WillBrink
10-09-09, 09:20
As usual criminals, as always, have no problems getting guns. It's only the law abiding who are prevented from protecting themselves. I'm always amazed how little people from places like the UK, Aus, and others know about their own crime rates, and act like they know anything about ours...From "gun free" Australia:
Guns hold Sydney hostage
The Daily Telegraph October 05, 2009 12:00AM
Sydney shootings ... getting worse. Source: The Daily Telegraph
GUN violence is so out of control there are three shootings a week in Sydney and neighbourhoods are living in fear.
The city's shooting capital is Fairfield, with 34 shootings and drive-bys in just two years to the end of June.
Exclusive statistics from the Bureau of Crime Statistics show there were 157 drive-by and illegal shootings between July 2008 and the end of June, up from 129 the year before.
Police investigated 29 shootings in the Blacktown local government area, 25 in Bankstown, 24 in Auburn and 20 in Liverpool. There were even 11 shootings in the heart of the city.
Opposition police spokesman Mike Gallacher said NSW was awash with handguns, which were being imported from overseas and then traded on Sydney streets.
"Criminals are getting their hands on illegally imported firearms," he said last night.
A frightening array of guns have been seized in the past month, including a .357 Magnum handgun and a .22 shortened rifle with silencer.
In one raid on September 9, police officers managed to seize five Colt M16 assault rifles, three Colt AR15 assault rifles, three 9mm assault rifles, a tactical assault rifle and seven 9mm handguns at Rosebery.
The last shooting victim was a 34-year-old Auburn man wounded in the shoulder six days ago in Sydney.
Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research chief Don Weatherburn blamed the spike in shootings on a sudden rise in bikie-related drive-bys towards the end of late last year.
He added that the number of shootings had since stabilised.
The latest drive-by shooting was just two weeks ago at Smithfield, with a family at home when their house was shot at.
Truck driver Bob Knight was an innocent victim caught in the crossfire in June when shot dead by a stray bullet from a gunfight that took place in Milperra.
"I actually feel sorry for people that live in Sydney, people that lived near it wrote to us saying `It could have been my house'," Mr Knight's son David said yesterday.
"I like to hope if something comes out of this for Dad that the Government or the police actually realise what is going on."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/guns-hold-sydney-hostage/story-e6freuy9-1225782701247
Guns hold Sydney hostage
The Daily Telegraph October 05, 2009 12:00AM
Sydney shootings ... getting worse. Source: The Daily Telegraph
GUN violence is so out of control there are three shootings a week in Sydney and neighbourhoods are living in fear.
The city's shooting capital is Fairfield, with 34 shootings and drive-bys in just two years to the end of June.
Exclusive statistics from the Bureau of Crime Statistics show there were 157 drive-by and illegal shootings between July 2008 and the end of June, up from 129 the year before.
Police investigated 29 shootings in the Blacktown local government area, 25 in Bankstown, 24 in Auburn and 20 in Liverpool. There were even 11 shootings in the heart of the city.
Opposition police spokesman Mike Gallacher said NSW was awash with handguns, which were being imported from overseas and then traded on Sydney streets.
"Criminals are getting their hands on illegally imported firearms," he said last night.
A frightening array of guns have been seized in the past month, including a .357 Magnum handgun and a .22 shortened rifle with silencer.
In one raid on September 9, police officers managed to seize five Colt M16 assault rifles, three Colt AR15 assault rifles, three 9mm assault rifles, a tactical assault rifle and seven 9mm handguns at Rosebery.
The last shooting victim was a 34-year-old Auburn man wounded in the shoulder six days ago in Sydney.
Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research chief Don Weatherburn blamed the spike in shootings on a sudden rise in bikie-related drive-bys towards the end of late last year.
He added that the number of shootings had since stabilised.
The latest drive-by shooting was just two weeks ago at Smithfield, with a family at home when their house was shot at.
Truck driver Bob Knight was an innocent victim caught in the crossfire in June when shot dead by a stray bullet from a gunfight that took place in Milperra.
"I actually feel sorry for people that live in Sydney, people that lived near it wrote to us saying `It could have been my house'," Mr Knight's son David said yesterday.
"I like to hope if something comes out of this for Dad that the Government or the police actually realise what is going on."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/guns-hold-sydney-hostage/story-e6freuy9-1225782701247