Bruce in West Oz
New member
As you are aware, it is some four years since our gun laws came into effect. The Auditor-General yesterday produced his report on the way they are being handled in Western Australia.
Here's how the West Australian reports it this morning (emphasis added):
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Guns still on the streets
By Julie Butler
THOUSANDS of firearms restricted or prohibited under new ownership laws have not been surrendered or checked for compliance.
The new laws were introduced after the Port Arthur tragedy in 1996 in which 35 people died.
WA Auditor-General Des Pearson said yesterday that police were not screening properly the criminal records, mental fitness or storage facilities of firearm licence holders.
Mr Pearson, in a report to State Parliament on firearm management, said police were two years late and $135,000 over budget in completing a firearm ownership database.
This would be a good tool once in full use but the firearms branch was spending half its time fixing errors.
Nevertheless, police had made a reasonable start to what was a daunting task implementing the new laws. Mr Pearson was confident they were fixing the flaws.
Police Minister Kevin Prince said the situation was a worry but stressed that police had faced a mammoth task hampered by computer problems. Many recommendations made by Mr Pearson could be dealt with quickly.
Assistant Police Commissioner Mel Hay said police had focused on taking illegal firearms out of circulation. To ensure the new laws were applied fully would require individual checks of WA's 260,000 licensed firearms - an enormous, but not impossible, job.
The new laws effectively banned ownership of high-powered firearms, except where genuine need was proved, and introduced controls on eligibility, safety training and firearm storage. Under a buy-back scheme, 53,000 weapons have been surrendered voluntarily (Liar!), use of firearms in armed robbery has continued to fall and firearm theft is down 46 per cent.
The number of licensed firearms in WA has fallen only 4 per cent but the number of licence holders has fallen 24 per cent to 85,414, each having an average of three firearms.
The report said many people who had held licences for firearms now restricted or prohibited had not surrendered them or shown that they met the new criteria.
A source said some police had estimated about 10,000 firearms were in this category.
There are 20,000 licences in WA for category C firearms - which includes self-loading and pump- action shotguns - but police have checked eligibility under the new laws for only 4500. Most of these people were involved in farming and used the guns to stop vermin.
Mr Pearson said police had told him they were considering inspecting all registered firearms in conjunction with extending the licensing period from one to five years.
He feared combining the two would delay the audit's progress because of political ramifications and the need for legislative change.
Among other problems was that so-called unique firearm identification numbers used in police records were being duplicated inadvertently and that police had yet to follow up hundreds of overdue firearm infringement notices and hundreds of firearms held by people now dead.[/quote]
The actual report is available online and as a .pdf at:
http://www.audit.wa.gov.au/reports/report2000_07.html
Here is the official summary:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>SURRENDER ARMS?
Firearm Management in
Western Australia
Report No. 7 - September 2000
Executive Summary
About the Report
As a consequence of the tragic incident at Port Arthur, Tasmania in April 1996, where 35 people were killed with semi-automatic firearms, the Commonwealth, States and Territories agreed to a national gun control strategy in May 1996.
In line with the agreed national strategy, the Western Australian Parliament enacted amendments to the Firearms Act 1973. A 'Buy Back' scheme which paid compensation to persons surrendering firearms was implemented from October 1996 to September 1997. This examination reviewed firearm management and control procedures subsequent to the 'Buy Back' scheme and the extent to which amended legislation and regulations have been implemented.
What the examination found...
* The Western Australia Police Service (WAPS) are unable to demonstrate that all licensed holders of restricted and prohibited firearms have been assessed for eligibility against the 1996 requirements. The WAPS have prepared a plan to address this finding but the implementation date is yet to be determined.
* The WAPS are consistently assessing eligibility for new firearm licence applications. However, legal advice indicates that current WAPS' procedure for assessing public safety in relation to recreational shooting is not consistent with the Act.
* Reported theft of firearms has decreased by 46 per cent since the 1996 amendment which required secure storage.
* WAPS procedures for ensuring secure storage are not consistently applied.
* Firearm safety training for new applicants and the photographic extract of licence have not yet been implemented.
