The myth of Australian gun control is now busted...their criminals get guns when they want them....

[2aguy]

Here is a story from The AGE....an Australian newspaper.......it is a 3 part story on Australia's criminal gun culture.........and the myth of Australian gun control is now busted....

Gun city: Young, dumb and armed

The notion that a military-grade weapon could be in the hands of local criminals is shocking, but police have already seized at least five machine guns and assault rifles in the past 18 months. The AK-47 was not among them.

Only a fortnight ago, law enforcement authorities announced they were hunting another seven assault rifles recently smuggled into the country. Weapons from the shipment have been used in armed robberies and drive-by shootings.

These are just a handful of the thousands of illicit guns fuelling a wave of violent crime in the world’s most liveable city.

----

Despite Australia’s strict gun control regime, criminals are now better armed than at any time since then-Prime Minister John Howard introduced a nationwide firearm buyback scheme in response to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.

Shootings have become almost a weekly occurrence, with more than 125 people, mostly young men, wounded in the past five year

-----------

While the body count was higher during Melbourne’s ‘Underbelly War’ (1999-2005), more people have been seriously maimed in the recent spate of shootings and reprisals.

Crimes associated with firearm possession have also more than doubled, driven by the easy availability of handguns, semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and, increasingly, machine guns, that are smuggled into the country or stolen from licensed owners.

-------------

These weapons have been used in dozens of recent drive-by shootings of homes and businesses, as well as targeted and random attacks in parks, shopping centres and roads.

“They’re young, dumb and armed,” said one former underworld associate, who survived a shooting attempt in the western suburbs several years ago.

“It used to be that if you were involved in something bad you might have to worry about [being shot]. Now people get shot over nothing - unprovoked.”

------------

Gun crime soars
In this series, Fairfax Media looks at Melbourne’s gun problem and the new breed of criminals behind the escalating violence.

The investigation has found:

• There have been at least 99 shootings in the past 20 months - more than one incident a week since January 2015
• Known criminals were caught with firearms 755 times last year, compared to 143 times in 2011
• The epicentre of the problem is a triangle between Coolaroo, Campbellfield and Glenroy in the north-west, with Cranbourne, Narre Warren and Dandenong in the south-east close behind
• Criminals are using gunshot wounds to the arms and legs as warnings to pay debts
• Assault rifles and handguns are being smuggled into Australia via shipments of electronics and metal parts

In response to the violence, it can be revealed the state government is planning to introduce new criminal offences for drive-by shootings, manufacturing of firearms with new technologies such as 3D printers, and more police powers to keep weapons out of the hands of known criminals.

 

[B. Kidd]

Aussies are some of the biggest bullshitters in the world.

 

[2aguy]

But.........I thought that they confiscated guns...now they say that their criminals were always able to get guns.......

While guns have always been available to criminals determined to get them, there appears to have been a major cultural shift in how they are regarded - and used.

The new breed of underworld players, which veteran criminals privately deride as self-aggrandising “Facebook gangsters”, consider firearms a status symbol as much as a tool of the trade, sources say.

In this environment, even minor disputes quickly escalate to drive-by shootings or attacks in public places.

“We've seen this trend where a lot of the organised crime groups, hardened criminals used to carry firearms and use them,” Assistant Commissioner Fontana says. “Now we're seeing a lot of people with guns that are involved in minor, petty crimes, and they're prepared to use them.”

-------------

The majority of firearm-related crimes are committed by those aged 20 to 34 - almost 1500 offenders were recorded for this age group last year, more than two-and-a-half times the number five years ago, according to the Crime Statistics Agency.

--------------

Warning shots
Others say gunshot wounds are being intentionally used as a warning or punishment for transgressions, such as failing to pay a debt. It’s a trend similar to the so-called “kneecappings” once used by paramilitary forces in Northern Ireland.

In the recent spate of violence, the vast majority of gunshots wounds requiring hospitalisation struck likely non-fatal areas such as the arms, legs or abdomen. Only 10 per cent of injuries were to the head and none in the neck or chest, according to data obtained from the Monash University Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit.

By comparison, an average of nearly 25 per cent of all gunshot wounds struck the neck, chest or head when analysing hospital data back to 1998.

Then there are the shootings that fly below the radar of officialdom. In October last year, an underworld associate was shot in the leg in Fitzroy, but the incident was never reported to police or medical authorities.

 

[2aguy]

But....high powered military weapons.....smuggled into Australia...but....but....they have gun control laws...right?

And they are a freaking Island nation......they can't just drive to Indiana and buy a gun....right?

But the “diversion” of newly imported weapons - either through theft or illegal sale - is one of the biggest sources of black-market firearms, a senior law enforcement source says.

Despite Australia’s strict border controls, the smuggling of high-powered military-style firearms is also a growing problem, particularly with the country’s reliance on shipping by sea cargo and the rise of the so-called “dark web”.


More automatic weapons...in Australia?

Blackmarket riches
The investigation of an armed robbery of an armoured car outside a Sunbury McDonald’s last year revealed the arsenal of powerful weapons now in the hands of local criminals.

Victoria Police raids on the crew allegedly responsible for the $290,000 theft uncovered a cache of military-style weapons, including a US-made M16 assault rifle and a Thureon machine gun - a firearm never before seen in Australia. Thureons would be used in other crimes over the next year.

That bust led to the seizure of six fully-automatic assault rifles and 96 handgun frames in the US, and dozens of machine gun and handgun parts, and 10 kilograms of ammunition, in Victoria and NSW.

But.........they have gun control...so they can't just buy guns right? But they smuggle them into the country?....why......that...that's against the law......

Given that only a fraction of sea cargo can be physically examined at the point of import, law enforcement and border authorities are deeply concerned about the vulnerability of Australia’s docks and freight terminals.

 

[candycorn]

Their homicide rate is what our larger city mayors dream about.

 

[2aguy]

Their homicide rate is what our larger city mayors dream about.

And yet it is growing.....and despite their gun control laws...their criminals get guns...even fully automatic rifles.......their law abiding citizens were disarmed for no good reason......