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In the
footsteps of hunters
April 30
NSW Game Council says feral
shooting in national parks a success
The New South Wales Game Council says more than
11,000 feral animals have been killed in state
forests since hunting on public land began two years
ago. Game Council head Brian Boyle says native
animals have been helped by the removal of thousands
of feral rabbits, goats, pigs and foxes. "There is a
net benefit to the environment because you're
removing these animals that target native animals,
that remove vegetation, that impact on the
environment," he said.
But the NSW National Parks
Association's executive officer Andrew Cox says
there is no way of telling if the feral animal cull
has benefited the environment.
ABC News
Canadian city pushing
national handgun ban
Toronto city councillors have voted overwhelmingly
to ask the federal government to ban handguns. Mayor
David Miller did, however, come up three votes short
of the unanimous result he had hoped for in an
attempt to put maximum pressure on the Stephen
Harper government to act on handguns. Councillor
Michael Thompson, who's been active on law and order
issues, was one of three councillors to oppose the
request for a ban, saying it won't work. "I think
we're providing a false sense of security," Thompson
(Ward 37, Scarborough Centre) said. "It hasn't
worked anywhere. It's a real empty gesture. That's
why I cannot stand here and say to you, `I think
it's great – me too, me too.'"
Councillors Case Ootes (Ward
29, Toronto Danforth) and Doug Holyday (Ward 3,
Etobicoke Centre) also voted against the bid.
Miller argued strong gun laws
do work. "If you look ... at countries where there
is strong gun legislation, there is a corresponding
lowering of the rates of not just murders, but
suicides and accidental deaths. There's no doubt
about it. "England has really strict laws and they
have significantly fewer gun-related crimes than
Canada," he said. "Canada's laws are pretty strict,
but with huge loopholes. We have significantly fewer
gun-related crimes than the United States."
Read Story
April 29
Murder suspect faced the
noose in 1968
The prime suspect in yesterday's callous killing of
a Frankston mother was sentenced to death in 1968
for the stabbing murder of a 17-year-old girl.
Police have named Leigh Robinson, 60, as the prime
suspect in the shotgun murder of Frankston mother
Tracy Greenbury, 33. Robinson's death sentence for
murdering the teenager was commuted in 1969, and he
was released on parole in 1983. In 1991 he pleaded
guilty to 14 charges of handling over $100,000 worth
of stolen goods. He received a two-year sentence
with a minimum of 18 months.
Actor Gil Tucker - who played a
policeman in the popular TV drama Cop Shop - gave
evidence on Robinson's behalf, saying Robinson's
life had been ''a great tragedy'' and that he had
made a "made a great fist of having a go at it"
after being released for the 1968 murder. Detectives
are continuing to hunt for Robinson who they
describe as "armed and dangerous" more than 30 hours
after he blasted the mother of two to death with a
shotgun yesterday. Ms Greenbury was shot in the head
as she tried to get help from a neighbour after
fleeing her home in Frankston.
news.com.au
Allow constitutional right
to self defence
For decades, Kenya's Kerio Valley and the
adjoining areas have been rocked by intermittent
ethnic violence but they have never produced an
internal refugee. Yet Eldoret, Kericho, Kuresoi,
Molo, Nakuru and the surrounding areas produced
hundreds of thousands of displaced people after
less than six weeks of post-election violence.
What is the difference between these two sets of
volatile regions in the Rift Valley? The answer
is simple; in Kerio, the communities exercise
their constitutional right to self-defence.
But the rest of the country
frowns on the communities for observing this
basic rule that guarantees their survival in an
environment in which life would be "nasty,
brutish and short," as British philosopher
Thomas Hobbes so famously observed. The only
times the communities abandon their homes is
when they have to look for water for themselves
and their large herds of livestock. President
Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga are
seeking the wrong remedy for a simple malady.
They can solve the internal refugee crisis once
and for all by getting their lieutenants in
Parliament to vote in favour of easing
restrictions on the legal ownership of firearms.
Read Story
Chicago banned handguns in
1981—last week there
were 40 shootings
Chicago's Deputy Police
Chief Eugene Williams had a
tough week. Wednesday
morning, a two-storey house
in his jurisdiction on the
South Side. Five people,
shot dead. The following
afternoon, two more
shootings. Another that
night, non-fatal, shot in
the leg and back. And all of
this following a hail of
gunfire that had peppered
the city's toughest
neighbourhoods just a few
days before: In less than a
week, more than 40
shootings, at least a dozen
of them fatal.
Williams, an affable 28-year
veteran of the force, sat in
his office in the
blue-paneled bunker of the
CPD's District 5
headquarters in South
Chicago. As he managed his
constantly pinging email and
two BlackBerrys vibrating at
regular intervals on his
desk, he suggested a
worrying paradox.
"The
regular citizen in Chicago
cannot go anywhere and buy
firearms," says Williams,
eyebrows raised. "And yet,
in one year, in the 1990s,
we had more than 19,000
weapons recovered. In one
year. We've been averaging
10,000 weapons recovered
every year for the last 10
or 12 or 14 years. And
that's with a ban."
Read Story
Melbourne slaying suspect
may have killed before
A man being sought over the slaying of a single mum
in Melbourne yesterday is believed to have killed
before. Police have launched a nationwide manhunt
after Tracy Greenbury, 33, was shot dead on a
neighbour's front door step in suburban Frankston
yesterday. It is understood the suspect has prior
convictions for murder and had previously shown Ms
Greenbury his gun and ammunition. Police are
expected to reveal further details at a press
conference later this morning. Ms Greenbury fled
after opening her front door to a man brandishing a
shotgun yesterday. She ran for her life, but the
mother of two was shot in the head on the doorstep
of a neighbour's home as she screamed for help. It
is believed Ms Greenbury knew her killer, who fled
in a car after the shooting.
news.com.au
April 28
In the footsteps of hunters:
 Bush blocks across South
Australia are being subdivided by the Nature
Foundation and sold to people who plan to keep the
blocks in their native state. The
Foundation has purchased 10
parcels of land for preservation since 2002. The
blocks vary in size from 16ha to 425ha.
news.com.au
We congratulate the Nature
Foundation and supports its objectives but point out
that shooters were there first.
The Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby
Preservation Society, an association founded by
members of the Sporting Shooters Association, owns 140 square
kilometres of bushland in South Australia's Far
North devoted to the preservation of the endangered
Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby. Its members have
invested thousands of hours of voluntary labour and
tens of thousands of dollars to develop the
block—over and above the cost of acquiring it. The society was founded in
1997 and The Bunkers Conservation Reserve in the
northern Flinders Ranges was opened by Senator
Robert Hill in 2001. Follow the above link for more
news on the society and its work.
Hunters: Practical
Conservationists.
Greens MP will face court
on assault allegations
A 56-year-old man from Broken Head, south of Byron
Bay on the NSW North Coast, will face court in June,
a NSW Police spokeswoman told AAP. He is NSW MP Ian
Cohen who represents the Greens in the NSW
Legislative Council. "He was issued with a summons
earlier this month to appear at Byron Bay Local
Court to answer allegations of assault occasioning
actual bodily harm and common assault following an
investigation by Byron Bay detectives which started
on January 31," a police spokeswoman said. "The
investigation came after a woman contacted police
alleging she was assaulted by a man who she knew on
June 2, 2006.
smh.com.au
Young Shooter targets OS
competition
A 15 year old conservation shooter who honed her
skills on feral animals is set to represent
Australia in Italy. Sophie Henderson, from Port
Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast, will compete
in the World Rimfire Benchrest Championships in
Milan in July. Although she loves the accuracy
involved with the sport in hitting a bullseye she
also likes conservation hunting and realises the
benefits of shooting feral animals for the
environment and agriculture.
"I like shooting feral animals, it's actually pretty
fun. We shoot foxes, goats, all them that are taking
out the native animals and stuff. It's actually good
to knowing that you're taking out a feral animal
that's doing damage to people's farms and stuff like
that."
ABC Country Hour - mp3 audio file
April 26
Despite 200 million guns,
there is a certain tranquility about American life
Deepwater, Missouri has a motto: "A great lil' town
nestled in the heartland." Deepwater considers
itself to be an exemplar of the best of American
life. A place where outsiders - if they ever
penetrated this far - would find home-cooked apple
pie and friendly, warm, hard-working folk. Among
those folk, I have no doubt, is Ronald Long.
Last month Mr Long decided to
install a satellite television system in his
Deepwater home. His efforts to make a hole in the
outside wall came to nothing because Mr Long did not
possess a drill. But he did have a .22 calibre gun.
He fired two shots from the inside of the bedroom.
The second killed his wife who was standing outside.
He will face no charges. The police accept it was an
accident. To many foreigners - and to some Americans
- the tolerance of guns in everyday American life is
simply inexplicable.
"In Montana, we like our
guns... most of us own two or three"
Brian Schweitzer, Governor of Montana
BBC News
April 25
Man sentenced to four and a
quarter years for drug shooting death
A 19-year-old West Australian man who shot dead
another man in an incident linked to a $100 drug
deal will spend at least 15 months in jail. Jack
Benjamin Hall, from Bunbury, in the state's
southeast, was today sentenced to a maximum four
years and three months for the manslaughter of
19-year-old Lawrence Dix. The minimum term was two
years and three months, backdated to when Hall was
taken into custody in April 2007.
Mr Dix was shot in the chest at
his family's Bunbury home in April 2, 2007. The West
Australian Supreme Court was told Hall and three
other men drove to Mr Dix's home after an afternoon
surf intending to collect a $100 debt owed to one of
them.
news.com.au
Group wants wetland
hunting ban in Northern Territory
Members of the Lambells Lagoon Landcare Group want
firearms to be excluded from Lambells Lagoon,
Harrison Dam and Fogg Dam, south-east of Darwin. The
group's David Boehme says residents are calling for
a shooting ban as part of their submission to the
Territory Government's review of park management
plans.
But the Territory's Firearms
Council says hunting and tourism can co-exist, and
there is no need for firearms to be banned .
President Bob Fox says bird tourism is unlikely to
generate as much revenue as hunting and sport
shooting.
ABC Darwin
April 23
Remington to add 100 jobs,
renovate plant
Remington Arms’ plans to renovate its plant and add
jobs could help stabilize the nearly 200-year-old
company’s future in the village and also boost
economic development throughout the Mohawk Valley,
local officials said Sunday. The Remington Arms
plant will add 100 jobs by the end of 2009 and
undergo a multi-million-dollar renovation, said
Morgan Hook, spokesman for Gov. David A. Paterson’s
office. Empire State Development Corp. will provide
a $1.5 million JOBS Now capital grant to the
company, and Remington Arms also will invest more
than $10 million toward the renovation, Hook said.
More than 1,000 people currently work at the Ilion
gun-manufacturing plant, which dates back to the
early 1800s.
Read Story
EU ministers approve
tighter gun control
With the adoption of the European Commission’s
proposal for compulsory and complete marking of
firearms, the EU Ministers of Justice and Home
Affairs have given the green light to reinforce the
fight against organized crime and firearms
trafficking, the press service of the European
Commission informs. According to the information,
the measures will align the pre-existing directive
91/477 on firearms with the so-called “United
Nations Firearms Protocol” to which the Community
acceded in 2001, opening the way towards its
ratification.
Read Story
SA Police to get new Smith
& Wesson semi-auto pistols
South Australia's 2000 frontline police officers
will be armed with semi-automatic handguns from
June. The state-of-the-art Smith & Wesson
M&P (military and police) 40 calibre pistols will be
issued to selected officers before being introduced
to all patrol and operation police.
