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Last updated: Wednesday, 10 March 2010 05:11 PM |
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SA: Mike Rann and his government 'just arrogant, arrogant, arrogant'
Michelle Chantelois' estranged husband has appeared at a pre-election debate and declared his campaign to "expose" Premier Mike Rann will end on March 20. Rick Phillips has pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Rann with a rolled-up magazine in October and said his actions had been motivated by concerns the Premier's relationship with his wife had destabilised their family. Ms Chantelois, a former Parliament House barmaid, has publicly said that she had a sexual affair with Mr Rann. Mr Phillips sat quietly during the hour-long debate and told reporters afterwards that he wanted Mr Rann and his government voted out of office. "They're just arrogant, arrogant, arrogant," he said.
UK: Violent crime 44 per cent higher than in 1998
"Violent attacks are estimated to be 44 per cent higher than they were in 1998 after research on the way police record them allowed comparisons for the first time. The study, by the independent House of Commons Library, shows violence against the person increased from 618,417 to 887,942 last year. The devastating review comes despite repeated claims by the Government that violent crime has come down substantially since it took power."
SA: Rann says Labor is the underdog in state election
"The Newspoll result carries extra significance for Kevin Rudd, with a federal election due later this year and the tide turning against Labor in many parts of the country. The March 20 South Australian and Tasmanian polls are being seen as barometers of the national mood by the Prime Minister. The election once loomed as a near-certain victory for Mr Rann, but the Premier, in power since 2002, has been rocked since October by a series of distractions, most notably sex allegations levelled against him by his former friend Michelle Chantelois."
TAS: The Greens would give criminals the right to vote
"Mass murderer Martin Bryant would be given the right to vote in state and federal elections under a policy that the Greens are taking to the Tasmanian state election on March 20. With the possibility the Greens could hold the balance of power in Tasmania following what is expected to be a closely fought poll, victims' groups are alarmed the plan could become reality. The Greens have promised to legislate to lift the voting ban that applies to criminals serving more than a three-year sentence." Submitted by DG.
CAN: Mr Bumble's gun registry
The minute anyone talks or writes about free speech, some twit is sure to pop up and say that there's no absolute freedom of speech. They usually can't resist adding that no one is free to shout "Fire!" in a crowded movie theatre. They're quite right. The only thing wrong with those who keep insisting there are no absolutes is they do it to restrict some particulars that irk them. Now that I got this off my chest, let me turn to a different topic. Well -- maybe not entirely different. It is another facet of the complex syndrome that prompted Charles Dickens to have Mr. Bumble call the law an "ass." Submitted by DG.
The entire quote from Oliver Twist: “If the law supposes that,” said Mr. Bumble, “the law is a ass, a idiot.”
VIC: Gun registry under fire 'after a string of privacy breaches and other blunders'
"Victoria's gun safety regime is under fire after a string of privacy breaches and other police gun register blunders. Shooters and traders say public safety is at risk from errors that could see information about guns fall into the wrong hands. In one of the worst examples, one person received about 80 registration certificates for a single gun. And a gun dealer was sent five application forms for a dealer's licence it had already renewed, along with a renewal for a pistol owned by an unknown person and the private details of a second shooter." Submitted by WM.
US: Armed citizens
"Criminal justice instructor Michael Minto was exiting the Kaplan Career Institute when he saw a man being viciously stabbed. According to police, Minto ran onto the scene, drew a handgun for which he has a permit to carry and ordered the attacker to drop the knife. The suspect fled. The victim was treated and released from the hospital. “[If not for Minto], we might be talking about someone who died,” said Swatara Township, Pa., Deputy Police Chief Jason Umberger. “There are not many citizens out there that would have the courage to take that action.”
SA: ALP will by-pass courts and give police commissioner power to cancel drivers licences
"The ALP says it will move to strip dangerous drivers of their licences permanently, if it is re-elected in South Australia on March 20. It says the South Australian Police Commissioner would have the power to permanently cancel drivers' licences. "What we're going to do is change the law to allow the Police Commissioner to actually suspend someone's licence for life. . ."
