[cuchulainn]

Imagine that, criminals see illegal items as status symbols :rolleyes:


from the Daily Telegraph

'Wearing guns like jewellery'
By ANGELA KAMPER Police Reporter
08jan03
THE sickening sight depicted on the front page of todays's Daily Telegraph takes place at least two times a day. An elderly man merely buying a newspaper in broad daylight at a convenience store becomes a victim – a gun put to his back.

His attacker, brazenly refusing to wear a mask or disguise, is among the hard core of illegal gun-owning criminals subjecting Sydney to robberies using a firearm.

The boldness of the attack has prompted senior police to warn that handguns now are carried "like jewellery" by criminals.

The 60-year-old victim of this criminal act told The Daily Telegraph that he had simply walked into the 7-Eleven store in Newtown in the middle of the day to buy a newspaper – and had a gun pressed against his shoulder as the store attendant handed the money over from the till.

"I was confused and in shock and I thought I was going to die before covering my eyes," the victim later told Newtown detectives.

The man is one example of more than two armed hold-ups with a firearm across NSW each day.

Robbery and serious crime squad commander Superintendent Bob Inkster said the victims such as the customer and store attendant are being forgotten because of the frequency of attacks.

"Many of these offenders are wearing firearms as though they were a piece of jewellery," he said.

Armed robbery with a firearm has escalated by 34 per cent in the most recent figures provided by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, with 880 offences during 2001.

Supt Inkster believes the 2002 statistics to be released in March this year will be higher.

"An armed robbery used to make the front page of the newspaper," he said. "There are so many robberies now that they are no longer of interest."

The brazen attack, which involved two other offenders at the 7-Eleven on King St, took place at 12.30pm on Friday, December 27.

The three men of islander appearance burst into the store. The one armed with the pistol pointed it at the store attendant before pushing the customer towards the counter and demanding the day's takings from the till.

Customers attempting to walk in off the street were held back by the other bandits who were not masked during the entire hold-up.

"Customers were walking in and they were turning them away, telling them there was the armed hold-up taking place," Detective Inspector Ian Lynch, from Newtown police, said.

"They are not known to police and we are hoping someone will recognise them and come forward," he said.

"Police are concerned because of the brazen nature of the offence and the fact that the offender has held a customer in the store and threatened him while the attendant opened the cash register."

A Sydney psychologist said such attacks on victims can last for several years with acute post traumatic stress turning into chronic post traumatic stress disorder.

"Most commonly there is a belief they are going to die," clinical psychologist and occupational rehabilitation provider Greta Goldberg said.

"That feeling can be triggered by something that reminds them of the incident."

The three offenders have been described as having an islander appearance. The first man holding the gun is 180cm tall, aged in his mid-20s, of medium build and with clean shaven head and a goatee beard.

The second man is 175 cm tall in his mid-20s, overweight with short hair, wearing a yellow jumper with black zipper and cream pants.

The third male is described as obese, 175cm tall in his mid-20s with a shaved head, wearing a white singlet, blue pants and a white shirt.

Anyone with information should contact Newtown police on 9550 8199 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

© Mirror Australian Telegraph Publications

[Ian]

"Most commonly there is a belief they are going to die," clinical psychologist and occupational rehabilitation provider Greta Goldberg said.

I think the most effective remedy for this sort of thing is being able to have a hand in your fate. By wearing a gun (like jewelry, if needed).

[Standing Wolf]

Quote: "An armed robbery used to make the front page of the newspaper," he said. "There are so many robberies now that they are no longer of interest."

Except to the victims, of course.

[Bruce in West Oz]

Coupla points:

1. Look at the photo. See the way the handgun is being held? Gee -- guess where this idiot learnt his gun handling.
HINT:
• A legitimate gun club?
• A "gangsta" movie?
• A rap music video?

But the Federal government's response is to ban 500 handgun types owned by legitimate sporting shooters! Yep, that'll help all right.

2. A Sydney psychologist said such attacks on victims can last for several years with acute post traumatic stress turning into chronic post traumatic stress disorder.

Oh, crap!!! :cuss: If there were fewer counsellors, there'd be less of a damned need for them! They are a classic case of "creating a need where none existed".:fire:

Bruce

[Tamara]

'Wearing guns like jewellery'

Only when I go to parties; then I try to carry a nice gun in a purty holster. My best pocketknives, too. :D

[sixgun_symphony]

Jewelry?

I got a .31 caliber vest pocket derringer that is jewelry. I had a local smith put a small lanyard eyelet to the butt so I could use it as a fob for other end of the chain to my pocket watch.

Until I get a digital camera, I will have to use this picture.

http://gideongunsales.com/TraditnsPistolDerringer.JPG

Yes it is loaded.

[Shootin' Buddy]

I wear an old arrowhead necklace sometimes. Does that count?

