|
Ruddock rules out
bill of rights
Federal Attorney General
Phillip Ruddock said if Australia had
introduced a bill of rights at the
time of federation in 1901 the
country could have ended up with a
set of sexist principles as well as
parts of the abandoned White
Australia Policy and even, as in the
US, the right to bear arms.
UK: Couple may be forced out of home
A barefooted mum who confronted yobs outside her home after they repeatedly woke her baby has been found guilty of assault. The couple had already made ten despairing calls to the local police and four to 999 about the gang but to no avail. A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman acknowledged the long-running provocation Lisa had suffered but said it was in the public interest to charge her for assaulting the boy.
UK: 40 replica weapons handed in to police
An arsenal of 40 imitation guns are to be destroyed after a man surrendered his collection. Officers were shocked to find the weapons at the home of a Nantwich man. The stash included self-loading rifles, machine guns, automatic pistols and a long-barreled Smith and Wesson revolver, similar to that used in the film Dirty Harry. But police say they could have been faced with a 'life or death' situation if the guns had found their way into the wrong hands.
Message on RSPCA Tas website: "The current poll has been deactivated because of malicious use." Perhaps the poll (on duck hunting) was not going where they intended.
Firearms can be bought on the streets of Greater Manchester for as little as £50, according to a Home Office report. The study is based on interviews carried out by academics at Portsmouth University with 80 people serving prison sentences for gun crime.
Memo to NSW police: do not pull guns on elderly mothers in their garages in the middle of the night without having a very good reason. Chasing their speeding sons does not count. It happened to Dorothy Ibbett, 75, who ended up on the wrong end of a police pistol in the early hours of January 23, 2001.
A national firearms lobby group is urging Canadian women to obtain concealed gun permits in the United States and then use those permits to seek the same right in Canada, in order to protect themselves and reduce crime.
Smith & Wesson to Acquire Thompson/Center Arms, Inc.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: SWHC), parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., the legendary 154-year old company in the global business of safety, security, protection and sport, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Thompson/Center Arms, Inc.
Gun control researcher Philip Alpers has accused the police officer in charge of firearms licensing of bias over a series of emails questioning his credentials. Inspector Joe Green has written to two universities where Mr Alpers has held posts, questioning the former TV journalist's roles.
Be Alarmed: Army weapons fiasco
A stolen weapons scandal has embarrassed the Australian Defence Force, which is refusing to disclose whether rocket launchers obtained by criminals are from its stockpile - or even confirm that any are missing. ...(the) Federal Opposition said gun laws had become a "meaningless joke" if military-style weapons were available on the black market.
Rogue elements in the Australian military are feared to be behind the black-market sale of a cache of rocket launchers and guns to terrorist and criminal groups. NSW counter-terrorism police are overseeing an investigation by the Middle Eastern Crime Squad, which is trying to locate eight of nine anti-tank weapons it suspects may have been stolen from the army for use within Australia.
Duck hunting ban should be permanent, says RSPCA
The RSPCA has called on the South Australian Government to continue a ban on duck hunting beyond 2007. There will be no duck hunting season next year because of the drought.
A Sydney teenager charged after allegedly firing a rifle at police and a bus carrying seven passengers is to get psychiatric treatment in prison before for his next court appearance. The teenager has been charged with using an unauthorised firearm, possessing an unregistered firearm and driving dangerously.
It's a sign of the times. Two teenage boys – one seemingly holding a gun to the head of his playmate – sent shockwaves through a usually quiet suburb of North Toowoomba, on Christmas night.
The judge said it was "unfortunately an age of increasing gun culture" in which such weapons had become "much more prevalent". (The men) admitted conspiring to import converted pistols, silencers and ammunition, a court heard.
Comment: Gun culture? Much more prevalent? Hang on, aren't pistols banned in the UK?
As many as 340,000 cows and steers have been left stranded by southeastern Colorado's most recent snowstorm (but) PETA isn't about to lift a finger. Colorado Governor Bill Owens spoke for all of us. PETA, he declared, are "a bunch of losers" and "frauds".
TWO men have been arrested for allegedly carrying a replica gun at Rosewater. A man, 21, of Cheltenham, and a man, 19, of Port Adelaide, have been charged with carrying an offensive weapon and disorderly behaviour.
To celebrate the 100th birthday of John Wayne this May, his name is being stamped on a new line of cartridges from Winchester Ammunition. The cartridges will fit three famous guns that helped win the West - as well as secure an Oscar for the cowboy star in the film "True Grit" - including the Colt .44 six-shooter, the Colt .45 and the 30-30 Winchester rifle also popularized on TV by the Chuck Connors series "The Rifleman."