VIC: Man escapes gun charges after 'doing a deal with police'
"A man who has confessed to illegally selling 18 high-powered pistols to a Hells Angels associate has escaped being charged after doing a deal with police. Despite his client's links to one of the world's most feared crime gangs, the man still holds his firearms licence and a permit to run a security firm. Lawyers and gun-control advocates have raised concerns, saying his treatment calls into further question police deals with criminals. In the most recent case, the gun seller agreed to make a statement against a Melbourne gun dealer alleged to have sold him unregistered guns."
UGANDA: A gun controllers paradise
"When I became a man, I put away my toy gun," writes Charles Onyango-Obbo in The East African. He's commenting on a picture worth a thousand words: A picture of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni visiting mudslide victims in military uniform and an AK-47 strapped across his chest has created quite a buzz in the blogsphere. The thing is, Musevni offers a good representation of what much of the world has experienced when it practices the goals of those who would ban private ownership of guns, and limit their keeping and bearing to the state and its representatives. You know, the "Only Ones."
RELATED: Uganda terrorizes its own citizens under the auspices of UN gun control mandate.
CAN: Gun registry on verge of elimination
"Canada’s long gun registry began with a horrific mass murder back in Dec. 1989, when a 25 year-old psychopath used his semi-automatic hunting rifle to kill 14 people and wound 10 others. The idea of Canadian gun control was fewer murders, less crime. That didn’t materialize at all. Gun control wasn’t the will of the Canadian people. Hunters abandoned their sport by the many millions, and crime continued. But now there is a bill pending in Parliament that would eliminate the failed gun registration scheme."
TAS: Oh dear, disruptive duck hunting protester bitten on foot; chopper to the rescue
"Police say the rescue helicopter was called about 9:00am (AEST) to retrieve a 35-year-old woman who was part of a campaign to disrupt the hunt at Moulting Lagoon. The woman, from Battery Point, was thought to have been bitten by a snake but it was later diagnosed as a suspected marine sting to her foot." Submitted by WM.
SA: Animal libbers accuse MP's of misleading voters on duck hunting
"Three South Australian MPs have been accused of misleading voters with their responses to a campaign against duck hunting. The Animal Liberation group has complained to the Electoral Commission that Norwood MP Vini Ciccarello, Waite MP Martin Hamilton-Smith and Morphett MP Duncan McFetridge breached the Electoral Act by claiming in letters that a ban on duck shooting in New South Wales failed to reduce the number of ducks killed." Submitted by WM.
NZ: Court rules against police on changes to firearms classifications
"A "victory for commonsense" has been reached in the High Court at Palmerston North after a gun owner took police to task over recent changes to firearm classifications. Gun owners have been told since July last year if they own a semi-automatic firearm with a "military pattern, free-standing pistol grip" it is considered to be a military-style semi-automatic (MSSA) firearm. Palmerston North resident Richard Lincoln challenged police over their meaning of a "military pattern free-standing pistol grip" in the Arms Act and, on Monday, Justice Mallon ruled the police interpretation incorrect. Mr Wood said for 16 years police had not taken any issue with all of the legitimate conversions that were made to change MSSAs into sporting configurations."
US: Social bigotry by anti-gun extremists
"The campaign of coercion against Starbucks Coffee by extremist anti-gunners is coming to Seattle Wednesday morning with a press conference scheduled at 10:30 a.m. in Victor Steinbrueck Park next to the Pike Place Market. Organized by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Washington CeaseFire, this is the latest chapter in their effort to force Starbucks and other companies to act as corporate surrogates in their attempt to foster social bigotry against firearm owners." Submitted by DG.
SA: Rann attacker pleads guilty ─ no conviction recorded
"The husband of Michelle Chantelois has walked free from court today with no conviction recorded against him after pleading guilty to assaulting Mike Rann last year. (The magistrate) accepted it was the result of impulsive behaviour because of pent-up frustration about Mr Rann's friendship with Ms Chantelois, a former parliamentary barmaid." Submitted by WM.