* Preliminary evidence suggests that the 28 day 'cooling off' period has reduced the number of new licenses issued by between 20 to 25 percent.
* Completion of the Firearm Licensing System (FLS) is significantly overdue and the project is over budget. However, once completed the system should provide an effective tool to enhance firearm licensing and management.
* Inaccurate and incomplete data on the FLS has seriously impacted on the overall efficiency and effectiveness of firearm control procedures in Western Australia.
* Firearm license holders have declined by 24 per cent since the introduction of the amended firearm legislation. However, the overall number of licensed firearms in the community has declined by only 4 per cent.
* It is too early to determine the impact on crime arising from the implementation and management of the 1996 amendments to the Firearms Act 1973.
What the examination recommended...
* The Western Australia Police Service should:
* ensure that all pre 1996 licence holders with licensed category C and D firearms meet the new eligibility requirements;
* develop an effective regulatory framework to ensure authority for police to inspect licensed firearms;
* address licensing difficulties for category B recreational shooting applicants by integrating the requirement to provide for public safety with the determination of 'genuine need';
* give priority to systematically addressing faults, deficiencies and inaccurate data in the Firearm Licensing System;
* implement and maintain an effective firearm licensing and management regime;
* and monitor trends in firearm registration and the use of firearms in violent crime. [/quote]
Four years these laws have been in ... Four years!! And for those four years we shooters have been telling the police what's wrong with the system.
Now some public servant whose chosen recreation is probably dominoes is going to be able to impose more restrictions on my chosen recreation without knowing anything about it, in the name of 'public safety' -- which is what????
More rules, more inspections, more red tape, more restrictions, more petty bloody-mindedness and more "shooters = bad" in the eyes of the public. Last night on TV to accompany this report, the TV station showed file footage of people firing SLRs (FN-FAL), .22 semi-auto with 30-shot mag, semi-auto shotgun and .303s -- NONE OF THESE is available to the "ordinary" person!!!!
Rant mode off while the blood pressure is still just below critical ....
If it wasn't only 8.00 a.m. I'd have a beer.
And some gunowners in the US think it will all be over if they just give in a little and "compromise" or "be reasonable"??
Bruce
Here's how the West Australian reports it this morning (emphasis added):
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Guns still on the streets
By Julie Butler
THOUSANDS of firearms restricted or prohibited under new ownership laws have not been surrendered or checked for compliance.
The new laws were introduced after the Port Arthur tragedy in 1996 in which 35 people died.
WA Auditor-General Des Pearson said yesterday that police were not screening properly the criminal records, mental fitness or storage facilities of firearm licence holders.
Mr Pearson, in a report to State Parliament on firearm management, said police were two years late and $135,000 over budget in completing a firearm ownership database.
This would be a good tool once in full use but the firearms branch was spending half its time fixing errors.
Nevertheless, police had made a reasonable start to what was a daunting task implementing the new laws. Mr Pearson was confident they were fixing the flaws.
Police Minister Kevin Prince said the situation was a worry but stressed that police had faced a mammoth task hampered by computer problems. Many recommendations made by Mr Pearson could be dealt with quickly.
Assistant Police Commissioner Mel Hay said police had focused on taking illegal firearms out of circulation. To ensure the new laws were applied fully would require individual checks of WA's 260,000 licensed firearms - an enormous, but not impossible, job.
The new laws effectively banned ownership of high-powered firearms, except where genuine need was proved, and introduced controls on eligibility, safety training and firearm storage. Under a buy-back scheme, 53,000 weapons have been surrendered voluntarily (Liar!), use of firearms in armed robbery has continued to fall and firearm theft is down 46 per cent.
The number of licensed firearms in WA has fallen only 4 per cent but the number of licence holders has fallen 24 per cent to 85,414, each having an average of three firearms.
The report said many people who had held licences for firearms now restricted or prohibited had not surrendered them or shown that they met the new criteria.
A source said some police had estimated about 10,000 firearms were in this category.
There are 20,000 licences in WA for category C firearms - which includes self-loading and pump- action shotguns - but police have checked eligibility under the new laws for only 4500. Most of these people were involved in farming and used the guns to stop vermin.