The Queensland Government says it is already moving to address concerns about replica firearms. The New South Wales Police Minister, John Watkins, has urged Queensland to tighten its laws, because replica guns are being bought in Queensland and taken across the border.
As Victoria's drought dries up lakes and riverbeds, it is exposing a cache of illegal
firearms. Since last November, four guns have been uncovered in the now empty Lake Wendouree in Ballarat and in a creek at nearby Creswick.
A letter on the Injury Prevention website, which published the Simon Chapman/Phillip Alpers paper, disputes their claim that the buyback lowered the gun crime rate in Australia is wrong.
It was the ancient version of a last stand: Twelve clay bullets lined up and ready to be shot from slings in a desperate attempt to stop fierce invaders who soon would reduce much of the city to rubble.
To celebrate the 100th birthday of John Wayne this May, his name is being stamped on a new line of cartridges from Winchester Ammunition. The cartridges will fit three famous guns that helped win the West - as well as secure an Oscar for the cowboy star in the film "True Grit" - including the Colt .44 six-shooter, the Colt .45 and the 30-30 Winchester rifle also popularised on TV by the Chuck Connors series "The Rifleman."
IT’S a phenomenon that gives the term “gun control” a whole new meaning: community ordinances that encourage citizens to own guns.
Week after week, I see articles from around the world about incoming illegal guns. Today, I read an article which wonders where they come from.
Reply to Chapman/Alpers paper
Baker and McPhedran, authors of "Gun Laws and Sudden Death", have released a review critical of the recently published paper by Chapman, Alpers and others, "Australia’s 1996 gun law reforms" 05
A NSW audit of police firearms has found 14 Glock handguns have been stolen, including seven from police cars, and only five have been recovered. 05
Robberies at gunpoint increased by 10 per cent last year in England and Wales, according to Home Office figures published yesterday.
Police recruits innocently practising weapons safety with a toy cap gun have been breaking the law for years, an investigation by The Daily Telegraph has revealed.
Firearms dealers are raffling off free guns to raise money to fight an out of state lawsuit. The unusual fundraiser, officially called the 'Bloomberg Gun Giveaway', is organized by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun owner rights group, and firearms shops.
More guns missing from a One-Stop-Gun-Shop also known as a defence force armoury.
THE Australian flag has been banned from this year's Big Day Out in Sydney after organisers branded it a "gang colour" and symbol of hate. Organisers of the Aussie rock festival at Homebush will confiscate any flag or bandana bearing the national symbol at the gate.
Staff at one of the Australian Defence Force's largest weapon storage facilities have allegedly stolen military firearms and sold them to outlaw motorcycle gangs.
"With so many gun laws enacted in the latter half of the 20th century, there were numerous examples to study, but they were unable to find convincing evidence that any gun laws have ever been effective."
"FOUR men in a car at Arundel, waving a 9mm handgun about -- of course Gold Coast police feared the worst. They sent two of their finest out in flak jackets to investigate yesterday afternoon after a complaint from a passer-by near Napper Road".
Comment: Since when has a plastic cap-gun been a 9mm handgun?
A Melbourne man who killed an acquaintance with a bow and arrow after he spooked him by making noises like a "devil" has been jailed for at least 16 years.
CLASS Action, a shooters rights group, has criticised the interpretation of “firearms” in the 1996 Firearms Act that includes cap guns and air-soft guns. President of CLASS Action Peter Whelan has called for the Firearms Act to be changed so that law-abiding Australians can import, sell and own such toy guns.
A letter by CLASS President, Peter Whelan, has been published on the IP website. There have also been other letters published there criticising the Chapman/Alpers et al, paper. Point to ponder: Why is one of the co-authors thus far the only person to have supported the paper?
The NRA magazine, America's First Freedom, asks: "John Howard, What Did You Give Australians for their $500,000,000? Zilch."
A man will appear in a Melbourne court charged over the possession of weapons including what is thought to be a rocket launcher, a police spokeswoman said.The 36-year-old man was arrested after police searched a suspicious vehicle in Silvan Road, Monbulk, in Melbourne's outer east.
In a stern rebuke to the city's high-profile crusade against illegal guns, the feds warned the Bloomberg administration that it could face "potential legal liabilities" if it continues to conduct sting operations that fall within the jurisdiction of federal agents.
