1-in-10 own guns in NSW

[DW98]

Law-abiding citizens in New South Wales now own more than 700,000 registered firearms, with a gun for every 1-in-10 people in the state.

Anti article, but it's good to see that more people are getting involved in shooting sports.

A gun for every 1-in-10 people as numbers soar to above 700,000 across NSW

ARSENALS of high-powered rifles and other firearms are flourishing in Sydney suburbs as the number of privately owned guns in NSW climbs above 700,000.

Lobby group Gun Control Australia will use today’s 18th anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre to launch a renewed campaign against widespread gun ownership across the state, with calls for the government to clamp down on laws and back away from deals with the Shooters and Fishers Party.

Gun ownership figures obtained under freedom of information by GCA and supplied exclusively to The Daily Telegraph show there are 700,894 firearms registered to private owners in NSW — almost one for every 10 people in the state — including 416,726 Category A weapons. Category

A firearms include air rifles, rim-fire rifles and some shotguns.

GCA spokeswoman Samantha Lee said an influential gun lobby had gradually eroded the government agreement on gun control made after the 1996 Port Arthur shootings.

“With drive-by shootings occurring nearly every week in Sydney(More like every day or so), it is time the NSW Premier cleaned up this state by firstly cleaning up our gun numbers,” she said.
“The laws have allowed for private arsenals to flourish in Sydney suburbs. The more guns in the community, the more likely they will be stolen and fall into the black market.”

Among those supporting GCA’s stance is Sydney criminal lawyer Michelle Fernando, whose mentally ill sister fatally shot her father, Vincent, in August 2010, with a handgun stolen from a gun club where she was a probationary member.

Ms Fernando, the face of a GCA anti-gun video set to go live online today, said it was too easy for people in NSW to obtain a firearm.

“There’s an obvious fix but it is so very hard to achieve because the gun lobby is so powerful,” she said. “This is despite the fact that the majority of Australians want sensible gun laws.”

Shooters and Fishers Party MLC Robert Brown argued that gun ownership controls in NSW were already among the toughest in Australia. “There is no correlation between legal ownership of firearms and the illegal gun trade,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Police Minister Mike Gallacher said a Coalition government would not relax gun laws.

“We have implemented a number of initiatives to target those who illegally use firearms, including tighter controls around ammunition supply in 2012 and the introduction of firearm prohibition orders in 2013,” she said.

The Port Arthur massacre remains one of the deadliest shootings committed by one person.

Twenty-eight year old Martin Bryant, from New Town in Hobart, Tasmania, killed 35 people when he went on a shooting spree, mostly at the Broad Arrow Cafe in the historic Port Arthur tourist attraction from April 28-29, 1996.

Bryant eventually pleaded guilty to the massacre and received 35 life sentences without the possibility of parole.

 

[arentol]

I wonder how many guns have ACTUALLY been stolen and used in drive-bys. As usual the anti's are using unsubstantiated appeals to emotion to push their agenda.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[DW98]

I'd say very few. You do hear about firearms being stolen in burglaries/home invasions fairly often, but from what I understand, not many of them are used in shootings. The firearms being used in shootings are usually manufactured here or smuggled into the country. According to a media report the other night, the black market for firearms in Australia is quite extensive. They also openly admitted that criminals will be and are able to acquire fully automatic firearms. The law-abiding aren't the problem.

To get some perspective, only 11 licensed firearms owners have used their firearms to commit homicide since 1997.

 

[Haz.]

Firearms registration pit falls.

Regarding firearms registration down under.

A few months ago, someone, somehow, hacked into the firearms registry and leaked names and addresses of registered firearms owners, hence, several break, enters and steal firearms occurred.

Another time I had police nock on my door unannounced and told me they were in the are doing safe keeping checks and they thought they would do mine while in the area?

While speaking to me, I saw the list of names and addresses of firearms owners on the list as he scanned it then pointing to my name. Not good. I heard a similar thing happened in Tasmania. Also, police talking on 2 way radio's being picked up on scanners, telling head office where they were and what they were doing, ie, firearms checks?