NSW: Alleged ram-raider shot by police
"A man has been shot in the leg by police in a suburban street at Lake Macquarie, south of Newcastle this morning. Police say they were initially called to a car crash involving a possible stolen ute at the The Park Chase in Valentine at about 7am (AEDT). Police shot the man in the thigh and he is now at Newcastle's John Hunter hospital. The spokesman for the Hunter's rescue helicopter - Glen Ramplin- says a chopper was deployed to search for another man who ran off into nearby bushland. "Police requested the aircraft to assist in the search for two offenders involved in a ram raid incident this morning," he said." Submitted by WM.
US: States' Rights vs. Gun Rights
"The (US) Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a major gun control case on Tuesday. The issue in the case, McDonald v. City of Chicago, is whether the Second Amendment protects the individual right to keep and bear arms against state and city gun laws. The case is considered a sequel to a Supreme Court decision in 2008, District of Columbia v. Heller, which limited what the federal government can do in restricting gun rights."
UK: BBC investigation finds 'Live Aid' funded rebel weapon purchases
"Millions of dollars in Western aid for victims of the Ethiopian famine of 1984-85 was siphoned off by rebels to buy weapons, a BBC investigation finds. Former rebel leaders told the BBC that they posed as merchants in meetings with charity workers to get aid money. They used the cash to fund attempts to overthrow the government of the time. One rebel leader estimated $95m (£63m) - from Western governments and charities including Band Aid - was channelled into the rebel fight." This article from the Canadian Firearms Digest. To subscribe, email CFD and put "subscribe" in the body of the message.
US: Washington DC homicide rate drops 25% since handgun ban overturned
"The District of Columbia’s murder rate plummeted by an astounding 25 percent last year, much faster than for the US as a whole or for similarly sized cities. If you had asked Chicago’s Mayor Daley, that wasn’t supposed to happen. The Supreme Court’s 2008 decision to strike down DC’s handgun ban and gunlock requirements should have lead to a surge in murders, with Wild West shootouts. The Supreme Court might keep Daley’s predictions in mind today as they hear the oral arguments on Tuesday in the Chicago handgun ban case." Don't expect to read about this in the biased, anti-gun Oz media.
US: Court action threatens handgun laws
"A legal challenge to Chicago's 28-year ban on handguns could shoot down the right of individual states and cities in America to draft their own gun laws. The Supreme Court action by four citizens who want the right to defend themselves against potential assault and robbery could unleash a chain reaction that overturns restrictive gun laws across the country. It comes 20 months after the highest court in the US ruled as unconstitutional similar handgun laws in Washington DC." Submitted by CE.
WA: Home invaders get more than they bargained for, home owner charged with assault
"Police have charged a 53-year-old Carnarvon man with three counts of aggravated wounding after he allegedly cornered and assaulted three juveniles who tried to break into his home. Mid-West Gascoyne Supt Ross Tomasini said last night the three juveniles were taken to Carnarvon Hospital with injuries, including cuts that required stitches." Submitted by WM. The police; never there when you want them.
NSW: 400% jump in hunting licences in Illawarra
"Scores of Illawarra shooters have secured hunting licences ahead of the 2009 deer season, which started yesterday. Figures provided by the Game Council NSW show licence sales in the region increased by more than 400 per cent over the past two years. And the council credits a recent state-wide advertising blitz with additional sales in the region." Submitted by WM.
RELATED: NSW: Deer-hunting season begins -Vote: Poll on recreational deer hunting
TAS: Poll shows Green surge leading up to state election
"The just released February 2010 survey by research company EMRS shows government support falling two points to 31%, Labor well behind the Liberal Party, who fall 5% to 39%. The real surprise is the surge in Green support to 27%. (Figures taken from Table 3 of the EMRS report, after distributing leaning and undecided voters.)" Because of the Hare-Clark election system used in Tasmania, the Greens could win six seats.
AUS: Invasive Species Council says pig shooters 'aren't doing much'
"Dr. Carol Booth of the 'Invasive Species Council' claims pig hunters aren't doing much to rid Australia of the pest animals. Each year, feral pigs are estimated to cost Australia nearly $110 million in agricultural damage alone."