The trial is not expected to
exceed three months, then the semi-automatic pistol
will replace the ageing .357 Smith & Wesson revolver
as the standard issue police weapon. STAR Group
officers already use semi-automatic weapons because
of their specialist role. The trial involves 350
officers and will start in June. The trial will
later be extended to officers in the far north of
the state, then to the Sturt local service area in
Adelaide.
SAPOL says the Smith & Wesson
MP 40 was selected over its rivals because of its
superior safety features and its compatibility with
weapons used by other Australian police.
AdeliadeNow
Deli thief
returns for change
James William Mellett was heavily intoxicated by
alcohol and methamphetamines when he walked into the
Peterhead shop in October last year. Mellett handed
the female worker a $20 note and asked for
cigarettes, before producing a broken bottle and
demanding money. After being challenged by the
worker's boyfriend, Mellett left the store.
He returned moments later,
asking the woman for his $5 change.
Mellett then wandered the
streets before hailing a taxi and asking to be taken
to Salisbury.
He again used the broken bottle
to threaten the cabbie, escaping with his mobile
phone and $50 - a haul that could have earned him
life in prison. He was arrested soon after at a
nearby hotel.
AdelaideNow
April 22
Shot Down: Gun law study
shows no effect
In the spirit of the 2020
Summit, academics have
released startling new
evidence about the impact of
Australian gun laws, and
argue that future public
policy must differentiate
between what does and does
not work.
In a
new peer-reviewed study, Dr
Samara McPhedran from the
School of Psychology, and
her colleague Dr Jeanine
Baker, who also hold
executive positions in the
International Coalition for
Women in Shooting and
Hunting, show that the
accumulated studies on
Australia's 1996 gun bans
and half billion dollar
'buyback' do not point to an
impact.
The
authors say that this
provides a clearer
foundation for
evidence based policy
development, particularly
within the area of suicide
prevention.
University of Sydney
Policewoman dead in
Brisbane shooting
A Brisbane police officer is dead after a
shooting on the city's southside. Police say the
female officer's death is not suspicious but
have not released any other details at this
stage.
Read Story
Study declares gun control
laws have not reduced firearm deaths
In Tasmania in 1996, Martin Bryant murdered 35
people in what's become known as the Port Arthur
massacre. The killings prompted a tightening of gun
laws with the Federal and State
Governments uniting to remove weapons including
semi-automatic rifles and pump action shotguns from
civilian possession.
The laws are regarded as some
of the strictest in the world and gun control
advocates say they've played a role in reducing the
incidence of firearm related deaths. The former
prime minister, John Howard, regards them as one of
his biggest achievements.
But researchers at the
University of Sydney say otherwise. Dr Samara
McPhedran is a psychologist and a self-described
critic of gun control. Dr McPhedran has authored a
paper which has reviewed existing analyses of the
law's effectiveness.
ABC News
Russian court jails American
pastor for importing hunting ammunition
A court in Moscow has sentenced an American pastor
to three years in prison for bringing hunting
ammunition into Russia. Phillip Miles from North
Carolina was arrested in early February after
customs officials at a Moscow airport said they had
found an undeclared box of rifle ammunition in his
luggage.
Read Story
Laser ban impossible to
enforce
A plan to ban laser pointers in New South Wales has
been labelled as nothing more than a stunt after
Premier Morris Iemma admitted pet owners would have
an excuse for possessing one. Possession of
high-powered laser pointers will be illegal in NSW
without a prohibited weapons permit, and laser
pointers of all strengths will be banned in public
without a reasonable explanation. But Mr Iemma told
the ABC an excuse could be using the pointer to
entertain a pet cat. "A pet would be a reasonable
excuse but having a pet in the house and using it
for the pet and then aiming at a pilot would not
be," he said.
ABC News
April 21
More evidence found of
foxes in Tasmania
More fox droppings have been found in Tasmania. Two
scats taken from Oatlands and Campbell Town last
month have been positively identified as fox
droppings by the University of Canberra. Earlier
this month, DNA tests on six scats determined they'd
come from foxes. Meanwhile, members of the Fox
Eradication Branch are monitoring populations of
eastern barred bandicoots and other species that
could be wiped out by foxes.
ABC News
April 19
Comments 'could have been
perceived as threatening'
A man sparked chaos at the Perth stock exchange
building today after making threats because he was
unhappy with the outcome of a court case. A search
is still underway the 48-year-old man, who police
said made threatening comments in Perth's Federal
Court following the outcome of a hearing in which he
was involved. Police said the man had implied that
he was going to "source a firearm'' but there was no
evidence that he had been carrying a gun.
"He made some comments in the
court that could have been perceived as threatening
to the judge and other people present,'' Insp Beer
said. "He didn't threaten anyone in this building,
it's merely the fact that he was present in the
building and that some comments were made in the
court that could have been perceived as
threatening,'' he said.
news.com.au
April 18
'Siege' at Perth Stock
Exchange building
Police are searching the building housing the Perth
stock exchange, where a man they believe may be
armed is said to be making threats from the roof.