I told him sorry, now is not convenient, give me a call when you return to the police station and I will arrange a suitable time. Its law here they must call and arrange a suitable time, not just arrive at their own personal whim, or because they are in the area and its convenient for them?

 

[DW98]

If memory serves, Tasmania has had it's fair share of few home invasions where they offenders knew exactly what they were after, i.e: firearms. Quite a number of people were beaten and I believe in one case a homeowner was shot and wounded.

 

[Haz.]

I can remember a time when there was no licencing, no registration, no home invasions, no bashings in the street, one could buy ammo at K Mart, guns at the local sports store, now, . . . since all the hundreds of useless firearms laws were introduced, and the Howard Government, ban and steal back, its done nothing but enable criminals!

 

[DW98]

Yep. Good times...

 

[DW98]

Speaking of bashings.

There needs to be decent sentences for these morons.

NSW man dies after one-punch assault

Raynor Manalad was a nurse, a brother, a son and a friend. He was a man whose life was ended by a single punch.

Police will allege the recent university graduate was struck once in the face outside a 21st birthday party at Rooty Hill in Sydney’s west on Saturday.

He was knocked unconscious and died the next day.

The alleged attack comes after two Sydney teenagers Daniel Christie and Thomas Kelly were killed by single punches in Kings Cross.

Hugh Bacalla Garth, 21, of Blacktown, was charged with the assault that led to Mr Manalad’s death and will remain in custody until he appears in court on Wednesday.

 

[DW98]

1-in-10 on the Sunshine Coast also own firearms.

However, I won't be visiting the club in question anytime soon.

"You cannot use even a pen knife if it is for personal protection anywhere in Australia, and that is a good thing."

It seems we can't get enough of guns on the Sunshine Coast

THOUGHT you wouldn't find many guns on the Sunshine Coast? Think again.

Figures provided by Queensland Police show there are 26,261 registered weapons in the region, or one gun for about every 10 residents.

The weapons don't all belong to farmers, as you might expect, and the numbers and interest in gun ownership are growing daily.

Maroochydore has the largest number of weapons, with 3832 registered weapons, followed by Nambour with 3689 weapons.

Several weapons may be licensed to one owner.

Russell Davis, from the Sunshine Coast Shooting Club Inc., said there was likely to be "hundreds" more unregistered weapons on the Sunshine Coast.

Interest in shooting was steadily on the increase, with many new people enrolling in the New Shooter Program offered at the shooting club in Yandina.

AT the last event, held two weeks ago, 67 new people turned up, of which "70% were women".

Mr Davis said a large number were also younger children, aged between 11 and 18, who were discovering shooting with pistols to be a fun, safe and exciting sport.

The State Government's $150 "Get Started" voucher to encourage youths to get into sport was also helping more children get involved.

Interest in guns and weapons prompted the opening of a gun shop in the heart of the region's principal activity centre - on Aerodrome Rd in Maroochydore - about 12 months ago.

This shop received "about five inquiries for gun ownership" each day.

Mr Davis said the interest was from those keen to learn a new and exciting sport and had little to do with concerns for safety.

He was confident the gun control rules in place in Queensland were adequate to ensure gun control didn't get out of hand or cause the kind of shootings becoming more and more common in America.

Mr Davis said the American rules were "very different" to those in Australia.

"The laws are absolutely different to America, they should have more of what we've got," he said.

"You cannot use even a pen knife if it is for personal protection anywhere in Australia, and that is a good thing."

He said the laws which required gun owners to be involved in clubs like the shooting club helped keep a close eye on potential rogue elements.

"If we think someone is dodgy, we won't give them an application form (for a licence) and we will pass the information on to other clubs to be wary of them," he said.

"This is because if anything goes wrong, it comes back on us."

The club also caters for birthday parties for children over the age of 11 and provided an outlet for those with a disability.

"We have a blind fellow shoot with us. He only has 5% vision in the one eye," Mr Davis said.

"This is how safe the sport is. People are not going to turn into serial killers.

"Anyone who looks to shoot sideways, we tell them to rack off and they are not going to do it here."

Mr Davis believed the amnesty on unlicensed guns needed to happen more regularly to ensure more people came forward to register their weapons.