Dear Home Secretary,
As I am sure your officials will tell you, there was absolutely no evidence to suggest that by banning legally-licensed cartridge pistols and closing legally-operating shooting clubs, we would all sleep safer in our beds. Yet today there are more hand guns on our streets than 10 years ago.
The federal government confirms it is investigating New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's sting operation against gun dealers in five states. (W. Larry Ford) director of BATF's public and governmental affairs, did not offer details on what he called "an open investigation."
Britain has one of the worst crime rates in Europe, a report said yesterday. It is the most burgled country in Europe, has the highest level of assaults and above average rates of car theft, robbery and pick-pocketing. Only Ireland has a worse record. Estonia, Holland and Denmark make up the rest of the EU's five 'high-crime' nations. All had rates more than 30 per cent higher than the average. Spain, Hungary, Portugal and Finland had the lowest rates.
Comment: What do countries with rising crime rates have in common? Answer: restrictive gun laws.
A TASER disguised as a mobile phone was among a cache of weapons seized in a raid on a outlaw motorcycle gang member today. Police raided two houses at Burton and seized a series of weapons including a military-style SKS assault rifle, pistols and a samurai sword.
Comment: But...but, they're illegal, aren't they?
A FATHER of four's car was crushed after police wrongly accused him of driving without insurance. They told (Steven Booth) that according to their database he had no insurance and made him get out and walk, leaving his car parked at the side of the road. Police then arranged for the car to be towed away. Because Mr Booth and his family could not raise the £105 fee for it to be released from the compound within the specified 14-day period, it was crushed. Submitted by JK
A High Court judge has added his weight to a public chorus of objections over a police decision to charge a gun shop worker who shot an armed intruder.
The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (O.F.A.H.), and members of the firearms and outdoors community across Canada received confirmation today that the ill-fated, inflammatory and highly inaccurate Resolution 42 (passed at the recent federal Liberal Convention in Montreal) has been withdrawn. w06
A MAN in his mid-20s was shot dead in London overnight in the latest in a series of fatal shootings that has fuelled public concern over gun crime and youth gangs.
W08
A 15-year-old boy was shot dead in south London today, becoming the third teenage boy to be gunned down in the area this month.
Related News Item: Gun crime increased every year of the past decade.
The loaded Smith and Wesson Model 60 sidearm had been lost in scrub off Murrell Rd at Para Hills for almost 20 hours before being found at 11.30am after a search by police and State Emergency Service volunteers. The weapon fell from a detective's holster during a foot chase through a gully at 4pm on Wednesday. Earlier article.
The tragic Valentines day shooting in Gulgong, New South Wales, raises serious questions about whether Police have the resources needed to enforce the law, say the International Coalition for Women in Shooting and Hunting (WiSH).
A German hunter hit a washing machine, electric drier and the wall before finally killing a wild pig that was on the rampage in a house. Submitted by JK
Comment: Note the firearm used to dispatch the pig.
Firearm homicide in 2004-05 amounted to 15% of total homicides, behind knives 37% and being beaten to death by hands and/or feet 27%, according to a media release from the Australian Institute of Criminology.
Download the AIC report: Homicide in Australia
(In evidence) police said: "The possession and sale of illicit firearms is the subject of intense media, political and community interest and the recent release of statistics by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research clearly indicate the significant rise of handgun-related crimes resulting in violence. These statistics indicate a 440 to 450 per cent increase since 1996."
Australia Post has reversed its earlier decision to ban the carriage of guns and gun parts.
Witnesses to violent street crime should try to 'distract' attackers by honking their car horns or even 'jumping up and down'. That's according to Labour's Police Minister. The extra-ordinary remarks by Tony McNulty prompted an immediate, angry response from law and order experts, who described him as 'irresponsible'.
The implementation of a new law banning the manufacture of replica guns could be brought forward in the wake of a spate of fatal shootings, Home Secretary John Reid said today.
How Australia's gun laws compare with those in Canada and the United States: A brief look at gun laws in North America and Australia from a Canadian perspective.
The State Government has urgently changed its gun laws to allow Mr Cheney to bring armed Secret Service agents to the city this week. Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock wrote to Mr Watkins last week ordering NSW swiftly amend its laws to allow for Mr Cheney's visit.
Australia Post received a shellacking at a Senate Estimates hearing on Monday, 12 February after admitting no firearms were involved in the stated reasons for the decision to ban the carriage of firearms. Download a copy of Hansard (1.2 mb).