Dozens of armed police have descended on an area of
the Perth CBD, fearing a gunman could be
on the loose. More than 100
workers have been evacuated from the high rise
building at Exchange Plaza in Sherwood Court. One
man said: "I work on the 24th floor and went to go
down to the 23rd to use the coke machine and the
lift went straight down to the ground floor. "The
police were there waiting and told us to get out of
the building. We weren't told why but people who are
still inside the building have heard there is a
gunman inside somewhere.''
news.com.au
Sports stars on drug and
illegal weapon charges
Former Olympian Scott Miller and ex rugby player
Mark Catchpole have been arrested after a police
raid in Sydney and charged with drug and illegal
weapon offences. Miller has been charged with with
two counts of possessing a prescribed substance and
possessing an offensive weapon. Police allege that
Catchpole had 274.86 grams of cannabis, 4.53 grams
of cocaine, ecstasy pills and glass pipes commonly
used to smoke ice and an illegal .32 calibre
revolver loaded with five rounds of ammunition.
news.com.au
The Coorong: Disaster looms
The upper reaches of Coorong National Park, near the
Murray Mouth and Mundoo and Ewe islands, have
transformed into a marine ecosystem from what is
supposed to be a freshwater environment, since the
barrages were closed to hold back River Murray water
in 2006. The water has become so salty that seals
and dolphins, which were once a rare occurrence, are
now spotted weekly by tour operators. Fishermen are
catching Southern Ocean fish such as garfish and
flathead in the sheltered waters. Adelaide
University ornithologist Dan Rogers said the Coorong
had three years, at the most, to survive.
AdelaideNow
Drought is forcing native
animals to seek water in the suburbs
Drought is forcing native animals to search for
water in Adelaide's suburbs, with at least one
sighting of a koala in the metropolitan area
reported to the RSPCA each day. A young adult koala,
likely to be a male, yesterday was unhurt after it
was hit by a car on Jeffcott St, North Adelaide. An
RSPCA spokesperson said more koalas, wombats and
echidnas were seeking water in the suburbs.
AdelaideNow
April 17
Teenager charged with UK
handgun murder
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murder
of 11-year-old Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones who
was shot as he walked home from playing football.
Gary Kayes, 25, and Melvyn Coy, 24, both of Croxteth,
and three youths, aged 15, 16 and 17, are charged
with assisting an offender. The 16-year-old has also
been charged with possessing a firearm. They will
appear before magistrates on Thursday. Rhys was
killed by a gunman on a bicycle in Croxteth Park in
August.
Those charged will appear before Liverpool
Magistrates' Court.
A total of 13 people were
arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday in connection with
the youngster's death. Three people aged 54, 50 and
49, and a 16-year-old youth have been released on
bail pending further inquiries. A 22-year-old man
was also bailed on Tuesday night.
BBC News
April 16
Hip Hop - The Rabbit Is Back
"When 12 pairs of European rabbits were released in
1859 at Winchelsea, about 100 kms southwest of
Melbourne - by wealthy grazier and keen hunter
Thomas Austin - the little breeders thrived.
Domestic rabbits, which had arrived with the first
fleet, had already spread along the continent's
eastern and southern coasts and were also in
Tasmania, but they were never the problem that wild
rabbits proved to be." The story is in the April
2008 edition of Australian Geographic magazine. No
link available.
A new kind of terror -
Britain's youth gangs
Jason Steen isn't an obvious target for
muggers. The 40-year-old heads his own
company advising on mergers and
acquisitions, and usually strides
through life like a Master of the
Universe. This evening, though, he looks
shaken. Two days earlier, he was
accosted outside his central London home
by eight kids — the youngest was 11 —
who punched him to the ground, hustled
him to the nearest cash machine and
forced him to reveal his PIN number.
After a series of attacks in the area,
local residents have gathered in Steen's
apartment to talk to the policeman
handling the case. His advice: "Don't go
out unless you have to."
Staying home in the
face of danger isn't the British way.
After suicide bombings in July 2005,
Londoners continued working and
socializing. Yet a survey by kids'
charity TS Rebel found that last year
more than a fifth of Britons avoided
going out at night rather than risk
encounters with a different form of
terror: groups of children. Britons are
frightened of their own young.
On any given
Saturday night, in any town center
across Britain, it's easy to see why.
"It usually starts outside McDonald's —
that's the hot spot," explains one
London youth. "You might go with one
mate, then you get a phone call. Give it
an hour, there'll be 10 people there,
with nothing to do. Intimidating people
is something to do, a way of getting
kicks. Like, 'Oh my God, did you see how
they ran?' "
time.com
Handcuffed Brisbane man
steals police car
Police are searching for a man who managed to steal
a police car while he was handcuffed as two officers
inspected evidence outside the vehicle. Two
detectives arrested Mark Robert Nolan, 29, at a
residence in Spring Hill, about 10.45am (AEST)
today, in relation to break and enter offences. He
was handcuffed and placed in the back of an unmarked
police car, Deputy Commissioner Ian Stewart told
reporters in Brisbane. "Police then began examining
the contents of a bag found in his possession,'' Mr
Stewart said. "They did that at the rear of the
police car. "During that time, it appears Nolan has
got into the front of the police car and turned the
police car on and driven off in the police car.''
BrisbaneTimes
Darwin Awards Nominee: Man
shoots himself in the groin
A 20-year-old Yakima man accidentally shot
himself in the groin last Sunday morning. It
happened on the 700 block of North 24th
avenue. Police say the man was trying to
conceal a double barrel shotgun in the front
of his pants and accidentally fired it two
times. The gun was found at the home where
the shooting took place. They also found a
second stolen firearm. Hospital staff says
his injuries are not life-threatening.
Neighbors we spoke to say police are usually
seen at the house at least three times a
month. They suspect there is gang activity
taking place inside. They didn't want to
speak on camera out of fear for their
safety. Police are continuing to investigate.
Read Story
April 15
Victoria moves to ban
convertible guns
Guns that can be easily modified to become
lethal semi-automatics will be banned under laws
to go before the Victorian State Parliament
today. Ministers believe some military-style
weapons are being "detuned" abroad to beat
import laws -- then converted back on arrival
here. Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon
will get the power to declare such guns as
category D and E, for use by the military and
police only.
news.com.au
John Howard lists gun
control among his top three achievements
Asked at a function at the George H. W. Bush
presidential library in Texas to name his top three
achievements, John Howard said he started with gun
control. No-one in the Texas audience clapped.
