Coroner's flawed recommendations
In June 2007 the Media carried
variations of the headline, “Tighten firearms licences:
NSW coroner”. The story related to the tragic murder of
his family by a father and his subsequent suicide by
shooting. He stabbed and suffocated his wife and
suffocated his two small children.
A deputy coroner in NSW included in her
published findings a recommendation1
that, according to media reports, the procedure for
issuing a firearm licence should be made “tighter”.
It requires a great leap of faith to see
how making it harder to qualify for a firearm licence
would have averted this particular tragedy, especially
since the mother and children were murdered by stabbing
and suffocation, but the
Deputy State Coroner Jacqueline Milledge
obviously believed it would because she was convinced
that owning a firearm made it easier for him to murder
his family. The coroner said, "Whilst Michael killed his
family by other means, it is not known if having the
firearm gave him some sense of comfort knowing that
following his awful deed he could easily take his own
life with his rifle."
Roland Browne of the National Coalition
for Gun Control quickly added his contribution to the
debate (if one could call it such) with this call:
"We welcome the coroner's recommendation
for a mandatory psychiatric assessment, we'd like to go
further and have people subject to a 10 year ban. People
who have attempted self-harm are likely to consider or
try and harm themselves again," he said. “Community
safety is paramount with firearms and this is the only
way to ensure it."2
This case is ineffably sad but turning it
into an anti-gun harangue tells us something about the
machinations of the National Coalition for Gun Control
who seem to be more interested in grandstanding than
saving lives. No mention was made, in Roland Browne's
reported comments, of the three victims stabbed and
suffocated. But the sad fact that the father committed
suicide with a firearm was used by the NCGC to further
their own particular agenda.
Depression is a devastating illness and
sufferers sometimes do terrible things. Instead of
calling for help for the mentally ill Mr Browne and his
organisation focus on the instrument of suicide – the
final one of these four tragic deaths - rather than the
reasons for the tragedy itself, and in so doing
completely ignore the awful murders that preceded the
final, desperate act.
Coronial Findings
A Coronial Inquest was held some three
years after the tragedy and the coroner’s findings,
released in July 2007, were widely reported in the
electronic and print media.
The coroner’s published findings are:
Recommendations3
To the Minister for Police and Police
Commissioner:
-
That the Firearms Act (Section 79) be
amended to ensure mandatory
notification to police by all health professionals
(including counsellors) if they believe or suspect
that a person is at risk of self harm or harming
another by having access to firearms
-
That where an applicant for a
Firearms Licence (in the first instance or for
renewal) has attempted self harm at any time,
the applicant must provide a comprehensive
assessment by a psychiatrist as to his fitness to
hold such a licence. (My preferred position is that
anyone with a history of self-harm be prohibited
from holding or obtaining a firearms licence,
however that may be far too restrictive).
To the Minister for Health and the
Therapeutic Goods Administration:
In her report the coroner highlighted
evidence given by a family friend that the previous
suicide attempt “…..was done for attention and he had
achieved his aim,” which she then ignored – though
some importance is placed on evidence from the same
source on Mr. Richardson’s subsequent return to work
‘as if nothing had happened.’
4
The report contains an account of
psychologic help that both Mr. Richardson and his wife
sought to overcome their problems, marital and
otherwise. Of the 13 pages in the report eight were
devoted to the mental problems experienced by Michael
Richardson and the effect these had on himself and his
family. Yet other than to recommend that the drug
Citalopram’s use in the treatment of depression be
"monitored", no further suggestions were advanced by the
coroner regarding the treatment of mental illness.
The Coroner's primary recommendations did however urge increased regulation of firearms. In
making these recommendations the coroner appears to have
ignored the greater body of evidence contained in her
own report and to have indulged in a somewhat biased
view of firearms ownership.
We believe the report is
flawed for the following reasons:
1. The coroner has
largely ignored the body of evidence relating to
mental illness, and,
2. The evidence
as presented does not
support the call for the tighter control of firearms.
Footnotes
1.
Coroners Findings:
Findings
2.
News Report:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200706/s1951951.htm
3.
Coroners Recommendations:
Recommendations
4.
Coronial Findings, page 2:
Findings
Kadmos
