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 Last updated:  on Thursday, 11 March 2010 at 08:21 PM      Press  [F5]  to reload page.

 

 Election 2010:  Statement by the Combined Shooters & Firearms Council of SA

Mike Rann has left calling the election to the absolute last minute and accordingly it is not yet known who will be standing and their positions etc. on the ballot papers for both Houses until Friday 5th March 2010 just prior to the long weekend. The policy of The Combined Shooters & Firearms Council of SA Inc. (CS&FC) is to remain politically neutral save and except when it is necessary to advise all Firearms Owners (whether they be recreational or competitive shooters, collectors, hunters, dealers, farmers etc.) just who support, and have supported our interests....

Statement authorised by R J Carn, President CS&FC of SA Inc., PO Box 1662, Adelaide SA 5001.

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Anti-gun Chicago mayor "virtually foaming at the mouth"

Those who would deprive American citizens of the right to protect themselves and their loved ones against criminals who are capable of killing them, are not handling their portending defeat well. According to “the usual pundits,” the indications from the recent US Supreme Court arguments in McDonald v. Chicago are that SCOTUS is likely to soon confirm that, for all the states in the union and not just the District of Columbia, the right to keep and bear arms extends to all Americans. In Chicago, where the mayoralty seems to have become a royal dynasty, the ferociously anti-gun mayor seems to be virtually foaming at the mouth. Mayor Daley says that “we” – him as well as the rest of us, apparently – killed John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. Think I’m kidding...?

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OHS dilemma for small volunteer bodies

Small SA sporting clubs are facing a difficult choice: break the law as a club or offer up a member as the liable person. Every club, from the smallest rural bowls organisation to SANFL giants, are being asked to appoint a “responsible officer” to deal with occupational health and safety. This officer will take on personal responsibility for the club and can be criminally liable if something goes wrong. However, if the club can’t find someone willing to take on the role, the whole “body corporate” can be prosecuted for not making an appointment....

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Rann walks out of press conference

Premier Mike Rann walked out on a “brutal” press conference at Lyell McEwen Hospital this morning as the Michelle Chantelois issue raised its head again. The Premier, Health Minister John Hill and Families and Communities Minister Jennifer Rankine were announcing funding for elective surgery procedures. Questioning of the Premier opened with an inquiry based on polling in The Australian today showing a collapse in Mr Rann’s approval rating....

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Victoria's gun registration regime in the line of fire

Victoria's gun safety regime is under fire after a string of privacy breaches and other police gun register blunders. Shooters and traders say public safety is at risk from errors that could see information about guns fall into the wrong hands. In one of the worst examples, one person received about 80 registration certificates for a single gun. And a gun dealer was sent five application forms for a dealer's licence it had already renewed, along with a renewal for a pistol owned by an unknown person and the private details of a second shooter. In other cases the details of guns and their owners have simply vanished from the registry. Firearm Traders Association secretary Graeme Forbes said the State Government had failed to act on warnings sensitive information was leaking and ignored calls for an independent review....

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Shooters Party announces candidate for upper house in SA election

 This is to all licensed firearms owners or participants in fishing or other outdoor recreational activities. You will be aware that on the 20th of March we have a State Election. This is the day on which, once in every four years, you can have your say as a South Australian by casting your vote to elect your representatives in both Houses of Parliament. It is an important day that will determine our future and the way of life for which we all strive. Your vote is precious - something that many of us consider is the most important thing next to our families, our friends, our health, our chosen interests, our statutory rights and our implied freedoms. We often take these things for granted - until either their removal is threatened or we become aware that they have been stolen from us by a Government that implements unjust laws, by stealth, by means of bypassing our proper Parliamentary processes....

Statement authorised by M. Hudson, 31 Yalpa St., Merino SA 5049.

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Labor Party changes tack in election build-up
South Australian Premier Mike Rann says a returned Labor government will allow the criminal past of some defendants to be presented as evidence during court proceedings. Mr Rann says he will amend the state's Evidence Act to allow juries to hear past histories of offenders in cases that involve violent crime or sex offences. Labor's proposed changes are part of its serious crime policy. But civil libertarians say the Government's proposal will undermine the justice system. Chairman of the Law Society's Criminal Law Committee, George Mancini, says the changes go too far. "People do change, or people have been in circumstances in which their past is no longer of any relevance or use in deciding what they have done today," he said. "I think it is a very potentially dangerous reform. The risk is that all you are doing is creating prejudice in the minds of people that if they have done it once, they will do it again....