The Libertarian Alliance, the radical civil liberties policy institute, believes the best action to combat the spate of gun-related crime in Great Britain would be to let ordinary people fight back against the violent criminals who "rule the streets of our cities".
UK: Gunlaw Britain on the side of the criminals
If you want a gun in Britain today, there are two ways you can go about it. If you are of sound mind and have no criminal record, you can go through a lengthy and intrusive procedure with the Police. The other way entails going into an inner city pub, asking a few questions and handing over a wad of notes.
As the father of four kids younger than 9, I am the very model of the risk-averse parent. Yet for some parents in my neighborhood, my kids and I are the risk to be avoided, even if it means removing their children when we show up at the park. The reason: toy guns.
There are only two major gun and firearms manufacturers in the United States, one of which is Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. (RGR), which trades on the New York Stock Exchange. The other American gun manufacturer that you can take a shot at is the NASDAQ traded Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (SWHC), a famous name in firearms which has been around since 1856.
Field and Game Australia is a voluntary organisation formed by hunters. FGA partner with Government and the community in the management and sustainable utilisation of Australia's wetlands for future generations by protecting game habitats through conservation. FGA promote responsible firearm ownership, ethical hunting and clay target shooting.
A new website devoted to the history of the Sporting Arms Co. Ltd. of Adelaide, and the complete range of guns and ammunition it manufactured and marketed, is now online.
The most troubling questions came, instead, from those who answered my simplicities with one of their own. They didn't oppose a ban, as such. They merely wanted to know why I was so sure that legislation would work.
Former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has announced plans to run for the Senate at the next federal election. She says she will contest one of the Queensland Senate seats as an independent. Ms Hanson says people need a voice in Parliament and are disillusioned with the major parties.
A LOOPHOLE in the state's gun laws has allowed a 20-year-old woman charged with possessing two sawn-off shotguns to be bailed. Nicole Byrne of Blackett faced Parramatta Bail Court yesterday charged with two counts of possessing a shortened firearm and ammunition.
Rebecca Peters, Director of IANSA, the International Action Network on Small Arms. IANSA is one of the three partners of the Control Arms Campaign, and is a global network of 700 civil society organisations. She played a critical role in the fight to ban civilian gun ownership in Australia in the 1990s and now is a high-profile commentator on issues relating to small arms, recently addressing the United Nations Security Council.
Police were called to a licensed club on Oxford Street in Surry Hills just after midnight by reports of shots being fired into the club's ceiling.
Later report: Attack not related to club's violent past says owner. In May 1998, teenager Chris Toumazis was shot dead outside the Oxford St venue.
A huge explosion in a shop selling gunpowder and dynamite tore through an historic part of the Afghan capital early Wednesday, flattening shops and killing six people. The blast, in a bazaar across the Kabul River from President Hamid Karzai's palace, was heard across the city and sent a huge column of dust into the air, shattering windows up to a couple of kilometres away.
As a keen hiker, Brian Seaton was delighted to receive a Swiss Army Knife as a retirement gift from his colleagues in the force. But the former chief inspector ended up back in the arms of the law after he tried to take it on a walking holiday in Spain.
"Gun prohibitionists like to say that thousands and thousands of firearms are stolen from private owners each year, and that all stolen firearms are invariably used in crimes. The facts tell us something completely different on both counts," said WiSH Chair Dr Samara McPhedran.
Mercedes Corby, the sister of drug smuggler Schapelle, stormed out of a McDonald's restaurant yesterday morning after being confronted by Today Tonight journalist Bryan Seymour. She accused Today Tonight of using a victim of the Indonesian air crash to lure her into a five-camera television ambush on the Gold Coast.
A ruling Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that strikes down the District’s 1976 handgun ban and holds that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms is “a landmark for liberty, and an affirmation that everything the gun rights community has been saying for years is correct,” the Second Amendment Foundation said today.
An interesting discussion at An Australian Gun Owners Blog on the NSW Coalition's firearms policy. We recommend you visit and voice your opinion.
Hunters can help researchers create a genetic map of foxes throughout Australia by providing samples of foxes shot, trapped or found as road-kill.
Alcohol, an integral part of West Indies grounds, along with glass, plastic bottles, explosives, firearms and flag poles have been banned for the World Cup starting in the Caribbean Sunday.
Crikey! They take their cricket seriously over there.
The husband of murdered Pc Sharon Beshenivsky has backed a gun and knives amnesty in three police force areas across the Yorkshire and Humber region. Paul Beshenivsky said he did not expect "hardened criminals" to hand in guns but if the amnesty took just one weapon off the streets it would be a success.