At a Liberal function back in
Australia he told members they needed to keep a
sense of historical perspective about the party's
current woes, out of office federally and in every
state and territory. The former prime minister used
his first Australian speech since he lost government
and his seat to tell a gathering of Queensland
Liberal faithful in Brisbane last night that the
dark days of opposition would pass.
smh.com.au
Armed men escape with
guns and cash in armoured van raid
Two men have escaped with a large amount of cash and
two guns after robbing an armoured van in Sydney's
CBD last night. Police say two men got out of a car
on the corner of Pitt and Hunter streets wearing
balaclavas and armed with guns about 8:40pm. They
approached two of the guards, stole their guns and
cash and left in the car with one or two others.
No-one was injured.
ABC News
April 14
Banning children playing
with toy guns can backfire, study finds
Allowing young boys to play
with toy guns and take part in superhero games can
be good for their development, new research has
found. A zero-tolerance approach to replica guns and
other toy weapons is active in a large number of
nurseries across Scotland and superhero-style play,
where children imitate their favourite film
characters, is also unpopular among staff as it can
lead to fighting and aggression. But Cath
Livingstone, a nursery teacher at Abernethy Primary
School in Perth and Kinross, found that the "ban"
drove the pretend weapons underground, rather than
halt interest in them altogether, and children
became deceitful and broke nursery rules in order to
play their favourite games.
Read Story
April 13
Woman clubbed in
violent home invasion
A woman was hit in the head with an iron bar when
she confronted a burglar in her Hackham home this
morning. The woman woke to find a man in
her Scenic Way home at about 1.30am today (Sunday).
She confronted him, but was hit in the head with an
iron bar.
AdelaideNow
April 12
"Extinct" plants found in far
north
Two plants that were thought
to have been extinct since
the late 1800s have been
rediscovered in far northern
Australia, according to an
official report released on
Saturday. The Queensland
state government's State of
the Environment report said
the two species were found
on Cape York, in tropical
far north Queensland. "The
Rhaphidospora cavernarum,
which is a large herb that
stands about one and a half
meters high, has
reappeared," state climate
change minister Andrew
McNamara told Australian
Broadcasting Corp radio. "It
hasn't been seen in
Queensland since 1873," he
said. The second plant that
has reappeared, another herb
called Teucrium ajugaceum,
was last seen in 1891. The
report was produced from
research by more than 100
academic and government
expert.
Read Story
Gangstas make their way to
Australia
Glamourised in rap songs and
Hollywood movies, America's violent gang culture has
crossed borders and entered Australia. NSW police
this week acknowledged the global reach of American
gangs in dangerously influencing wayward Australian
youth. Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said
police were closely monitoring the trend of
so-called gangs on the internet, which had given
youngsters a new avenue in which to boast and brag.
"The concern for police is the Americanisation of
these young men who are influenced by the criminal
gang culture in the US, by parading themselves and
thumbing their noses at the law," he says.
Known as the gang capital of
America, Los Angeles has spawned the most infamous -
and globally influential - gangs in the US. American
government figures show there were at least 30,000
gangs and 800,000 members active in the US last
year. The number of gang members has grown steadily
over the past five years, up from 731,500 in 2002
and 750,000 in 2004. Gangs are predominantly divided
on racial lines, with members usually belonging to
the same race.
news.com.au
Diamond gets lost on way to China
Gold medallist Michael Diamond failed to hit the
target twice this week and now faces disciplinary
action after missing a crucial pre-Olympic
tournament in Beijing. Diamond, one of Australia's
best gold medal prospects at this year's Olympics,
was embroiled in controversy last night after
failing to make two flights to Beijing to join the
national shooting team. This failure has angered
some officials and Diamond, who will compete at his
fifth Olympics, may have jeopardised his chance of
carrying the Australian flag at the opening ceremony
in August.
Australian International
Shooting chief Nick Sullivan said "To be honest he
left getting his visa to the last minute and when he
arrived to get it, they (the Chinese consulate) had
already closed." Diamond was then re-booked on a
different flight a day later but, according to
Sullivan, "he was driving down to the airport and
got stuck in traffic and missed the flight. It
sounds unbelievable but unfortunately I'm telling
the truth.
"It's very disappointing.
Michael is an exceptional talent, but the issue here
is that he's left it to the last minute." Diamond's
place in the team is secure.
news.com.au
April 11
Boys love Lego and Guns
As a boy, I always wanted to build the baddest,
meanest Lego construction I could. I created monster
trucks, space fighters, mother ships, and James
Bond-style supercars. OK they were just little
plastic blocks but in my imagination they were hyper
advanced technology (like KITT), and always bristled
with exotic super weapons. And now specialist
company Brickarms has an online boutique supplying
custom weaponry for LEGO minifigs. They offer both
historical weapons as well as fantastic ones, like
this M41A Pulse Rifle used the Colonial Space
Marines. Even better, they're all cheap—about a
dollar apiece.
Read Story
April 10
A lightweight mindset on
firearms
Just as the sign of the cross tends to
discombobulate vampires, stopping them in their
tracks, equivalent creatures - such as the
hysterically paranoid, anti-personal-responsibility
fraternity - go completely apoplectic and phobic at
the sight of an autonomous citizen armed with the
"great equaliser"of a firearm. This hysteria has
been reawakened in many with the recent death of
Charlton Heston. Much has been made of his
affiliation with the National Rifle Association,
muddying the memory of a man who was a great actor
and activist.
"Kill the gun culture", scream
the historically ignorant. Our political betters
have signed on for the responsibility of "taking
care " of us and all they ask in return is that we
surrender the devices they seek to employ
unilaterally – and that we are loyal to whatever
they want to do with our lives, fortunes and sacred
honour. But have you observed, that when danger
threatens you and your family, the police are always
someplace else?
news.com.au
Sydney Police find cash and
guns in drug raids
Police have made more arrests as part of an
investigation into a multi-million dollar cocaine
importation and distribution syndicate in Sydney.
