Australia's Gun Problem

[devnull]

Rapid-fire weapons have a higher inherent risk than single-shot weapons.

To who?

Here's the thing - there is a constant equivocation here.

My lever .22 is no more dangerous than my friend's bolt .22, in our hands.

In the hands of a criminal, I agree, it would be more dangerous. But my rifle isnt in the hands of a criminal. It's safely locked away in my cabinet.

 

[arthwollipot]

To who?

To the public.

Here's the thing - there is a constant equivocation here.

My lever .22 is no more dangerous than my friend's bolt .22, in our hands.

In the hands of a criminal, I agree, it would be more dangerous. But my rifle isnt in the hands of a criminal. It's safely locked away in my cabinet.

Yeah, well see here's the thing. It's not about you. It's about public safety and risk management. Individual testimonies don't enter into the equation.

 

[cullennz]

Clappy icon and nod of agreement

 

[BStrong]

To the public.

Yeah, well see here's the thing. It's not about you. It's about public safety and risk management. Individual testimonies don't enter into the equation.

Unless they support the narrative you support.

I believe referencing "thousands of kids" murdered in schools is your individual testimony, not fact.

 

[arthwollipot]

Unless they support the narrative you support.

I believe referencing "thousands of kids" murdered in schools is your individual testimony, not fact.

And I was corrected on the actual number, after which I looked at (and posted) the evidence which supports the statement.

"Thousands of kids" is a statistic, it's not an individual anecdote.

In fact, I have absolutely no clue what the hell you're saying, or why.

 

[arthwollipot]

The woeful firearms of gun control

AS ONCE again American gun advocates make their grisly sales pitch for unrestricted firearms no matter the bloodstained cost I thought it would be illustrative to take a look through our favourite guns seized by ACT Policing in the last couple of years.

Click for photos. It should be noted that this isn't a representative sample, just the ones that the author of the article considered their "favourites".

 

[arthwollipot]

Shooting overnight in Queanbeyan

A shocking story hit my newsfeed this morning about an incident that occurred overnight in Queanbeyan. For those who aren't geographically in the know, Queanbeyan is very close to Canberra - it would be part of Canberra if it weren't for that pesky ACT-NSW border in the way. It's a small, country town (pop approx 40,000) that has a reputation for cheap housing and boganism.

About 12.55am (Wednesday 20 January 2016) police were called to a home on Fergus Road, Karabar, after a shot was fired at the front of the home.

The projectile hit the front of the home.

The occupants, a 31-year-old man, an 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl, were all uninjured.

What are we coming to with all this rampant gun violence?

 

[arthwollipot]

I get lots of Canberra stories because it's where I am.

Guns and bayonets in South Canberra haul

Police searched the residence and located a fully loaded revolver, eight long arm rifles, two double barrel shotguns, 16 bayonets and in excess of 8,000 rounds of ammunition.

The 63-year-old man held a firearms license however he was not authorised to possess some firearms which were located at the residence. The firearms, nor the ammunition were stored in accordance with the Firearms Act 1996. In addition, the revolver was loaded, contrary to the Firearms Act 1996.

Police also located a number of barrels, stocks, bolts and other assorted parts from which further firearms could be assembled.

 

[arthwollipot]

Something not from Canberra. I got this from trending topics in Facebook.

Interesting that a story like this trends in Australia, whereas in America, if it is acknowledged at all, is acknowledged as "another Wednesday".

Witness Appeal Following Bacchus Marsh Shooting

Homicide Squad detectives are appealing for public assistance following the fatal shooting of a man in Bacchus Marsh this morning.

Emergency services were called to Labilliere Street just before 8.20am after a man in a vehicle sustained a gunshot to the head.

The man died at the scene and is yet to be formally identified however he is believed to be a 48-year-old from Bacchus Marsh.

 

[Beanbag]

Huge gun cache in Fisher



Right on my doorstep!

Huge? Hell, that wouldn't even rate as a "small" collection 'round hyar.

I suppose it depends on what's considered normal. In the UK and Australia, I guess that WOULD be considered an arsenal of doom.

In this case, I'll concede that the number of items isn't important. What's important is that they are illegal in that jurisdiction. All kidding aside, --IF-- I were to emigrate to Au, I'd follow the laws. Just like I do here.

Beanbag

 

[arthwollipot]

Huge? Hell, that wouldn't even rate as a "small" collection 'round hyar.

I suppose it depends on what's considered normal. In the UK and Australia, I guess that WOULD be considered an arsenal of doom.

In this case, I'll concede that the number of items isn't important. What's important is that they are illegal in that jurisdiction. All kidding aside, --IF-- I were to emigrate to Au, I'd follow the laws. Just like I do here.

Beanbag

I've had people state on this very forum that they would never even visit Australia because they wouldn't be able to carry their gun while here. Actually, to be fair it was only one person.

 

[WildCat]

Huge? Hell, that wouldn't even rate as a "small" collection 'round hyar.

I suppose it depends on what's considered normal. In the UK and Australia, I guess that WOULD be considered an arsenal of doom.

In this case, I'll concede that the number of items isn't important. What's important is that they are illegal in that jurisdiction. All kidding aside, --IF-- I were to emigrate to Au, I'd follow the laws. Just like I do here.