[Atticus]

"The three offenders have been described as having an islander appearance. "

What does that mean???

[JoshM]

"The three offenders have been described as having an islander appearance. "

Probably Maori, Samoan, or Tongan. Sydney has a large Pacific Island community

[Bruce in West Oz]

Sixgun_Symphony (love the name! :) )

I got a .31 caliber vest pocket derringer that is jewelry.

Possession/carriage of that would get you anything up to 14 years prison time in most States of Australia! :uhoh:

Bruce

[Deadman]

' Armed robbery with a firearm has escalated by 34 per cent in the most recent figures provided by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, with 880 offences during 2001. '

Add to that, the fact that NSW police are apparently responding to/investigating less cases of armed robbery than previous years.

So not only have the sheople of NSW given up alot of their freedoms, but now they don't even have any worthwhile element of security either.....

[sm]

Nice to see the legislation and restrictions working so well.

-Can't defend oneself-against BG's or the Gov't
-Gov't can't understand BG's don't obey restrictions--and don't bust the BG's
-Citizens easier to bust by Gov't since defensless and easier to do so.
<sarcasm off>

I don't wear jewellery, only a watch.
I do wear a gun,

[WilderBill]

Hey Bruce, it looks like they will leave you alone as long as you are only carrying for the purpose of armed robbery.;)

[Bruce in West Oz]

:evil: :evil: :evil:

Bruce

[Don Gwinn]

http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,229054,00.jpg

[Don Gwinn]

Imports make mockery of gun ban
By KARA LAWRENCE Police Reporter
09jan03
TWO thousand Beretta handguns have been imported into Australia for sale – including several Beretta models soon to be outlawed.

Beretta Australia imported 2000 of the Italian-made handguns into Melbourne last week, including several models to be on the nationally banned list as of June 30 – including the models 8000 Cougar, 87 Cheetah and 81 .32 calibre.

Beretta Australia head Luca Scribani Rossi said he had not taken any major orders from NSW Beretta dealers for the new batch – but said he would sell them before the mid-year buy-back if he had any takers.

He said he made the orders for the guns in May 2002 – well before any buy-back was mentioned – and that Australian Customs approved their delivery into Australia in mid-December.

It was still legal to sell them at this point and he needed to recover his expenditure.

"I can't say I won't sell them," he said.

Police Minister Michael Costa attacked the importation, and the Federal Government for allowing it.

"It makes no sense for the Federal Government to be involved in the process of buying back handguns and at the same time allowing the importation of the very handguns that are going to be bought back in six months time," said Mr Costa.

The national buy-back of handguns will begin next July at an estimated cost of $100 million with more than 300 types of handguns will be covered by the ban.

In another major development on the growing problem of firearms, NSW Police's ability to fight handgun trafficking faces a major blow as a legal challenge is mounted to their powers to charge inter-state traffickers.

In what will be a test case, a Queensland gun dealer charged under NSW firearms laws is appealing in the Queensland Supreme Court to have a charge of illegally selling a firearm dropped.

Redbank gun dealer Howard Mervin Weston, who also runs gun expositions in Brisbane, was arrested as part of an 18-month investigation codenamed Talamanca.

The operation, focusing largely on the trafficking of guns between NSW and Queensland, lasted 18 months and was run by the NSW Police Firearms and Regulated Industries unit.

Police allege Weston offered to sell an undercover NSW police officer four Browning semi-automatic pistols. The offence allegedly occurred between August 17 and November 4, in Southport and Brisbane.

NSW Police allege Weston offered the weapons to the undercover officer without requiring him to have a gun licence or show him a weapons permit. They also allege he made the offer with the knowledge the weapons would enter NSW.

A Brisbane magistrate on November 19 approved a warrant of apprehension seeking Weston's extradition to face Burwood Local Court in Sydney on December 19.

He was to face a charge of illegally selling a firearm. However, Weston appealed the extradition to the Queensland Supreme Court, and was subsequently granted bail.

NSW Firearms and Regulated Industries commander, Detective Acting Superintendent John Kerlatec said the ability of NSW police to tackle the problem of illegal firearms coming in from Queensland would hinge around the case.

He said the case would revolve around whether recent changes to the Crimes Act which dictated that an offence committed interstate that affected the good governance of NSW could be prosecuted in NSW.

"We're obviously very interested and keen for a positive outcome for us, as it affects a number of investigations we have conducted and still have before the court," he said.

"It is important that we be able to work closely with our interstate police and utilise our legislation for the purpose it was intended," he said.


POLICE MINISTER MISSING IN ACTION
COMMENT By MARK SKELSEY

POLICE Minister Michael Costa prides himself as an "up-and-at-em" style police minister who jumps into the trenches to crack down on unruly protesters or hooligans wandering the streets.

But on gun control, he's been a bit like a petrified tenderfoot soldier who's decided to go AWOL as enemy troops advance.