SA: Coroner criticises police officer over pursuit
"The deputy coroner has found a South Australian police officer's pursuit of a motorcyclist who crashed and died was inappropriate. Adam McNamara, 28, died in 2005 after crashing into a pole near Elizabeth shopping centre in Adelaide's northern suburbs. Senior Constable Timothy Hughes, who has since moved to Western Australia, was convicted of dangerous driving over the brief, high-speed pursuit through the shopping precinct." Submitted by WM.
US: Satire ─ Wounded rapist demands tighter gun control laws
"An unnamed accused serial rapist demanded tougher gun control laws from his hospital bed in suburban Philadelphia earlier today, just hours after being admitted by police for a gun shot wound incurred while attempting to assault a local woman. Lawyers for the alleged rapist charged their client was “the real victim of this assault,” and warned that easy access to legal firearms was “[Making] committing a rape or other violent crime nearly impossible in many suburban areas.
US: When only the police have guns. . .
"Admitting a cover-up of shocking breadth, a former New Orleans police supervisor pleaded guilty to a federal obstruction charge on Wednesday, confessing that he participated in a conspiracy to justify the shooting of six unarmed people after Hurricane Katrina that was hatched not long after police stopped firing their weapons. The guilty plea of Lt. Michael Lohman, who retired from the department earlier this month, contains explosive details of the alleged cover-up." Submitted by DG.
RELATED: New Orleans case should send chilling message to the ‘only cops should have guns' believers Submitted by WM. 09
CAN: Appeal decision released in Montague case
"In 2003, Canadian gunsmith Bruce Montague set out to get arrested for violating Canada's Firearms Act. His intention was to challenge the law's constitutionality in court. On Saturday, September 11, 2004, Bruce Montague was arrested at a Dryden, Ontario, gun show. Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Officers dragged Bruce away, refused him any opportunity to ensure his 12-year-old daughter was safe, and left Katey there alone. Donna Montague was telephoned by a show vendor, informed of Bruce's arrest and told to come pick up Katey, When Donna arrived, OPP Officers arrested her too." This article found on the Canadian Firearms Digest (CFD). To subscribe, email CFD and put "subscribe" in the body of the message.
QLD: Bligh praises Howard stance on gun control
"Premier Anna Bligh is under fire for comparing her leadership on asset sales to the stance that former Prime Minister John Howard took on gun control. But she is unrepentant. Both sides brought up gun control during a debate on asset sales in Parliament last night."
CAN: Replica guns should be licensed
"Replica guns should be licensed and registered just like the real thing, say safety (read anti-gun) advocates and police. In recent years, police officers across the country have shot and killed several people holding guns that later turned out to be replicas. The Canada Safety Council has approached police to push for gun replicas to be regulated under the federal Firearms Act, said council president Emile Thérien. That would require them to be licensed and registered." Submitted by DG. DG says, "Where did they get that idea?"
US: American sheriff says he will undermine gun ban in the interests of safety
"The Colorado State University Board of Governors voted unanimously Tuesday to place students at both of its campuses in harm’s way with a sweeping weapons ban law-abiding citizens will obey and criminals will ignore. Larimer County Sheriff James Alderden, outraged by the ban, told The Gazette’s opinion department he will undermine it in the interest of student safety. CSU-Fort Collins Police Chief Wendy Rich-Goldsmith, a relative newcomer to the campus, supports the ban. “I have told the CSU police chief I will not support this in any way,” Sheriff Alderden told The Gazette." Submitted by DG.
UK: Jammers target GPS receivers
"Technology that depends on satellite-navigation signals is increasingly threatened by attack from widely available equipment, experts say. While "jamming" sat-nav equipment with noise signals is on the rise, more sophisticated methods allow hackers to program what receivers display. At risk are not only sat-nav users, but also critical national infrastructure. A UK meeting outlining the risks was held at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington on Tuesday." This article found on the Canadian Firearms Digest. To subscribe, email CFD majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca and put "subscribe" in the body of the message.
