Australia introduces illegal gun amnesty after Islamist-inspired attacks

[webfact]

Australia introduces illegal gun amnesty after Islamist-inspired attacks

By Colin Packham

 

FILE PHOTO - Mick Roelandts, firearms reform project manager for the New South Wales Police, looks at a pile of around 4,500 prohibited firearms that have been handed in over the past month under the Australian government's buy-back scheme in Sydney, Australia, July 28, 2017. REUTERS/David Gray/File photo

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia said on Friday it would introduce a three-month national gun amnesty, the first in more than 20 years, in a bid to reduced the number of illegal firearms which have been used in recent Islamist-inspired attacks.

 

Australian Justice Minister Michael Keenan said that from July 1, locals can hand-in illegal firearms to authorities without prosecution.

 

"We are living in a time when our national security environment has deteriorated. Unfortunately, we have seen, through terror attacks in Australia that illegal guns have been used," said Keenan.

 

Australia's has some of the world's toughest gun control laws, introduced after the country's worst mass murder, when a gunman killed 35 people at Port Arthur in the island state of Tasmania in 1996.

 

Australia, which has banned all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns, and as a restrictive system of licensing and ownership controls, has had no mass shootings since 1996. It is held up by many abroad as an example of the need for tighter gun controls in the United States..

 

But a 2016 report estimated there were 260,000 illegal firearms in Australia, some of which have been used by radicalised locals to commit attacks.

 

In Australia's most deadly incident inspired by the Islamic State group, a gunman used an illegal firearm in a 2014 Sydney cafe siege in which three people, including the hostage taker, were killed.

 

Earlier this month, gunman Yacqub Khayre used an illegal firearm to kill a man in an apartment block in Melbourne and then held a woman hostage before police shot him dead. The attack was claimed by Islamic State and classified as "an act of terrorism" by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

 

(Reporting by Colin Packham)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-16

[simple1]

Can I suggest before commenting, have a read of the report at the URL below:

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/factcheck/2015-05-26/source-of-illicit-guns-in-australia/6483762

 

 

[DoctorG]

Well the criminals certinally will not be handing theirs in. 

[hansnl]

1 hour ago, simple1 said:

Can I suggest before commenting, have a read of the report at the URL below:

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/factcheck/2015-05-26/source-of-illicit-guns-in-australia/6483762

 

 

I followed your suggestion and read the whole thing, twice.

My reaction to the report?

<deleted>!

Police forces all over the world have absolutely no real idea how many illegal weapons there are nor where they come from.

Any finding of an illegal gun is broadly advertised, it seems, as a huge success for the force, while it is in fact a statement of weakness.

 

The collecting of illegal weapons is very nice indeed.

But it is only the law abiding group that will bring, mostly, old weapons in.

Criminals will not!

And believe me, terrorists or those inclined to terrorism will not bring in anything, while the followers of a certain religion will NOT rat on their brethren and sisters.

Hence, those illegals and terrorists holding on to their arms, will be very happy indeed, even less reasons to worry about any resistance from unexpected sources.

 

About the stash of arms in the picture, nearly all are "wood and steel" examples, probably older, hunting rifles, single shot small calibre, shotguns, but no or a few new semiautomatics or even automatics.

 The number of illegal weapons in Australia mentioned in the report vs the legal ones is hilarious.

Edited June 16, 2017 by hansnl

[simple1]

11 minutes ago, hansnl said:

I followed your suggestion and read the whole thing, twice.

My reaction to the report?

<deleted>!

Police forces all over the world have absolutely no real idea how many illegal weapons there are nor where they come from.

Any finding of an illegal gun is broadly advertised, it seems, as a huge success for the force, while it is in fact a statement of weakness.

 

The collecting of illegal weapons is very nice indeed.

But it is only the law abiding group that will bring, mostly, old weapons in.

Criminals will not!

And believe me, terrorists or those inclined to terrorism will not bring in anything, and believe me, the followers of a certain religion will NOT rat on their brethren and sisters.

Hence, those illegals and terrorists holding on to their arms, will be very happy indeed, even less reasons to worry about any resistance from unexpected sources.

 

About the stash of arms in the picture, nearly all are "wood and steel" examples, probably older, hunting rifles, single shot small calibre, shotguns, but no or a few new semiautomatics or even automatics.

 The number of illegal weapons in Australia mentioned in the report vs the legal ones is hilarious.

 

Not so sure you're 100% correct. guns used or planned for use by Islamists have been obtained from criminals e.g. the guys busted for illegally importing 100+ disassembled Glocks from a German gun dealer, though I would guess some were stolen from homes e.g..the Lindt guy used an old sawn-off shotgun, don't believe it's proven where he got the weapon. 

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

So they think Mohammed will give his AK 47 to them rather than to use it for the reason he got it. 555 Silly people. There is no relationship between illegal guns and Islamic attacks. Most of these attacks are carried out without guns. Even after you have banned guns they will resort to other weapons like knives or vehicles, will you then ban those to?

[Prbkk]

The original gun amnesty was successful. It took easy access to semi automatic weapons away from the likes of Martin Bryant. I doubt there were more than a handful of people who objected to the tax impost to fund it. It's time for another round and this one will enjoy overwhelming public support as well.

[chilli42]

I admit to owning a gun or two.  That said, most of the murders (at least by numbers) by extremists seem to be from bombs, motor vehicles and knifes.  I am not suggesting that they should ban motor vehicles but banning guns will not help with this particular problem.