Comment: And, if criminals do not hand in their guns, the point is?
The sale of imitation samurai swords could be banned by the end of the year, the Home Office announced today. Vernon Coaker, the Home Office minister, said today: "Samurai sword crime is low in volume (but) banning the sale, import and hire will take more dangerous weapons out of circulation, making our streets safer.
Comment: Here we go again with the "safer streets" furphy.
Children aged 11 to 16 are to have their fingerprints taken and stored on a secret database, internal Whitehall documents reveal. The leaked Home Office plans show that the mass fingerprinting will start in 2010, with a batch of 295,000 youngsters who apply for passports.
Submitters comment: "How long before they try this here?" Submitted by JK.
"If you have to sell out your values and principles to get at a (supposed) greater truth, where does that leave you?" said Melnyk (of Michael Moore).
Any man, woman or street urchin could own a gun in Victorian Britain — at least until 1870 when a licence fee was charged if they wanted to carry the weapon outside their home. And, surprisingly, there was very little gun crime.
Rebecca Peters, Director of IANSA, the International Action Network on Small Arms. IANSA is one of the three partners of the Control Arms Campaign, and is a global network of 700 civil society organisations. She played a critical role in the fight to ban civilian gun ownership in Australia in the 1990s and now is a high-profile commentator on issues relating to small arms, recently addressing the United Nations Security Council.
Police were called to a licensed club on Oxford Street in Surry Hills just after midnight by reports of shots being fired into the club's ceiling.
Later report: Attack not related to club's violent past says owner. In May 1998, teenager Chris Toumazis was shot dead outside the Oxford St venue.
A huge explosion in a shop selling gunpowder and dynamite tore through an historic part of the Afghan capital early Wednesday, flattening shops and killing six people. The blast, in a bazaar across the Kabul River from President Hamid Karzai's palace, was heard across the city and sent a huge column of dust into the air, shattering windows up to a couple of kilometres away.
As a keen hiker, Brian Seaton was delighted to receive a Swiss Army Knife as a retirement gift from his colleagues in the force. But the former chief inspector ended up back in the arms of the law after he tried to take it on a walking holiday in Spain.
"Gun prohibitionists like to say that thousands and thousands of firearms are stolen from private owners each year, and that all stolen firearms are invariably used in crimes. The facts tell us something completely different on both counts," said WiSH Chair Dr Samara McPhedran.
Mercedes Corby, the sister of drug smuggler Schapelle, stormed out of a McDonald's restaurant yesterday morning after being confronted by Today Tonight journalist Bryan Seymour. She accused Today Tonight of using a victim of the Indonesian air crash to lure her into a five-camera television ambush on the Gold Coast.
Dr Burns yesterday announced laws would be changed to make paintball legal in the Territory. The surprise decision comes despite police last year recommending against the sport because of the potential danger of the guns used.
Submitters' comment: Look for cries of impending doom from the NCGC.
UK: Convicts handed keys
to the cells
Thousands of prisoners
are being given keys to
their cells in the
latest farce to hit the
criminal justice system.
They can roam in and out
virtually at will under
a scheme designed to
give them more "respect
and decency".
Read related item
Peering out of her flower shop on a quiet residential street close to where Adam Regis was stabbed to death, Emma Moore, 31, shook her head despairingly. For her and many of her neighbours, the murder of an innocent schoolboy is the latest and most shocking incident that has blighted the area where she grew up.
Teachers have uncovered a black market in imitation firearms in a school playground. A 12-year-old pupil is believed to have brought in four BB guns which have been circulated among his Year 7 classmates at Falmer High School in Lewes Road, Brighton, over the past month.
"It (TSP's vote) was the best end-of-night figure in all the 8 elections and by-elections I've been involved with since 1993. That figure, alone, should be enough to ensure at least the last seat, which is decided on a half-quota." Follow the link and read John Tingle's assessment at the bottom of the page.
Tasmania's duck shooting season has opened but birds are in such short supply that there's been none of the usual clashes between wildlife activists and hunters. About 45 Coalition Against Duck Shooting activists arrived at Moulting Lagoon at the entrance to Freycinet National Park, in Tasmania's east, before sunrise today. Related story
In the wake of last week's shooting at a Surry Hills nightclub, a spokeswoman for an anti-gun lobby has warned that handguns are becoming the hottest new accessory in Sydney. Samantha Lee, chair of the National Coalition for Gun Control, referred to the shooting, in which masked gunmen entered an Oxford Street nightclub, as being linked to the greater accessibility of handguns.