Beanbag

I have more than that, I guess to the media a "huge cache" is anything greater than 1.

The one second from the right is an air rifle.

 

[arthwollipot]

Interesting that it's the post from a year ago that's suddenly getting comments.

 

[SteveL]

Interesting that it's the post from a year ago that's suddenly getting comments.

You've bumped this thread 5 times in the last 6 months. This may have been the first time Beanbag has seen it. If you don't want comments, why keep it active?

 

[Beanbag]

I just found it interesting that what other countries consider "huge" is considered "meh" here. But if owning even one firearm is considered atypical, then more than one would be, I suppose, considered REALLY excessive.

I --THINK-- I have roughly 600 rounds of .308 ammo, but that's because I found a good deal on some military ammo in 400-round "battle packs," sealed for long-term storage. I bought two, shot (roughly) 200 rounds out of one, and have the other one intact.

Maybe 200 rounds of .380 Auto. Most is plain hardball for target shooting, though I do have maybe 25 rounds of "home defense" hollowpoints.

Maybe 300 rounds of 9mm, mostly hardball, but again some hollowpoint ammo of varying flavors, including a magazine full of the dreaded Black Talon rounds that everyone was so frightened of a few years back (didn't buy them, but was given to me by a friend in law enforcement).

I would guess maybe 400-500 rounds of .22 Long Rifle, and about 300 rounds of .22 Short. I got the Shorts when I was passed my father's guns.

50 rounds of .45 Long Colt for my single-action Colt revolver (complete with a set of leathers and tie-down straps).

And lastly, probably 75 rounds of 12-gauge ammo. Maybe ten rounds 00 Buck, about the same number of slugs, and the rest a mix of #4 shot and #7 shot.

In some societies, that makes me a gun nut, I suppose. Locally, it means I hit the range maybe every other month. And all of it -- ammo and firearms -- are responsibly locked away in a couple of gun safes when not being used or tended to.

THAT is what I consider Responsible Gun Ownership.

Now please kindly quit lumping me with idiots who shoot four-year-old kids for jumping on the bed.

Beanbag

 

[Beanbag]

I've had people state on this very forum that they would never even visit Australia because they wouldn't be able to carry their gun while here. Actually, to be fair it was only one person.

I visit lots of places where I can't carry a gun.

Yeah, I suppose you'll find the occasional parochial-minded person who objects to being unarmed.

Perhaps it's because I'm familiar with firearms that they don't scare me. I --DO-- respect them.

(I like to think) I have a fairly good idea of what they can and can't do, so while statistically an armed person DOES have an advantage, I know it's not that great, and that there's a roughly 30% chance that the armed persons will injure themselves.

I'll remind myself of the preceding paragraph when someone pulls a gun on me and I wet the floor.

Beanbag

 

[arthwollipot]

You've bumped this thread 5 times in the last 6 months. This may have been the first time Beanbag has seen it. If you don't want comments, why keep it active?

Because new things happen from time to time. Most of the time, I would have expected comments to occur on the most recent article posted.

Anyway, I didn't complain, or say that it was a problem, only that it was interesting. Interesting things are good, right?

 

[arthwollipot]

Canberra bikie feud escalates as shots fired next to childcare centre

Bullets believed to be fired by a pair of bikies came within centimetres of a sleeping person in what appears to be Canberra's latest outbreak of gang violence.

A feud between rival groups is threatening to spill into an all-out war, after a third shooting in less than a fortnight — this time in the Tuggeranong suburb of Isabella Plains.

Neighbours heard "six or seven" shots in Ellerston Avenue at 1:00am...

...Officers are now hunting for two men who were armed with a shotgun and handgun and were seen fleeing the scene in a silver hatchback.

For those who aren't familiar with Australian vernacular, a "bikie" is a member of a Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (aka OMCG, not OMG for obvious reasons...). Not all motorcycle enthusiast clubs are criminal gangs, so not all members of such clubs are bikies. Canberra, like many cities in Australia, is the home of members of several gangs including Comancheros and Nomads.

And before you try to claim "oh, this is a gang problem, not a gun problem", which is an argument that I've seen before, let me say that it's both. Illegal gangs have illegal guns. We should be tackling both problems.

 

[Ranb]

So are the authorities there still cracking down (if I remember correctly) on the wearing of club colors?

 

[EHocking]

So are the authorities there still cracking down (if I remember correctly) on the wearing of club colors?

Still? They didn't really even start. A report recently tabled in the NSW Parliament in short concludes,

Despite the concerted efforts of a dedicated unit within the Gangs Squad of the NSW Police Force, which spent over three years preparing applications in preparation for declarations under the 2012
Act, no application has yet been brought to Court. As a result, no organisation has been declared to be a criminal organisation under the scheme. The NSW Police Force advised us that work on these
applications ceased in 2015, and that it does not intend to resource such work in the future.
...
Police in other states and territories have experienced similar difficulties in successfully implementing comparable legislation.
...
In my view, given the problems identified by police that have prevented them from exercising the powers under this Act, and the fact that police have alternative powers to disrupt the activities of criminal organisations, it would be in the public interest for the Act to be repealed.​

It was only, and ever, politicians posturing and wasting time and money.
Prior to the Act(s), state police had sufficient powers to investigate and prosecute these, and other, criminal gangs - a fact that most commentators at the time acknowledged.