cuchulainn
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from the Daily Telegraph
http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6504750%5E701,00.html
http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6504750%5E701,00.html
Every second day, somebody is shot in Sydney
28may03
A SHOOTING occurs every second day on Sydney's streets.
Since the end of March, there have been almost 30 shootings across NSW, with 11 people either shot dead or seriously injured.
Almost a third of the shootings were either drive-by shootings or knee-cappings.
A 17-year-old youth was shot in the leg after he refused to hand over cigarettes in Rosemeadow on April 13. Just two weeks later, a man was lucky to escape death when his Lexus sedan was riddled with bullets in a drive-by shooting at Moorebank.
Opposition police spokesman Peter Debnam yesterday accused the Carr Government of having its eyes closed to the problem.
"Despite all the warnings from crime authorities in recent years, the Carr Government has just been asleep at the wheel about gun crime, especially in south-west Sydney," Mr Debnam said.
"Everyone in NSW is horrified by the carjackings, knee-cappings, armed robberies and drive-by shootings. The problem is totally out of control because the Carr Government has its eye off the ball."
Mr Debnam said a newly-announced elite squad, funded by the Australian Crime Commission, to tackle illegal hand guns will do little to reassure NSW residents.
"It won't fix the problem in the short term. Bob Carr needs to admit there is a problem and have officers target the problem on the ground," he said.
Police Minister John Watkins yesterday acknowledged hand guns were a major problem in Australia "but NSW in particular, as we're the primary entry point for these weapons".
© Mirror Australian Telegraph Publications