Submitters' comment: Just when you thought it wasn't possible, more drivel from the NCGC
While activity on gun issues has been light in recent years — no Million Mom march or action to renew the assault weapons ban that expired two years ago — an explosion of activity among Web loggers shows Second Amendment purists are anything but complacent with the new majority. w13
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. has donated its Two Millionth Ruger "Blackhawk®" single action revolver, which has been beautifully engraved by the Ruger Studio, to the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) to be a part of their auction to help raise funds for their legislative, legal, and political efforts.
Remington Arms Co., the gunmaker that has equipped U.S. soldiers for 150 years, agreed to be acquired by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP for $118 million.
A neighbour in our new street came round to ask for a cheque towards a private security patrol. “Wouldn’t that undermine the police?” I asked, sensing a threat to my bank balance. “What police?” he replied. It’s true. There are police boards sprouting all over our area (“Did you see? Incident, stabbing, assault”), but no police. We have seen the results of that: five teenagers stabbed to death in the past four weeks.
(A) mid-ranking Australian Defence Force officer is allegedly at the centre of the racket that has delivered rocket launchers into the hands of bikies and alleged terrorists accused of plotting an attack in Sydney, News Ltd reports.
The FBI recently completed a major study titled "Violent Encounters: Felonious Assaults on America's Law Enforcement Officers." Since its publication, the existence of the damning report on the five-year study by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about how cop-killing criminals ignore gun laws, and where they get their guns, has not been publicized.
Comment: Be warned - the study contains some graphic examples.
Several changes applying to the law as regards firearms come into force in the UK on April 6th. They are: enhanced application of mandatory minimum penalties to firearm-related offences; the new offence of minding a firearm; the requirement for dealers in air weapons to be registered (note: this is only a limited commencement of these provisions to allow time for dealers to become registered, before the rest of the provisions relating to mail order bans, higher age limits, etc. is brought in); the requirement for transfers of primers or primed cases to be made only to people who hold a firearm or shotgun certificate, an RFD or those who are otherwise exempt. Submitted by DL.
The Department of Justice has just released a consultation paper on proposed changes to the Firearms Act. View, or download it, by clicking on the headline/link above.
Peter Debnam has
withdrawn from the
contest for the NSW
Liberal Party
leadership, clearing the
way for Barry O'Farrell
to step into the role
unopposed. Mr
Debnam, whose opposition
achieved only a small
swing against the
unpopular Labor
government at the March
24 state election, made
the announcement at a
brief press conference
at state parliament.
A bungling armed robber shot his female accomplice as they held up a restaurant in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne overnight. The manager was forced to hand over a bag he was carrying, which turned out to contain leftover bread from the restaurant.
Once again, the newly minted United Nations Human Rights Council has proven itself to be just as cynical and useless as the UN Commission on Human Rights it replaced last year.
Ireland: Over half of all gun deaths occur in Dublin
More than half of all gun killings in Ireland involve men aged between 21 and 30, according to figures released this afternoon. New research from the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons also shows that 63% of gun deaths between 2001 and 2005 happened in Dublin.
Comment: The moral of the story is–don't live in Dublin!
Canada: City council looks to ban toy guns
Replica handguns may soon be outlawed in Oshawa, a city east of Toronto, in an effort to tackle increasing use of the fake firearms in intimidation and crime, the mayor says. City council is expected to approve a bylaw Tuesday evening banning the use or display of imitation guns, including toys that could be mistaken for a firearm and guns adapted to not discharge.
NSW: Shooters target the Greens
The party will have two members in the NSW upper house, holding the balance of power with four Greens and two of Fred Nile's Christian Democrats, after preference results from the state election were finalised yesterday. Roy Smith, a gun lobbyist who will join Robert Brown as the party's second member in the upper house, said the party would campaign to end the "undue influence" of the Greens.
At the recent (March 24th, 2007) NSW elections, the Liberal party failed to make any significant gains against Labor. That makes it the 21st Coalition loss, in State/Territory elections since 1996. It is clear that State Coalitions have been “on the nose”, with many believing their decline can be traced back directly to the 1996 anti-gun laws. When John Howard forced the States to accept his ill-conceived gun bans, he said, “I know many Australians will not agree with these laws, but they can show their contempt at the ballot box.”
Governor Mitt Romney, US Presidential hopeful: Cartoon in an American Newspaper.