As people across NSW are witnessing terrifying gun-related crimes, Mr Costa has been "missing in action".

As NSW Police Minister he should be working tirelessly to find solutions to this problem. Instead, he's the minister for "blaming the Federal Government".

For most of last year, and now this year, Mr Costa's blaming the Federal Government for all gun problems because it fails to inspect enough international freight containers.

A fair point except that it's the only real point that Mr Costa has been making on the issue.

When it comes to possible handgun bans and other anti-gun measures, Mr Costa has been tap-dancing around the subject like a drunken Spanish gypsy.

In The Daily Telegraph on July 16 last year, he opposed a blanket ban on existing semi-automatic handguns, saying they were not behind the crime problem.

Yet a month before, he told Parliament that in fact lawful firearms could be used by criminals.

"It is true that weapons that were obtained legally sometimes end up in the hands of criminals and are used for illegal purposes," he said.

Then Mr Costa went on to openly support the sporting shooter movement.

"I have great respect for the law-abiding members of the gun-owning community and I have met a number of them," he said.

"They have a legitimate right to own firearms and to use them lawfully in pursuit of their sport.

"Many of them are passionate about their sport."

Along with Premier Bob Carr and Fisheries Minister Eddie Obeid, he attended the 10th birthday celebrations of the Shooters Party in June last year, which helped raising several hundred dollars for the party's election campaign.

Mr Costa has been publicly associated with some anti-gun measures – such as firearm sniffing dogs and new laws to treat juvenile gun offenders as adults before the courts.

But he's lacked conviction on the issue.

Mr Costa's performance over the past year has been a bit the central character in that old play the "Chocolate Soldier".

In this play, a professional soldier collects his pay cheque but only carries chocolate, not guns, as his weaponry and wanders around the battlefield doing nothing.

On the issue of guns, we can't afford to have Michael Costa being NSW's Chocolate Soldier.

After a tortuous debate, about 20 per cent of handguns were banned by all States in December last year in a result which seemed to satisfy no-one.

[Leatherneck]

Well, it's pretty clear why we have Australian lamb on sale at the supermarket. Oversupply is driving the price down. :mad:
TC
TFL Survivor

[ReadyontheRight]

Jeez. They oughta pass some gun control laws down there.:rolleyes:

[islander-11]

Quote from the article: "The three men of islander appearance burst into the store."

Hey! I resemble that remark!

As the bumper sticker says, "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."

Or should that be, ""When guns are outlawed, only islanders will have guns."
:cool:

[Bruce in West Oz]

Leatherneck

Well, it's pretty clear why we have Australian lamb on sale at the supermarket. Oversupply is driving the price down.

I know you were referring to sheeple, but it just reminded me .........

My sis-in-law is married to an American; they live in OR. (But don't worry -- he's a conservative, Christian gun-owner with a CCW permit -- I like him :p )

Anyways, she was here in Perth over Christmas with her two daughters. Just about all they wanted to eat was Aussie lamb. They can buy it in OR -- but a leg was costing them $25 - $30USD. I had a freezer-load waiting here for them, that I paid, on average, $6 -$7USD for. :D

Oh .... they also raided the Vegemite supplies and made big dents in the local supermarket stocks of Violet Crumble bars, Tim Tams, Peters Ice-cream and Cherry Ripes. (Sue found a place in Portland that sells the chocolate bars, but the prices were horrific and most of them were on or near their "use by" date.)

As for the "comment" by Mark Skelsey in the newspaper report:

When it comes to possible handgun bans and other anti-gun measures, Mr Costa has been tap-dancing around the subject like a drunken Spanish gypsy.

Not only is he a hoplophobe, he's a racist as well. At least, that's the way my letter to the editor will be painting him. :evil:

And I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if he finds himself the subject of a racial discrimination complaint from Australia's Spanish community. You can say what you like about us redneck gunowners -- but you can't have a go at other nationalities!!

Bruce

[Guy B. Meredith]

Bruce,

Could I get you to send a Care package with a quart bottle of Vegemite? The stuff's sold at outrageous prices here. I have seen Violet Crumble bars for as low as $.49 US, but usually more.

One of the few reasons I wouldn't move closer to my wife's family in the Sydney area is the firearms laws another is that her family is bigoted. Otherwise it would be a grand lark.

[JoeSF]

Unless you live in a city the response time to a 911 call is fairly long. The odds of a criminal being shot by a person defending their home are a lot greater than being shot by the police if the criminal is confronted. A home defender is not worried about paperwork, procedure, losing the job etc. when his life is threatened. So gun control has made it a lot safer for criminals. Even after being caught they can be on the streets again soon. The real risk for the criminal is gone when the public is disarmed.

[Bainx]

Wearing guns like jewelry.

You could say that the G30 is my neck chain
The snubbie is my wrist watch and,
The P32 is my ring:D