"There should be a permanent amnesty so that people can get their guns registered without concern.

"Very few guns owned by licensees get stolen. Those that turn rogue who are licensed are extremely minor, maybe one a year in Australia.

"It just doesn't happen."

Poll:

Is there any reason why there should be 26,2611 registered firearms on the Sunshine Coast?

Absolutely not. It's not the wild west. 12%

I’m not sure - it doesn't make me feel real safe. 38%

Who cares! It’s a free world. 37%

Big deal. I’ve got six of them! 10%

License and weapon count by district

LICENCE AND WEAPON COUNT BY DISTRICT:

SUNSHINE COAST: 7560 licences, 26,261 weapons

GOLD COAST: 7995 licences, 38,307 weapons

DARLING DOWNS: 17,484 licences. 69,528 weapons

NORTH BRISBANE: 10323 licences, 70,743 weapons

WIDE BAY BURNET: 14,986 licences, 65,592 weapons

MAROOCHYDORE: 1083 licences, 3832 weapons

NAMBOUR: 986 licences, 3689 weapons

CALOUNDRA: 695 licences, 2184 weapons

NOOSA HEADS: 536 licences. 1652 weapons

 

[Midwest]

I need to respond on some things that were posted on this page............

"You cannot use even a pen knife if it is for personal protection anywhere in Australia, and that is a good thing."

That is an idiotic statement if there ever was one. So criminals can use whatever weapon they want and innocent law abiding people cannot legally defend themselves. And THAT is a good thing? If that is the case then why bother even having doors on one's house or doors on one's car in Australia? Think about it........

Mr Davis said the American rules were "very different" to those in Australia.

Damned right it is. We don't coddle criminals or let them get the upper hand if we can help it. We can and will use force fight back to protect ourselves, our families and our property.

He was confident the gun control rules in place in Queensland were adequate to ensure gun control didn't get out of hand or cause the kind of shootings becoming more and more common in America.

Gun control getting out of hand? Gun control getting out of hand is what Australia did to it's citizens by CONFISCATING family heirlooms like rifles and shotguns that were handed down from one generation to another. The criminals didn't give up anything. Only the law abiding public did.

Several weapons may be licensed to one owner.

Here in the U.S. it can be several DOZEN weapons for one owner and we don't license them.

"The laws are absolutely different to America, they should have more of what we've got," he said.

I don't think so, I read the accounts of what happens in a nation that disarmed it's populace. America will not go the way of Australia or the U.K., not at least without a revolution.

Mr Davis believed the amnesty on unlicensed guns needed to happen more regularly to ensure more people came forward to register their weapons.

Registration of weapons is the reason why Australia was able to round up and confiscate family heirlooms and personal property the first time. If they were unlicensed, the government would have had no way to confiscate them.

And what will Australians do the "next time" there is another firearm round up/confiscation? Give them those firearms up too?

A spokeswoman for Police Minister Mike Gallacher said a Coalition government would not relax gun laws.

Of course not, the government would rather have law abiding innocent people being attacked and assaulted by criminals than allow for people to defend themselves. That is what happens in socialist countries where there have never been gun rights or positive self defense laws. And this is what happens when the citizens constantly elect and re-elect socialists.

“With drive-by shootings occurring nearly every week in Sydney(More like every day or so), it is time the NSW Premier cleaned up this state by firstly cleaning up our gun numbers,”

Now how could there be drive by shootings in Australia when it is prohibited to transport a loaded weapon in a vehicle? Oh that's right, criminals don't abide by laws and rules. Only law abiding citizens do.

“There’s an obvious fix but it is so very hard to achieve because the gun lobby is so powerful,”

Ahem, if the gun lobby were so "powerful" then how did the Port Arthur gun legislation ever pass in the first place?

This is despite the fact that the majority of Australians want sensible gun laws.”

If Australians weren't so brainwashed by the media and government, maybe they would see beyond the facade. If the law abiding public were able to carry to protect themselves, their families, their possessions then the criminal element will stop having the upper hand.