Mr Pearson said police had told him they were considering inspecting all registered firearms in conjunction with extending the licensing period from one to five years.
He feared combining the two would delay the audit's progress because of political ramifications and the need for legislative change.
Among other problems was that so-called unique firearm identification numbers used in police records were being duplicated inadvertently and that police had yet to follow up hundreds of overdue firearm infringement notices and hundreds of firearms held by people now dead.[/quote]
The actual report is available online and as a .pdf at:
http://www.audit.wa.gov.au/reports/report2000_07.html
Here is the official summary:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>SURRENDER ARMS?
Firearm Management in
Western Australia
Report No. 7 - September 2000
Executive Summary
About the Report
As a consequence of the tragic incident at Port Arthur, Tasmania in April 1996, where 35 people were killed with semi-automatic firearms, the Commonwealth, States and Territories agreed to a national gun control strategy in May 1996.
In line with the agreed national strategy, the Western Australian Parliament enacted amendments to the Firearms Act 1973. A 'Buy Back' scheme which paid compensation to persons surrendering firearms was implemented from October 1996 to September 1997. This examination reviewed firearm management and control procedures subsequent to the 'Buy Back' scheme and the extent to which amended legislation and regulations have been implemented.
What the examination found...
* The Western Australia Police Service (WAPS) are unable to demonstrate that all licensed holders of restricted and prohibited firearms have been assessed for eligibility against the 1996 requirements. The WAPS have prepared a plan to address this finding but the implementation date is yet to be determined.
* The WAPS are consistently assessing eligibility for new firearm licence applications. However, legal advice indicates that current WAPS' procedure for assessing public safety in relation to recreational shooting is not consistent with the Act.
* Reported theft of firearms has decreased by 46 per cent since the 1996 amendment which required secure storage.
* WAPS procedures for ensuring secure storage are not consistently applied.
* Firearm safety training for new applicants and the photographic extract of licence have not yet been implemented.
* Preliminary evidence suggests that the 28 day 'cooling off' period has reduced the number of new licenses issued by between 20 to 25 percent.
* Completion of the Firearm Licensing System (FLS) is significantly overdue and the project is over budget. However, once completed the system should provide an effective tool to enhance firearm licensing and management.
* Inaccurate and incomplete data on the FLS has seriously impacted on the overall efficiency and effectiveness of firearm control procedures in Western Australia.
* Firearm license holders have declined by 24 per cent since the introduction of the amended firearm legislation. However, the overall number of licensed firearms in the community has declined by only 4 per cent.
* It is too early to determine the impact on crime arising from the implementation and management of the 1996 amendments to the Firearms Act 1973.
What the examination recommended...
* The Western Australia Police Service should:
* ensure that all pre 1996 licence holders with licensed category C and D firearms meet the new eligibility requirements;
* develop an effective regulatory framework to ensure authority for police to inspect licensed firearms;
* address licensing difficulties for category B recreational shooting applicants by integrating the requirement to provide for public safety with the determination of 'genuine need';
* give priority to systematically addressing faults, deficiencies and inaccurate data in the Firearm Licensing System;
* implement and maintain an effective firearm licensing and management regime;
* and monitor trends in firearm registration and the use of firearms in violent crime. [/quote]
Four years these laws have been in ... Four years!! And for those four years we shooters have been telling the police what's wrong with the system.
Now some public servant whose chosen recreation is probably dominoes is going to be able to impose more restrictions on my chosen recreation without knowing anything about it, in the name of 'public safety' -- which is what????
More rules, more inspections, more red tape, more restrictions, more petty bloody-mindedness and more "shooters = bad" in the eyes of the public. Last night on TV to accompany this report, the TV station showed file footage of people firing SLRs (FN-FAL), .22 semi-auto with 30-shot mag, semi-auto shotgun and .303s -- NONE OF THESE is available to the "ordinary" person!!!!
Rant mode off while the blood pressure is still just below critical ....
If it wasn't only 8.00 a.m. I'd have a beer.
And some gunowners in the US think it will all be over if they just give in a little and "compromise" or "be reasonable"??
Bruce