[John1012]

Another useless gesture by a weak western government. As if this is going to deter Islamists from obtaining weapons, they have world wide networks and I am sure if drugs can enter Australia, guns and explosives can too.  Those with the  intent of committing , or supporting the committing of crime (or terrorist act) who have weapons are not going to surrender them. Agaim the authorities are avoiding the problem, Islam. If the known Islamists, and supporters of Sharia,  in the country are apprehended and deported, any home grown nutters are imprisoned, the spread of Islam is contained and Moslems forced to integrate into Australian society, obey Australian laws , become  Australians who follow Islam, rather than  Moslems  who happen to reside in  Australia and wish to live by Islamic values and culture. These people should be encouraged, fiinacially,  to leave, to reside in a Muslim culture, and if they refuse, just deport them. (I.e. Pay the f*ckers to go away, they are probably all on benefits anyway so the exchequer will gain in the long run, take a big hit now, rather than a parasitic trickle for an unknown period). Purge your society of the cancer, which if left unchecked, will slowly overtake your nation and destroy it... as it is in France and Germany... and to some extent in the UK.

[Grouse]

1 hour ago, John1012 said:

Another useless gesture by a weak western government. As if this is going to deter Islamists from obtaining weapons, they have world wide networks and I am sure if drugs can enter Australia, guns and explosives can too.  Those with the  intent of committing , or supporting the committing of crime (or terrorist act) who have weapons are not going to surrender them. Agaim the authorities are avoiding the problem, Islam. If the known Islamists, and supporters of Sharia,  in the country are apprehended and deported, any home grown nutters are imprisoned, the spread of Islam is contained and Moslems forced to integrate into Australian society, obey Australian laws , become  Australians who follow Islam, rather than  Moslems  who happen to reside in  Australia and wish to live by Islamic values and culture. These people should be encouraged, fiinacially,  to leave, to reside in a Muslim culture, and if they refuse, just deport them. (I.e. Pay the f*ckers to go away, they are probably all on benefits anyway so the exchequer will gain in the long run, take a big hit now, rather than a parasitic trickle for an unknown period). Purge your society of the cancer, which if left unchecked, will slowly overtake your nation and destroy it... as it is in France and Germany... and to some extent in the UK.

Cup of tea and a biscuit?

[boomerangutang]

American pro-gun legislators could learn some sanity from Australian law-makers.

 

Nothing is going eradicate terrorist (perpetrated with or without guns), but every bit of legislation which lessens the # of guns, particularly auto- and semi-auto-, will be a step forward. 

 

 

[Crowes]

6 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

American pro-gun legislators could learn some sanity from Australian law-makers.

 

Nothing is going eradicate terrorist (perpetrated with or without guns), but every bit of legislation which lessens the # of guns, particularly auto- and semi-auto-, will be a step forward. 

 

 

 

I agree, after guns are done away with completely, next we can focus on legislation that limits the use of vehicles as terrorist weapons, then lets focus on banning bombs like the one used in Manchester, after all that we can erect legislation banning the use of knives as weapons, and finally if we could make murder a crime we could really solve this problem completely. But like you said, it all starts with guns......

[anon4546543]

I read somewhere that the biggest result in banning and removing some rifles and shotguns was a huge decrease in suicide and domestic violence murders by weapon use.

Limiting weapons from the general public has had only positive effects in Australia. 

But nothing will stop rednecks with penis issues from wanting a big gun to make them feel real big.

[Crowes]

33 minutes ago, spiderorchid said:

But nothing will stop rednecks with penis issues from wanting a big gun to make them feel real big.

 

So you're problem isn't with guns, it's with a certain class of people? How progressive of you.

[Rigby40]

Gun free zones are safe spaces for murderers.

[simple1]

1 hour ago, Rigby40 said:

Gun free zones are safe spaces for murderers.

An outcome of the previous handover of weapons scheme in Australia was a 70% reduction in violent gun crime, so from an Australian perspective your NRA propaganda doesn't stack up.

[Kiwiken]

15 hours ago, Prbkk said:

The original gun amnesty was successful. It took easy access to semi automatic weapons away from the likes of Martin Bryant. I doubt there were more than a handful of people who objected to the tax impost to fund it. It's time for another round and this one will enjoy overwhelming public support as well.

Australias amnesty and buy back gave and incentive for people to hand in their illegal or unwanted firearms. However in NZ up to the ban on military style semi automatic weapons some 76,000 were imported after the ruling these were no longer legal only about 2000 were surrendered. But still NZ does not have anywhere near the level of Gun crime of other Countries. On another note Only last Year some 13 Military Assault Rifles were seized in a raid on a Gang Headquarters. You can toughen the law and penalties but you cannot stop the flow across porous borders especially for those of us surrounded by Sea.

Also if backyard manufacturers in the Phillipines and Indian subcontinent can replicate any firearm from a handgun to an Assault Rifle what can be made in Our own developed Countries.

You can only hammer down on illegal weapons held by Criminals. For Firearms held legally you just need to have a strong vetting System. The bad of Society will always find a source

[anon4546543]

17 hours ago, Rigby40 said:

Gun free zones are safe spaces for murderers.

Really. How many murders occur every few minutes in the US? 

In a country which has the highest amount of weapons per capita, the highest amount of weapon crimes per capita,

the highest amount of mass murders per capita et al, your opinions are most illuminating.