fanaticism of their agenda!

[popper]

Nothing new in the sports arena, or hollywood, for that matter.

[TheBigBang]

Nothing new in the sports arena, or hollywood, for that matter.

I have not heard of this happening before in either the sports arena or hollywood, not for JUST posting a picture of yourself holding a gun.