Australian's need to think out of the box and start to realize that in order to fight fire with fire. You need equal power to fight back.

My observation is that Australians need to get pissed off and motivated and start a grassroots organization call it "Australians for Self Defense" and start off from there.

Demand that your politicians stop coddling and favoring criminals. Demand that your politicians pass self protection laws for it's populace.

.

.

 

[DW98]

Spot on. I agree with everything you've said.

I need to respond on some things that were posted on this page............

That is an idiotic statement if there ever was one. So criminals can use whatever weapon they want and innocent law abiding people cannot legally defend themselves. And THAT is a good thing? If that is the case then why bother even having doors on one's house or doors on one's car in Australia? Think about it........

He's a disgrace to the shooting community.

After numerous break ins and a violent home invasion just up the road, I had security doors and cameras installed, as have most of my neighbours and friends. But if someone actually got inside, my options would be limited.


Damned right it is. We don't coddle criminals or let them get the upper hand if we can help it. We can and will use force fight back to protect ourselves, our families and our property.

As it should be



Gun control getting out of hand? Gun control getting out of hand is what Australia did to it's citizens by CONFISCATING family heirlooms like rifles and shotguns that were handed down from one generation to another. The criminals didn't give up anything. Only the law abiding public did.

It was a sad state of affairs. Take my father for instance, he owned 'military-style' semi-automatic rifles, and when the laws changed he had to hand them all in. And if he didn't, he was going to prison. When the handgun laws changed in 2003, he was made to surrender several of his handguns as well. He never did anything wrong and was treated like a criminal thanks to one nutjob.

Here in the U.S. it can be several DOZEN weapons for one owner and we don't license them.

As far as I know, there's no limit to how many firearms you can own here (correct me if I'm wrong, Haz), although each purchase becomes increasingly harder to justify. Apparently around the 30 or so mark, things start to become VERY difficult. Ammunition restrictions were also introduced in NSW in 2012.

I don't think so, I read the accounts of what happens in a nation that disarmed it's populace. America will not go the way of Australia or the U.K., not at least without a revolution.

I don't think you'll lose your firearms. You have too many law-abiding shooters who support gun ownership.


Registration of weapons is the reason why Australia was able to round up and confiscate family heirlooms and personal property the first time. If they were unlicensed, the government would have had no way to confiscate them.

And what will Australians do the "next time" there is another firearm round up/confiscation? Give them those firearms up too?

Handguns are currently on the chopping board, and will probably be banned in the near future. There's only around 200,000 handguns in civilian possession in Australia, so most will probably hand them in if it happens.


Of course not, the government would rather have law abiding innocent people being attacked and assaulted by criminals than allow for people to defend themselves. That is what happens in socialist countries where there have never been gun rights or positive self defense laws. And this is what happens when the citizens constantly elect and re-elect socialists.

Exactly. It's not going to change anytime soon either.


Now how could there be drive by shootings in Australia when it is prohibited to transport a loaded weapon in a vehicle? Oh that's right, criminals don't abide by laws and rules. Only law abiding citizens do.

You've seen my crime reports thread. That's a great example of why restricting the law-abiding does nothing to stop criminals.


Ahem, if the gun lobby were so "powerful" then how did the Port Arthur gun legislation ever pass in the first place?

The community was smaller back then, but the majority of the public still supported the laws. I believe it had 86% support from the public.

If Australians weren't so brainwashed by the media and government, maybe they would see beyond the facade. If the law abiding public were able to carry to protect themselves, their families, their possessions then the criminal element will stop having the upper hand.

We can't even carry pepper spray or a knife. CC is never going to happen. Being able to own firearms for self-defence at home probably never will either.

Australian's need to think out of the box and start to realize that in order to fight fire with fire. You need equal power to fight back.

My observation is that Australians need to get pissed off and motivated and start a grassroots organization call it "Australians for Self Defense" and start off from there.

Demand that your politicians stop coddling and favoring criminals. Demand that your politicians pass self protection laws for it's populace.

There are some small groups out there, but nowhere near enough to make any changes, sadly.

.

 

[Haz.]