Operation Schoale is a joint task force comprised of
officers from the NSW Police Force’s Special Crime
Unit and the NSW Crime Commission. Since December
2006 the task force has investigated a syndicate
involved in the alleged importation and distribution
of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Los
Angeles, USA. In just over 12 months officers have
arrested 12 people and seized approximately $20
million in cash, $5 million in assets, large
commercial quantities of high-grade cocaine and 17
firearms, including a machine pistol, military
rifles and a gold-plated .357 magnum.
Read Story
British fears over China's
2012 London Games 'gun guards'
The Olympic flame fiasco has ignited a
row over foreign security services helping to police
the 2012 Olympics, the Evening Standard can reveal.
As alarm grew over the Chinese guards who
accompanied the torch through London it emerged
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has
approved a plan to hand over some of London's
Olympic security to visiting countries. Although a
final decision has yet to be made,it is understood
police officers from abroad accompanying their own
teams may be allowed to carry guns.
Australia's prime minister
Kevin Rudd said that the Chinese would not provide
security when the torch is relayed through Canberra.
At a joint press conference in Downing Street after
talks with Gordon Brown yesterday he said: "We will
not be having Chinese security forces or Chinese
security services providing security for the torch
when it is in Australia." He added pointedly: "We,
Australia, are providing that security."
Read Story
'Assault rifle' found in
Victorian drug raid
An alleged drug trafficker had access to a stash of
firearms including a Mini-14 assault rifle, a court
heard yesterday. The Ballarat Magistrates Court
heard Clifford Formosa, 32, legally owned numerous
weapons he used for hunting, and the only fire-arm
seized by police which he did not have a licence for
was a loaded pistol allegedly found in Formosa's
bedside drawer during drug raids in Ballarat last
month. Formosa, of Snake Valley, was charged with 13
offences following the raids, including trafficking
a large commercial quantity of drugs. He is accused
of trafficking speed, ecstasy and ice and was
described by police as the "focal point" for the
Ballarat drug syndicate.
Read Story
April 9
Police 'terror' swoop on
radio reporter
A BBC radio reporter was held to the
ground and searched by police under the Terrorism
Act after his transmitter equipment was mistaken for
a bomb. Five officers forced BBC Radio Stoke's Max
Khan to his knees and held him face down in
Stoke-on-Trent on Monday. He was wearing a backpack
with protruding wires and aerials. Staffordshire
Police have apologised. Earlier this year armed
police tackled a man in the city after fearing his
MP3 player was a gun.
Read Story
A Brit of the Left offers
a '21–gun salute for Charlton Heston'
Hollywood liberals demonised
the screen idol for his pro-gun opinions but they
were wrong.
Charlton Heston's obituarists worry that his acting
career might be “overshadowed” by his controversial
stance against gun control. Let's hope so. Most of
Heston's movie roles were as stiff as his chiselled
jaw. But his rock-like defence of the right to bear
arms was worthy of an award.
I say this not as a right-wing
Republican, but as a Brit of the Left. Hollywood
liberals demonised the man who was Moses for his
pro-gun views. But that only shows how illiberal
they have become. Anybody who retains enough liberal
spirit to believe in individual freedom as the basis
for a civilised society ought to have stood at
Heston's right hand on this issue.
timesonline.co.uk
April 8
Rampage boy on robbery
charge
Police arrested five males, aged 14, 15
and 16, all from Sydney's west, over the
raid on Merrylands High School yesterday
morning. One of them, a 15-year-old
Granville High School student from
Merrylands, was on bail over charges
relating to two armed robberies last
Wednesday. His father had put up $500 as
surety which he will now forfeit.
The provisions in
his bail had included a strict "go to
school" clause, and requirements to
remain at home when not at school, and
answer the door whenever police called.
Early last year Granville High School
was rocked by a scandal involving a race
hate video showing students of the
school holding firearms and displaying
cash. It came only months after a
pornography scandal involving a teacher
and a group of year 11 students.
smh.com.au
Man jailed over police
chopper laser incident
A man who deliberately shone a laser light at a
police helicopter has been sentenced to nearly three
years in jail. Lanfranco Baldetti, 23, pleaded
guilty to prejudicing the safe operation of an
aircraft and to firearms offences over weapons found
in a car. He admitted shining the laser at police as
the helicopter flew over Rosewater in Adelaide last
June. He has been given a jail term of two years and
10 months and will be eligible for release in 10
months.
ABC News
April 7
Police union backs breath
test fraud
The police union has openly encouraged its members
to keep faking random breath tests to meet
"impossible" targets. At the same time
efforts to track down police faking the tests have
been scrapped because the police service does not
have the resources despite an official investigation
into the practice. The practice has probably skewed
drink-driving statistics for years, hiding the size
of the problem, and led police and the Crime and
Misconduct Commission to set up an investigation.
However, after uncovering "deficiencies" in police
records and questioning some data, the investigation
was wrapped up due to lack of resources even as some
regions upped their targets.
news.com.au
Policeman loses Taser during
call-out
A Taser lost during a police operation at Kelvin
Grove has been handed into Mount Gravatt police
station this morning. It is understood the
Taser was found at Eight Mile Plains on Brisbane's
southside and taken to the station following media
reports about the missing stun gun. A Central police
district duty officer was carrying the Taser on his
accoutrement belt when he arrived at a house in
Broadhurst Street to investigate a disturbance about
8:30am yesterday. Police had previously investigated
weapons offences at the property, and were following
up reports of a man armed with a fence paling who
was smashing bottles and generally behaving
violently. Four people were detained there but when
the officer returned to his station, the Taser was
missing - despite not having been removed from its
holster during the job.
news.com.au
UK considers teens'
military cadet plan
School children in Britain could soon be
signing up for controversial lessons in
military drills and weapons training.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is
reportedly backing the plan, which aims
to improve links between the public and
armed forces. The plan has been drawn up
after a review of the military's role in
British society found that encouraging
high school pupils to join the country's
cadet corps could help improve
discipline among teenagers, and improve
attitudes towards the army, navy and air
force.
news.smh.com.au
April 6
Pro-gun lobbyist and
former NRA President, Charlton Heston, dies
Charlton Heston, who won a best actor Oscar for his starring role in the epic
Ben Hur has died, a spokesman for the star's family has said. Heston died on
Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife
Lydia, whom he married in 1944, at his side. Heston
also portrayed Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic
figures in movie epics of the 1950s and 1960s.