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Rann will give Police Commissioner power to cancel drivers licences

The ALP says it will move to strip dangerous drivers of their licences permanently, if it is re-elected in South Australia on March 20. It says the South Australian Police Commissioner would have the power to permanently cancel drivers' licences. Other proposed harsher penalties include prison terms of up to five years for hoon driving offenders and longer suspensions for L or P-plate drivers who exceed the speed limit by 45 kilometres per hour or more. "What we're going to do is change the law to allow the Police Commissioner to actually suspend someone's licence for life if they're a threat to public safety...."

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NFR: Radar or laser speed detectors not necessary for speeding fines

Not Firearms Related: No speed camera flashed to let 18-year-old P-plater Max Thring know he had been caught speeding. Instead, a police officer used an old timing method reliant on human accuracy and gave Mr Thring a $350 fine for a speed almost 10km/h faster than he believes he was driving. The teenager is now at risk of losing his licence and plans to complain to police. “I asked him if he had caught me on a speed camera and he said no, that he’d used a timing method, but I didn’t ask more because I was nervous,” Mr Thring said. Matthew Salleh had a similar experience driving in the quiet side streets of Torrensville, but after questioning the officer he was let off with an unofficial warning. “The police car behind me said they timed me going 57km/h, but I’d only been travelling on that stretch of road for a few seconds,” Mr Salleh said. “I was between roundabouts so I don’t think I could have been speeding and, anyway, I drive like a grandma.” Police traffic training officer Paul Warren initially claimed no manual methods of speed detection were legal. However, he later revealed Mr Thring could have been fined legally using a “very old method used commonly before laser and radar”....

 

Duck-hunting-protestor injured at opening of Tasmanian duck season

A protester has been rescued from the annual wild duck shoot on Tasmania's east coast. Police say the rescue helicopter was called about 9:00am (AEST) to retrieve a 35-year-old woman who was part of a campaign to disrupt the hunt at Moulting Lagoon....

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It's a race to the polls, and does anyone care?

What if they called an election and nobody cared? As Adelaide parties its way from summer into autumn, South Australian Premier Mike Rann and his Labor colleagues, suddenly facing a significant challenge from a renewed Liberal opposition, are haunted by this very question. It is a paradox. South Australia - more particularly, its capital, where three quarters of the state's citizens live - is swept up in a season of celebration. At the very time the government desperately needs voters to engage with its message that Labor has held the state together while the Liberal opposition has squandered years in leadership chaos and policy drift, the voters are merrily indulging their senses in a bacchanalia of the arts, horseflesh and fire-breathing racing cars....

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Finland Parliament debates semi-auto handgun ban

Finland, population 5.3. million, has 650,000 licensed gun owners, ranking it fifth in civilian gun ownership per capita behind the United States, Yemen, Switzerland and Serbia, according to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey. But since the shootings, the country has been debating whether to introduce greater restrictions on gun ownership. Last week, a Finnish government commission set up to investigate the shooting in Kauhajoki proposed a ban on semi-automatic handguns. The commission’s report noted that Saari “used a self-loading or semi-automatic firearm, which was small-calibre but still capable of inflicting serious damage.” In addition, the commission suggested that the minimum age for owning a gun be raised from 15 to 20, and that permits be temporary and require two years of proven shooting practice. Parliament is now debating whether to go ahead with the commission’s recommendations....

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South Australian voters have 74 candidates to choose from
South Australians will have 74 candidates to choose from at the election on March 20, after candidate nominations officially closed today (Friday). The draw to decide party positions on the ballot sheet was also completed today under the watchful eye of the electoral commission....

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Candidates accused of fudging facts on duck hunting

Three South Australian MPs have been accused of misleading voters with their responses to a campaign against duck hunting. The Animal Liberation group has complained to the Electoral Commission that Norwood MP Vini Ciccarello, Waite MP Martin Hamilton-Smith and Morphett MP Duncan McFetridge breached the Electoral Act by claiming in letters that a ban on duck shooting in New South Wales failed to reduce the number of ducks killed. Group spokesman Geoff Russell said figures he had received from the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation showed the number of ducks killed annually in the state had fallen from 236,000 in 1988 to 25,136 in 2004. Duck shooting was banned in NSW in 1995....

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[NZ] Gun owners win court battle against police attempts to 'change the law'  
Gun owners have won a battle with the police over attempts to further restrict the weapons they own. A Palmerston North enthusiast took the police to court, arguing they were going beyond their brief. Last year police attempted to further restrict modern semi-automatic rifles equipped with thumb grips, which would have meant costly extra security measures for gun owners, and limits on how and where they could use them. But Richard Lincoln of the National Shooters Association successfully argued police were trying to change the law rather than just enforce it – something they had no power to do....