"If Australians weren't so brainwashed by the media and government, maybe they would see beyond the facade. If the law abiding public were able to carry to protect themselves, their families, their possessions then the criminal element will stop having the upper hand.

Australian's need to think out of the box and start to realize that in order to fight fire with fire. You need equal power to fight back.

My observation is that Australians need to get pissed off and motivated and start a grassroots organization call it "Australians for Self Defense" and start off from there.

Demand that your politicians stop coddling and favoring criminals. Demand that your politicians pass self protection laws for it's populace."

.
**********************************************************************************


Hi. Agree with you totally.

Sadly we have in our country, sheepel who are so up themselves believing they have all the answers. For example, I have been sin binned on a hunting forum, purely for standing up to several members who seem to think like, and agree with our politicians, many who have been shown to be corrupt, that Australian citizens should not be allowed to OC or even CC. They say, This will never happen, They come up with, "Oh, I would hate to be in the area where a woman pulls out a gun and starts shooting in self defence?"

These are the type, who in my mind who stand by and watch someone get bashed, raped, and even walk away when police arrive asking for witnesses. With attitudes like this from members, allegedly firearm owners, what hope do we have of ever getting these repressive laws overturned?

One member on the forum, who continually sniped at me because I disagreed with him, and told him so in no uncertain terms, could dish it out but sadly, couldn't take it so he reported me to a pet mod of his and had me sin binned for three days, that was 5 days ago? I'm still banned, so these cretins cant even count to three? Naturally, I wont be posting there any more, even if invited back.

 

[Midwest]

.
**********************************************************************************


Hi. Agree with you totally.

Sadly we have in our country, sheepel who are so up themselves believing they have all the answers. For example, I have been sin binned on a hunting forum, purely for standing up to several members who seem to think like, and agree with our politicians, many who have been shown to be corrupt, that Australian citizens should not be allowed to OC or even CC. They say, This will never happen, They come up with, "Oh, I would hate to be in the area where a woman pulls out a gun and starts shooting in self defence?"

These are the type, who in my mind who stand by and watch someone get bashed, raped, and even walk away when police arrive asking for witnesses. With attitudes like this from members, allegedly firearm owners, what hope do we have of ever getting these repressive laws overturned?

One member on the forum, who continually sniped at me because I disagreed with him, and told him so in no uncertain terms, could dish it out but sadly, couldn't take it so he reported me to a pet mod of his and had me sin binned for three days, that was 5 days ago? I'm still banned, so these cretins cant even count to three? Naturally, I wont be posting there any more, even if invited back.

I really think the answer lies in starting a web site called "Australians for Self Defense" and starting an organization called something like "Australian Self Defense League". And because of the current anti-gun fervor over there. I would not even mention guns or firearms for self defense at first. That could come later if the site and the organization gets more popular.

The organization would advocate Australians getting trained in martial arts, learning and teaching common self defense techniques and advocating pro self defense laws. You can have a section of the forum dedicated to stories of how people defended themselves against the criminal element.

Teaching people how to form neighborhood watch groups and neighborhood watches. Have one neighbor looking out for another neighbor and so on. In New York City there is a group called the Guardian Angels, I don't know if there is a chapter in Australia. But that could be a good starting point. Google Guardian Angels.

In summation. I suggest just starting out with a pro self defense movement and website. For the time being, leave firearms to just one section of the forum and expand to other sections as the group, site, organization gets more popular. Re-education of the public is a tough battle. But by De-emphasizing guns for the time being and taking a hands on approach to self defense would be possibly the best avenue at the start.

Your thoughts?

 

[DW98]

These guys are for OC and CC https://www.facebook.com/gunsinaustralia?ref=ts&fref=ts

Apart from that it's slim pickings, but your idea about starting a website is a good idea.

We already have a neighbourhood watch, they're pretty useless. Here's what I found about Guardian Angels, "A Guardian Angels chapter actively patrolled in Sydney in the early nineties, but disbanded after a short time.

A chapter was formed in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, in 2008, but has yet to begin patrolling. Some school and internet-safety programs have been conducted.".

I'm trying to encourage people to push for the legalization of pepper spray. That's a pretty fair request in my opinion. We'll see where it goes.


