Gun Owners Warned Over Posting Selfies To Social Media

Stick ‘em Up

In Victoria, Australia, there has been a recent surge in the number of people uploading selfies to social media. Why is this article worthy? Because the surge of selfies consists of gun owners uploading pictures of themselves with their firearms on their public profiles. I’d always assumed that it’d be the US that I’d have to write this article about considering their questionable gun control – But it appears that Australia have taken the charge.

The police in Victoria have issued out a warning to all those on social media about the ramifications of uploading pictures of your guns online. Also saying that gun owners have become too complacent. I had assumed that the biggest issue with uploading these sorts of selfies isn't that it makes you look like a disturbed individual. In actuality it’s more of an issue about those making these pictures public being targeted by thieves. 

Senior Sergeant Armstrong commented on the issue saying that: ‘This behaviour is concerning. Some criminals trawl social media networks looking for easy targets and items of interest, including ammunition and other weaponry. Licence holders need to be responsible. Any public display of firearm ownership including stickers on vehicles or house windows can encourage unwanted attention from thieves’

He continued to talk about the responsibilities of owning a firearm, ‘With the responsibility of owning a firearm comes the responsibility of storing one. If your firearms can be easily accessed you need to improve your security.’

I never have quite grasped the concept of why civilians should own their own personal firearms. Any attempt to question the obsession other countries seem to hold over their guns normally gets you labelled as a pacifist or something similar. None the less, uploading pictures of yourself looking menacing pointing a gun at the camera should be considering quite the big selfie faux-pas.

In July a man who was attempting to take a selfie with a gun he had borrowed accidentally killed himself when he fired the gun. Not only does it make you look a moronic but it’s also not quite the safest way to take a selfie.

This warning comes after a recent selfie trend came into existence which was titled the ‘Hernandezing’. This slew of selfies came into be after an American Football player Aaron Michael Hernandez who was charged with first degree murder, posted a selfie of himself posing with the gun that was used to commit said murder.

Really, guys? This is what we want there to be a trend about? I preferred it when we just took pictures of our meals. I do like looking at all those pictures of Wagamama food though. The ‘Hernandezing’ selfie peaked out at over 8,000 mentions in a day in July.

But even though that selfie trend seems to be petering out, some folks in Australia don’t think that its time in the sun is over yet. I’d strongly recommend not uploading any selfies of you with guns in though. I don’t think anyone looks any better when they’re pointing a gun at you.

Except for Clint Eastwood. And no one is that cool.  

Tom Welby

Tom has just graduated from University of East London in Creative and Professional Writing. He loves writing and is currently interning as a content writer hoping to go further. His other loves include Arnold Schwarzenegger films and his dog. Follow him @TomAtSMF

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