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Rann says sorry over friendship with barmaid
Mike Rann has apologised to South Australian voters and the family of Michelle Chantelois for any distress and disappointment his "friendship" with the former Parliament House barmaid has caused. The Premier's bold and surprising move came yesterday during a televised leaders debate with Liberal leader Isobel Redmond. It preceded today's court appearance by Ms Chantelois' estranged husband, Rick Phillips, who is charged with assaulting Mr Rann last October. Adelaide television reported last night that Mr Phillips, who had intended defending the charge, may now plead guilty....

 

Rann's assailant escapes conviction on assault charge

The husband of the woman who alleges she had an affair with Mike Rann has pleaded guilty to assaulting the South Australian premier. Richard Wayne Phillips was placed on a good behaviour bond, but no conviction was recorded, following his appearance in the Adelaide Magistrates Court today. The estranged husband of former Parliamentary waitress Michelle Chantelois pleaded guilty to assaulting the Premier with a rolled up magazine at a corporate function in Adelaide last October....

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No clear winner in election debate
Premier Mike Rann and Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond have debated key issues of the South Australian election. The debate was pre-recorded in a studio at Hindmarsh to air later in the day. Both leaders said they were offering hope for SA voters. Mr Rann, seeking a third term in office, said his Government had a "very good track record...."

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Attorney-General demands $20,000 compensation from constituent
The state’s chief law officer, Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, is demanding $20,000 compensation from a voter in his electorate after she sent an allegedly defamatory email which compared him unfavourably to an historical figure. The Independent Weekly understands the confidentail email was passed on to Mr Atkinson by a source or sources within the Charles Sturt Council. The Attorney-General’s threat follows a series of emails between a Ridleyton woman and the deputy mayor of Charles Sturt Council, Tolley Wasylenko, and other councillors....

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Analyst tips Labor to win March 20 state election
The Liberal Party will make significant gains on March 20, says Australia’s foremost election analyst, psephologist Malcolm Mackerras. Speaking exclusively to The Independent Weekly, Mr Mackerras predicts that Labor will win 24 of the 47 seats in the House of Assembly, and the Liberals 22. This will be a very narrow majority for the ALP. “One Independent will be elected, Dr Bob Such in the seat of Fisher,” Mr Mackerras said....

 

South Australian police officer charged with rape

A 24-year-old South Australian police officer has been charged with rape and suspended from duty. The officer was charged by the sexual crime investigation branch yesterday. Police refuse to provide any other details about the charge. The alleged offender is due to face court on April 23.

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US Supreme Court action threatens softer handgun laws

A Supreme Court action by four citizens who want the right to defend themselves against potential assault and robbery could unleash a chain reaction that overturns restrictive gun laws across the country. It comes 20 months after the highest court in the US ruled as unconstitutional similar handgun laws in Washington DC. The legal challenge touches a hot button issue in America where gun laws are constantly derided by lobbyists, such as the powerful National Rifle Association, as running counter to the constitution's Second Amendment, which enshrines the right of citizens ''to keep and bear arms''. In Virginia, legislators are also in the midst of a battle over guns, with Republicans trying to repeal a 17-year law limiting the purchase of handguns to one a month. The change would also allow Virginians to carry concealed weapons into bars and restaurants, provided the holder does not drink alcohol and has a so-called ''concealed-carry'' permit....

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WA man charged after wounding teenage burglars

A West Australian man has been charged with wounding a group of teenagers he hit with a pipe or a stick after they broke into his house. Detective Sergeant Tom Doyle said a 52-year-old man from Carnarvon, in WA's midwest had been charged with three counts of aggravated assault. Det Sgt Doyle said the man was asleep just before midnight on Sunday when he heard a group of seven teenagers attempting to break into his bedroom window. "Basically, seven juveniles, who happened to be indigenous kids, went around to this man's address. He was laying in bed, he was woken by people trying to get into his bedroom while he slept,'' he said. The youths, aged between 11 and 15 managed to get the flyscreen off and the man armed himself with either a stick or a pipe, Det Sgt Doyle said. He then went outside and cornered the group in an alley way, while some managed to get away over a fence....