Edit: Just saw this on the Guns in Australia page.

"These incidents reinforce the need for reform, we need to ban semi-automatic handguns so they don't get into the hands of criminals,''

Problem is, they already are in the hands of criminals. Morons everywhere...

Call for urgent firearm reform

GUN control advocates are calling for urgent firearm reform after the use of semi-automatic weapons on the streets of Launceston.

Launceston has endured a spate of firearm incidents in the past month and in some cases seen semi-automatics been used to shoot up a car and allegedly commit armed robbery.

The latest incident occurred on Thursday when police swooped on a Ravenswood home after a man allegedly threatened family members with a shortened .410 shotgun.

The man was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault by depriving two family members of their liberty and threatening to shoot them.

Just days earlier police allege the same man used the shotgun to threaten two women, including a former partner, at Deloraine.

In an unrelated matter a drive-by shooting at Norwood saw bullets fired into a vehicle.

The shooting occurred on Anzac Day with residents saying they heard what sounded like a semi-automatic weapon just after midnight.

The following day the victim found his work vehicle had been fired into five times.

One neighbour said residents were terrified over the incident that occurred in a suburban setting where several young families live.

"We've got a lot of kids in this street and some pretty concerned people,'' the man said.

"This is Launceston not western Sydney.''

Another resident took to The Examiner's website to post ``Lived in this street for 7 years, cannot believe it!''

Launceston detectives are investigating the incident and believe it is linked to a domestic scenario.

The family of the victim said they believe it was meant as a warning.

In a separate incident two people have been charged over an alleged armed robbery at Invermay with a semi-automatic handgun.

The alleged robbery was of a TV on April 8.

During the incident the gun was allegedly pointed at a victim's head.

Gun Control Australia spokesman Roland Browne said the use of semi-automatic weapons on the streets was a worrying development.

"These incidents reinforce the need for reform, we need to ban semi-automatic handguns so they don't get into the hands of criminals,'' he said.

"It's about having a high level of community safety but also we need to tighten the laws up to protect our police . . . we don't want people settling their squabbles with their guns either.

"We should act now before we end up with one of these guns being used for the purpose of which it was designed - which is to kill people.''

Interesting to note that the police Facebook page doesn't mention anything about shootings. Instead they talk about "Road safety week" and drug and alcohol policies. A lot of my information on the crime reports thread comes from PD FB pages, so it's safe to assume I miss a lot.

 

[Midwest]

........ but your idea about starting a website is a good idea.
I'm trying to encourage people to push for the legalization of pepper spray. That's a pretty fair request in my opinion. We'll see where it goes.

Good Luck

 

[DW98]

Thanks. Appreciate the support.

 

[MAC702]

From the OP's article:

... including 416,726 Category A weapons. Category A firearms include air rifles, rim-fire rifles and some shotguns...

So of these 700,000+ "firearms" over half of them might be air rifles, for all we know.

Of course, we shouldn't know anyway. It's too bad you guys are under that registration, provided you get to have them at all.

 

[DW98]

From the OP's article:

So of these 700,000+ "firearms" over half of them might be air rifles, for all we know.

Of course, we shouldn't know anyway. It's too bad you guys are under that registration, provided you get to have them at all.

I doubt many of them would be air rifles. I know plenty of gun owners, and I only know of one who has an air rifle, which was bought for his son, who needs a junior firearms license to use it anywhere outside of the range. Try not to laugh...

There'd probably be a few thousand of them on the books, but the large majority would be the real thing.

 

[KBCraig]

The headline is overly optimistic. One gun for every ten people is not the same as one in ten persons in NSW owning guns.

Most guns are owned by people who own at least two or three. Some own dozens. I had a friend in Mooloolaba QLD who owned hundreds, all legally.

Just a SWAG, but I suspect the real number is more like one person in 70 owns one or more guns -- if even that.

 

[DW98]

Yeah, that's a good point.

Hundreds? Was this pre '96? I know someone who owns about 25 to 30, and they've had a lot of difficulty purchasing new ones. I think they've more or less reached the limit, so to speak.