Charlton Heston stepped down as
president of US gun lobby,
the
National Rifle
Association (NRA), in
2003, citing ill-health.
The previous year, he
had revealed he had
symptoms consistent with
Alzheimer's disease. He
was born John Charles
Carter in Evanston,
Illinois.
BBC News
A cutting satire on gun
control
With the recent tragic and preventable
stabbing in an Arizona mall, our
lawmakers must act immediately and
prohibit the sale and private ownership
of knives. Knives must be turned into
local law agencies. Cash incentives may
have to be offered to encourage owners
to turn them in. As Illinois is one of
the last two states to prohibit the
carrying of concealed guns, it should be
the first to proudly enact the law
prohibiting the ownership and carrying
of concealed knives.
However, knives will never
be totally eliminated from
the streets. There are knife
manufacturers throughout the
world that will continue to
sell them. We must promote
the words of those who claim
to know the solution to
crime -- "Knives are evil
and they kill people" and
"Ban the knives to save our
lives."
Read Story
Release of the Draft
Australian Code for the Transport of Explosives by
Road and Rail, third edition, for Public Comment
The Australian Forum of Explosives Regulators (AFER)
Chairman, Mr Drew Wagner, announced today the
release of the draft
Australian Code for the Transport of Explosives
by Road and Rail, Third Edition
(Australian
Explosives Code) for public comment. "The Australian
Explosives Code has been revised to update the
technical provisions and operational content,
including the listing of explosives," Mr Wagner
said. "I encourage stakeholders to engage in this
public comment process and provide their feedback on
the draft code.
"The purpose of the
Australian Explosives
Code is to regulate the
land transport of
explosives by road and
rail in Australia. It
aims to ensure the
safety of the community
from activities
associated with the
transport of explosives,
largely preventing and
reducing the incidence
of risks. "It is hoped
that the revised
Australian Explosives
Code will assist in
enhancing the level of
consistency in its
application across the
jurisdictions. The
amendments also address
industry’s concerns as
well as security matters
relating to the
transport of explosives.
Media Release
April 5
'Eddie Eagle Gunsafe' helps
educate kids
Founded in 1988, The Eddie Eagle GunSafe
groundbreaking, gun-accident prevention program has
reached more than 21 million children — in all 50
states. This program was developed through the
combined efforts of such qualified professionals as
clinical psychologists, reading specialists,
teachers, curriculum specialists, urban housing
safety officials and law enforcement personnel.
“The steady decline in the
number of firearm-related accidents among young
children since the launch of the Eddie Eagle program
is a testament to the program’s effectiveness, and
to the 21 million children we’ve been able to
reach,” said Kayne Robinson, Executive of NRA
General Operations. “The history of this program is
filled with stories of children who have avoided
firearm accidents because they were exposed to Eddie
Eagle’s life-saving message.”
Read Story
Rise in police firearms
use
The number of police operations in Suffolk in which
firearms were authorised has soared by almost 60 per
cent in five years, it has emerged. Sightings of BB
guns or replica weapons are thought to be one of the
main causes of the rise, which is revealed in latest
Home Office figures.
Read Story
Japanese man arrested
for selling firearms
Police Friday arrested a Japanese man who was wanted
for illegally producing and selling firearms to
gangs in Japan and fled to Thailand four years ago.
Sakoshi Onoda, 54, was arrested in his rented
apartment in Soi Ram Intra 5 in Bangkok's Bang Khen
district along with two guns, ammunition,
electric-shock devices, samurai swords and
blueprints for the production of pen guns.
Read Story
Off-duty police officer
Tasered in Perth
An off-duty police officer has been shot with a
Taser stun gun by fellow officers after becoming
involved in a fight with them in Perth's
entertainment district. Two women complained to
officers patrolling James Street in Northbridge
early this morning that they were being harassed by
a group of people. As the officers took their
details, an off-duty sergeant was standing with a
group of men nearby. Police allege the off-duty
sergeant then pushed one of the officers in the
chest, hit another in the face and dragged him to
the ground in a headlock. Another officer then used
a Taser gun to subdue him.
news.com.au
April 4
Politician proposes toad
hunt
A Queensland politician has proposed designating a special day
for residents to hunt and kill what he called one of the world's most disgusting
creatures: the poisonous cane toad. The toads were imported from South
America to Australia's northeastern state of
Queensland in 1935 in a failed attempt to control
beetles on sugar cane plantations. They now threaten
many local species. The RSPCA has said it backs the
plan by Queensland state lawmaker Shane Knuth to
launch "Toad Day Out," but only if the creatures are
killed in a humane way, such as euthanizing them in
a freezer.
Read Story
Interview with Steven Levitt,
coauthor of Freakonomics
On Saturday, the first ever
victim of a shooting on a Toronto subway train was a
young woman who was shot during a fight with three
men at Spadina station. Our hearts go out to the
victim. Every unjust loss of life is a tragedy.