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"VIttles and shindigs" attracts competitors from 44 states and five countries
LeAnn Kemmerer's wide-brimmed yellow hat shielded her from a light drizzle while she walked through mud with a shotgun and lever-action rifle in each hand. On a normal day, most wouldn't assume the Dayton, Wash., resident is a two-time award-winning Northwestern regional shooting champion. On Sunday, Kemmerer exchanged her name for "Pinto Annie," donned her best 19th-century cowgirl dress and headed to the firing line at Ben Avery Shooting Range in north Phoenix. "My mom always said I was born 100 years too late," Kemmerer said. About 665 cowboys, cowgirls and buckaroos descended on the range to participate in what has become a five-day international competition where participants assume Old West alter egos and compete to determine who has the fastest, most accurate gun in the West. The 19th annual Winter Range drew shooters 12 to 80 years old, from 44 states and five countries, said Dan "Parson Swede" Wohleen, director of "Vittles and shindigs."....

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Canadian gun-control advocates plead with opposition to save gun registry

Gun-control advocates are pleading with the opposition parties to stand united when Parliament reopens, and save the gun registry. The call came today in Montreal from a coalition that included police, women's groups, and a survivor of the 1989 Polytechnique massacre. They said they hold no hope of persuading the governing Conservatives to back down from a move to end the registry, which was set up in the wake of the massacre....

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PETA opposes guide dogs, horse riding and sheep shearing

They oppose guide dogs for blind people and think horse riding is cruel. Even US President Barack Obama has copped whack for swatting a fly. Now the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is turning its illogical attention to Australia's sheep industry, calling on animal lovers to boycott all wool. It reckons it's cruel to shear sheep. If the campaign wasn't so insidious and vindictive, you would laugh at its sheer dottiness. But this isn't a game. It's a well-organised PR machine....          03-10

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report

SSAA (SA) PRESIDENT'S REPORT ON MEETING WITH SA POLICE ON LARGE CALIBRE FIREARMS.

On Friday 19th February I, and other members of the state executive, attended a meeting  with officials of the Firearms Branch. The purpose of this meeting was to try and ascertain the full story about what is happening in South Australia with large calibre firearms. There were five Firearms Branch officers present.

In answer to my first question about large calibre firearms Chief Inspector Langmead informed us that there is not a blanket ban on these types of firearms, rather that now anyone wanting to keep one or apply for a Permit to Acquire would have to justify it proving that they have a “Genuine need/Reason” for owning firearms of those calibres. Chief Inspector Langmead told us of his reservations about the size of the game we can hunt in South Australia and expressed his concerns about clubs allowing use of these large calibre firearms on club grounds.

 When asked about compensation for the people who legally owned this style of firearm he responded with “there is no provision in the firearms act for compensation”, he then informed us that he is willing to allow the firearms to be sold interstate or overseas so that the owner can recover some of their money.

Chief Inspector Langmead also stated that if the owners were willing to have the firearms rebarelled or rechambered to a calibre that is not “on the list” then that would be acceptable.

He informed us that 2 out of the 3 seized rifles had been given to a dealer for sale interstate. We questioned them on what would a “genuine Need/Reason” be. The short answer is that it will be very hard to prove genuine need, he will not accept hunting interstate as a genuine need and stated that he could not endorse the use of a rifle outside his jurisdiction.

Whilst we were there we submitted a proposal for use of large calibre guns at Para. They seemed reasonably amicable about it but only time will tell.

If you have any queries or comments please feel free to email me at president@ssaasa.org.au

David McCarthy

President SSAA (SA) Inc.

update

Update to SSAA-SA President's statement on large calibre rifles.

Fellow Shooters,

The SSAA's stance is to argue and fight these and any other restrictions as they occur. SSAA SA has a meeting tomorrow where we will decide what our next course of action is, now that we have the information and not just rumours. In the mean time I'm sure that writing to your local member and federal member will do no harm if you express your concerns in a clear and concise way.

No doubt you will hear a lot more about this subject in the very near future.

From a national point of view all the state presidents are very aware of what is happening, I know that some have already organised meetings with their respective registry group, stuff is happening rest assured.

A note that, yes, SSAA is the peak organisation but there are also many other organisations/ user groups that have had very little to say because it is not in their "fields of interest" well as a shooter I will say that’s Bullshit, if it involves the legal possession and use of firearms then it affects us all.

Let’s hope that we can put the historical disagreements behind us and move forward as one large united force.

United we stand, divided we fall.

David McCarthy
President SSAA (SA) Inc.

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update

The Commonwealth Government is set on introducing an internet filter joining with  repressive regimes like those in China and Iran.

 Click here...

to send your MP a fax protesting against the government's plans to decide what you should access on the internet.

It's as easy as typing an email - and imagine the consternation when an unending stream of faxes arrive at your MP's office, even if the MP is an opposition member.