NSW: Shooters Party wins second seat in Upper House
The NSW Electoral Commission has today declared the polls from the recent State election and Roy Smith has won a second seat in the Upper House for the Shooters Party. On a primary vote of 106,000, Roy was elected at number 20, ahead of the last coalition candidate. The election of Roy has been the result of much hard work from all of you, and I pass on my sincere thanks for your efforts. Now the hard work in the Council begins, and both Roy and I are looking forward to meeting the needs of our constituents. Remember, we work for you and we would welcome invitations to attend clubs or events to discuss any relevant firearms or political issues with you and your colleagues.
Email from Robert Brown, MLC.
Gun laws should be tightened to prevent weapons getting into the hands of people whose only knowledge of firearms is "what they've seen on TV", says the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners.
The Australian Institute of Criminology's National Firearms Theft Monitoring Program was established in 2006 to examine all incidents of firearms theft reported to police. In the program's first annual report, for 2004-05, almost 1,500 firearms, or less than 0.1 of one percent of all
registered firearms, were reported as stolen in 668 incidents (Borzycki & Mouzos 2007).
A
pregnant young woman was shot dead in the doorway of her home yesterday after what police believe may have been a fatal escalation of a dispute over parking. She was shot at close range probably with a handgun and was certified dead at the scene. w15
Questions That Remain After Virginia Tech
A violent and premeditated act by a single disturbed college student has once again turned the sensibilities of our nation upside-down. When Cho Sung-Hui armed himself and started murdering his fellow students with all the remorse and effectiveness of a wolf loose in a sheep-fold, he forced firearms back on the front burner of our national consciousness.
Is the media, culture to blame for Va.-Tech shootings?
Reactions (over the tragedy that befell students at Virginia Tech.) have been mixed about the overall cause, but there is debate over the negative impact that media and culture has on today’s youth and its possible role in the shootings.
US: Killer was known to police
The young man responsible for the Virginia Tech massacre came to the attention of police as early as 2005 for incidents ranging from stalking women to setting fire to a dormitory.
The mass murder at Virginia Tech is the kind of traumatic event that unleashes a torrent of pop sociology and national psychoanalysis, so allow us to weigh in with a more fundamental explanation: There are evil and psychotic people in this world willing to do great harm to others if they aren't stopped. The dilemma in a free society is how to stop them. Submitted by DG
Prime Minister John Howard, responding to a deadly rampage at a US university, said Tuesday that strict controls after one of the world's worst massacres by a lone gunman had helped Australia avoid a US-style "gun culture." Howard ordered tougher controls after Martin Bryant killed 35 people in a shooting spree through Port Arthur in Tasmania in 1996.
US: How do you begin to process what happened at Virginia Tech
An American viewpoint to the murders at Virginia Tech.
US: Media Spins Va.-Tech Tragedy
In the New York Times lead editorial today, which was likely written mere hours after the nation’s worst gun rampage in history and before the bodies had cooled, the gray lady is calling for more gun control. (In fact, the editorial was probably already largely written a long time ago, they just needed the “where,” “when” and number of victims.)
Australia: NCGC―"US can learn from Australia"
Roland Browne from Australia's National Coalition for Gun Control says the United States can learn lessons from Australia in reducing the prevalence of firearms in the community. "We ran a buyback in 2003 for hand guns after the Monash shooting. That model was looked at in England and it's the only way to go."
US: Worst campus shooting incident in US history
THIRTY-two people have been killed at a Virginia university in the bloodiest school shooting massacre in US history. The rampage took place in two separate areas, first at a dormitory as students had begun crisscrossing the sprawling campus for morning classes, and then about two hours later at an engineering and science hall about 800m away, sparking panic.
UN: Bolton says NGO's working to outlaw firearms
(Former UN Ambassador John) Bolton said proponents of gun control are working closely with diplomats and non-governmental groups in other countries to impose firearm restrictions.
NSW: Principal club nomination - CLASS
Op-Ed
The NSW Firearms Registry has recently posted a form to all firearms owners in the state asking them to identify their "principle club". w16
The disarming of America
"Gun dealers could continue their work, selling hunting and antique firearms. They would be required to maintain very tight inventories. Any gun sold would be delivered immediately by the dealer to the nearest arsenal or the museum, not to the buyer."
Comment: The author is an ex-diplomat―easy to see why! Follow-up
NZ: Home invasion victim claims self defence
"Hurry up, please," Marie Rangihuna begs the police telephonist. "Oh my god! What's going on? The recorded emergency call – played in the Christchurch District Court today – includes the sound of a shotgun blast just outside the door of the bedroom where Miss Rangihuna is sheltering after three men have kicked and smashed their way into her Linwood house through the front door.