Though, if past incidents like this are any
indication, lawmakers and advocacy groups will
inevitably, indignantly and reflexively turn to
gun-control laws to attempt to solve the problem,
and by doing so, endeavor to quell our collect
guilty consciences. Steven Levitt, a professor of
economics at the University of Chicago, would have
us give such an approach a second thought. Levitt
maintains that gun-control laws do very little — or
are counterproductive. I met with Levitt last week
on his visit to Toronto’s York University, before an
event hosted by the Atkinson Students Association,
where he spoke about his best-selling book,
Freakonomics.
Read Story
Legislative Council -
Wednesday, 2 April 2008, Page 2251
FIREARMS (FIREARMS
PROHIBITION ORDERS) AMENDMENT BILL
The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (21:11): I
rise to indicate that we have a number of questions,
as does the Hon. Mr Ridgeway, with respect to this
bill. In fact, the Hon. Mr Ridgeway pre-empted a lot
of what I am about to say. We have similar questions
and concerns that we would like to have addressed by
the minister in the summing-up stage, but I will
proceed with some of the specifics.
The bill introduces firearms
prohibition orders into South Australia, giving
police the power to ban certain persons, and their
associates, from possessing or accessing firearms.
Family First will wholly support any efforts made to
combat outlaw bikie club-related crime, but
legislation must be written in such a way that
legitimate users of firearms (such as sporting
shooters and farmers) are not unfairly treated.
Unfortunately, this bill makes
several sweeping generalisations in its changes to
current law, with legitimate users of firearms
lumped in with those who use firearms for criminal
purposes. That should not be the case, and for that
reason there are aspects which Family First, at this
stage, will oppose in the committee stage unless
amendments are presented to alter the bill as it
stands.
The plain fact is that outlaw
bikie gangs operate (as the term suggests) outside
of the law, and the firearms that they possess are
often illegal firearms. Further regulation on the
activity of owning a firearm will therefore
disproportionately impact the law-abiding members of
the community who operate within the law. The
problem is that, if the law is introduced to
regulate the use of firearms, the only people who
will obey that law are people who are law-abiding
citizens. Ironically, they are not those to whom
such laws are directed.
Recent Australian Institute of
Criminology data, in a report entitled 'Firearms
Theft in Australia 2005-06', notes that 198 guns
were stolen in South Australia in the 12 months to
June 2006: approximately 100 rifles, about 65 shot
guns and 15 hand guns. Police recovered only 3 per
cent of those weapons. These weapons cannot be
regulated. These are the weapons that are winding up
in the hands of outlaw bikie gangs and other
criminal elements. They are not ending up in the
hands of sporting shooters, legitimate farmers or
others who have legitimate reasons to hold a
firearm.
Full speech
April 3
Wild camel population:
one million and doubling every eight years
A scientist working with the
Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre in
Alice Springs says central Australia's feral camel
population is wreaking havoc in wetlands and around
water holes. Glenn Edwards says the problem is of
such a scale that culling the animals must at least
be considered as an option. Mr Edwards says the
feral camel population is estimated to be about 1
million and is doubling every eight years. Northern
Territory Parks and Wildlife is putting together a
feral camel management plan to assess the impact of
feral camels on the environment, pastoralists and
communities.
ABC News
April 2
Shooter claims search warrant
was obtained illegally
A National Parks and Wildlife vermin controller was
yesterday convicted of keeping unsecured firearms on
premises his wife used for child family day care.
The Ipswich Magistrate's Court was told Larry Marcus
Smith claimed he had the two guns out for cleaning
when police raided and searched his Camira home,
27km southwest of Brisbane, on March 27.
Barrister Michael Nolan, for
Smith, said his client had been cleaning the guns in
preparation for a trip to Tasmania to take part in a
vermin cull in two weeks time. A copy of the warrant
he supplied does reveal police had obtained a
warrant to search his house for the illicit drug
methamphetamines - none of which were found on the
premises. However, Smith yesterday pleaded guilty to
one count of failing to properly secure a firearm.
Mr
Smith claimed Queensland
police had been obtained
search warrants based on
crimes that think the
recipient will commit.
Several search warrants
obtained by The
Courier-Mail have been
authorised by a Goodna
Justice of the Peace
based on crimes that
police allege occurred a
day after the warrants
were written.
news.com.au
April 1
Gun activist accused of
vilifying gays
Controversial gun lobbyist Ron
Owen is being sued by a group of lesbians who allege
he has breached the Anti-Discrimination Act by
publicly vilifying gay people. Ron Owen is the
proprietor of a gun shop in Gympie and is a former
president of the National Firearm Owners of
Australia and publisher of ultra right-wing
pro-militia magazine Lock Stock & Barrel.
Never one to hide his political
incorrectness, Mr Owen has sparked controversy over
the years for an allegedly anti-gay stance dating to
when he was at the forefront of volatile protests
against the 1997 national gun buyback scheme, in the
wake of the Port Arthur massacre.
The case, set for hearing from
Thursday, could have landmark repercussions based on
Mr Owen's use of the Bible, the Koran and the Jewish
Torah for his defence, along with a "freedom of
speech" defence. (It) is being brought by Rachelle
Menzies, Tina Coutts, Rhonda Bruce, Sue Turner and
lesbian group "Women 2 Women" through Brisbane's
Caxton Legal Centre.
news.com.au
Canberra kangaroo cull put on
hold
Plans to slaughter 400 kangaroos living on an
abandoned military site near the capital of
Australia have been put on hold due to public
opposition, the Defense Department said Monday.
Instead, the department said it has asked the local
government to consider moving the animals — which
have been blamed for ruining the habitat of rare
lizards and insects — to another site. A report
released earlier this month recommended the
immediate slaughter of the animals to protect
lowland native grasslands and threatened species,
and said relocating them would be inhumane.
Scientists say eastern gray kangaroos are abundant
and are destroying the native grassland of
threatened species like the grassland earless dragon
and the striped legless lizard.
news.yahoo.com
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