UN Readies draft on small arms control treaty
Against the backdrop of a new national poll calling for stricter gun control in the wake of the mass killings of 32 people on a U.S. university campus last week, the United Nations is getting ready to formulate a new international treaty regulating the proliferation of small arms worldwide. Submitted by DG.
UK: City law firm shoots itself in the clay foot
God, this is a depressing tale. Here's the contents of an email sent out by the events team at City law firm Denton Wilde Sapte on Monday, after a group of its lawyers suggested entertaining clients on a day's clay pigeon shooting.
Baker and McPhedran rebut economists findings on buyback
The authors of "Gun Laws and Sudden Death", in their critique of the paper by economists Christine Neill and Andrew Leigh, suggest that "N&L may prefer to conclude that the gun laws had an unquestionable effect than to admit the possibility that the laws may not have had an impact or that other factors may have played a role in influencing firearm-related deaths in Australia." Download Neill & Leigh paper.
Beyond the trigger on the finger
This is not a column excusing the Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-hui. But it is important to understand that what drove Cho to murder 32 people on his university campus last week is what has driven so many other school mass killers in the United States and beyond: severe bullying at school.
US: New Kates/Mauser report
Appearing in the current issue of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy (pages 649-694), the Kates/Mauser report entitled “Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide?" A Review of International Evidence” is a detailed look at gun ownership and how it does not relate to the incidence of murder and violence. Download report.
Submitted by DL
Let's be realistic about reality
Within hours of the Virginia Tech massacre, the New York Times had identified the problem: ''What is needed, urgently, is stronger controls over the lethal weapons that cause such wasteful carnage and such unbearable loss.''
According to the Canadian blogger Kate MacMillan, a caller to her local radio station went further and said she was teaching her children to ''fear guns.'
Gunning for the wrong people over massacre
Following last week's tragic Virginia Tech shootings, how many times were we told that guns, and not people, kill people? When the media allocates blame, everyone except the actual perpetrator makes a good candidate.
Scotland: Knives out as violence surges "on the streets"
The number of murders in Scotland has jumped by nearly a third in the past year, with an even bigger rise in fatal stabbings according to new figures. (Official) figures reveal there were 120 homicides in 2006-7, up 29 per cent on the previous year's 93.
Scotland―Population at last census: 5,062,011. Homicide rate: 2.4/100,000 - 5.5/100,000 in Glasgow. Australia current population: 20,810,629. Homicide rate: 1.3/100,000.
Japan: Illegal guns flourish, say befuddled police
Two fatal street shootings by gangsters within a week--one in Nagasaki and the other in the Tokyo area--have shattered the illusion that Japan is a country largely free of gun-related crime. One estimate says there are 50,000 illegal guns in Japan. The problem, police say, is that it is getting harder to know where to find the weapons.
NSW: Reporter 'made sexual slur before gun threat'
Stephen John Gibbs threatened Steven Jackson, a sub-editor at rival newspaper The Daily Telegraph, outside a pub in Surry Hills in July last year following a heated argument with another reporter, the court heard.
Comment: Does anyone else detect the irony here?
NSW: Listening to the wrong counsel
There is a blunt lesson to be learned from the mass murder at Virginia Tech that is universal.The West needs to jettison the "counsel'' culture it has embraced since the '60s and start dealing with the reality that the world is not run according to theories, it runs in real time on actualities.
Comment: Read this article; it's a breath of fresh air―totally unexpected from the Australian media.
NSW: Legal firearms still deadly
The increased number of registered guns is, on the surface, a positive step and hopefully will lead to greater public safety with guns less vulnerable to theft and diversion to criminals. But the sheer number of weapons in circulation - legal and illegal - is cause for concern. (The) National Coalition for Gun Control claims that 74 per cent of massacres in Australia and New Zealand (since 1997) were committed by licensed gun owners.
NSW: Legal firearm numbers surging
Latest figures from the NSW Firearms Registry show a 28 per cent increase in the number of registered guns in NSW in just six years. National Coalition for Gun Control figures showed the vast majority of mass shootings were carried out by licensed gun owners.
"In terms of mass killings, the government is worried about the wrong people,'' (Ms Lee) said. "Since 1997, 74 per cent of massacres in Australia and New Zealand have been committed by licensed gun owners.''
Comment: Strange mathematics from the NCGC: 74% of nothing is nothing; nought; zero; zilch.
Japan Eyes Ti | 