US: Ideology to die for
"It is a truism to say that there are many anti-gun ideologues among (US) educational elites. But few are as honest as Doug Van Gorder – a math teacher at Brockton High School. He admits that he would rather lose a child than exercise his right to defend himself with a gun. In the wake of a recent school shooting, he wrote this in a Letter to the Editor of the Boston Globe: "...as a progressive, I would sooner lay my child to rest than succumb to the belief that the use of a gun for self-defense is somehow not in itself a gun crime." Stupid is as stupid does. Has he ever thought of asking the child? Or the child's mother?
NSW: 11-year-old charged with assault and attempted robbery
"An 11-year-old boy and his teenage companion have been charged with assault and attempted robbery of a Sydney man who they mocked during the alleged attack. Police say a 20-year-old man was walking along Prince Alfred Park about 11.40am yesterday in the inner-city suburb of Surry Hills when the boy and his 17-year-old companion set upon him, grabbing his satchel."
So much for a "Safer Australia".
S. AFRICA: Huge police arsenal missing
"More than 60 firearms and approximately 50 000 rounds of ammunition have presumably been stolen from a specialised police unit in Mpumalanga (South Africa). The weapons were part of the arsenal of the police's former riot unit which had been stationed in Hazyview. The unit was closed in 2007 after a decision by Jackie Selebi, former police commissioner, to close all specialist units. An audit of the unit's assets was ordered by the Mpumalanga provincial police headquarters, after two police firearms were found in the possession of suspects who were involved in planting a bomb at an ATM." Submitted by WM.
Related: South Africa police 'lose 3,000 guns a year', a story we carried in January.
CAN: How arming citizens might cut crime
"Back in 1987 when there was a rash of robberies and killings of tourists in Florida, the state authorized Carrying a Concealed Weapon (CCW) law, in hopes that it would discourage shootings in restaurants and public places. To the dismay of those who advocate stricter gun laws, the CCW law resulted in random shootings plummeting. The possibility of someone carrying a gun in the local McDonald’s discouraged those who might have been tempted to shoot the place up." This article found on the Canadian Firearms Digest. To subscribe: mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca and put "subscribe" in the body of the message.
US: Time for Brady Campaign to act stupid
"Since its inception as the National Council to Control Handguns over 30 years ago, the Brady Campaign has premised its entire agenda on the notion that having more gun control laws and, therefore, fewer guns, means that crime must necessarily decrease. History has not been kind to the group’s delusion, however. In recent decades, the severity of gun control laws has been diminished at the federal, state and local levels, the number of guns has increased by over four million a year on average, and today, the nation’s murder and total violent crime rates are at 45-year and 35-year lows, respectively." Submitted by DG.
New World Order: More nonsense from the world's governments
"In Britain, it is traditional on Shrove Tuesday to hold pancake races, in which contestants run while flipping a pancake in a frying pan. The appeal of the event depends on the potential pitfalls in attempting simultaneous rapid forward propulsion and pancake tossing. However, in St Albans, England, competitors were informed by health and safety officials that they were "banned from running due to fears they would slip over in the rain." In Canada, Karen Selick told readers of the Ottawa Citizen about her winter vacation in Arizona last month: "The resort suite I rented via the Internet promised a private patio with hot tub," she wrote. "Upon arrival, I found the door to my patio bolted shut. 'Entry prohibited by federal law,' read the sign. Anything else? Oh, yeah. . ." Submitted by DG.
UK: Scotland has world's highest rate of drug abuse, UN report
The United Nations has reported that Scotland has the highest rate of drug abuse in the world. Scottish drug users and dealers offend at a higher rate per 100,000 than those in 70 other countries. Scotland has 656 drug offences per 100,000 people. By comparison Australia has 322/100,00. Other countries with high rates are Iran (619), Spain (573) and the united States (497).
If the Scottish government spent less time harassing legal gun owners and more time fighting crime, Scotland might not hold the world record for drug abuse.
WA: Police seize drugs and ammunition in raid on Finks clubhouse
"Police yesterday raided the Balga clubhouse of outlaw motorcycle gang the Finks, seizing drugs and ammunition.
About 10 officers from the Organised Crime Squad swooped on the heavily fortified house at 6 Olney Ct after securing a firearm warrant following two separate incidents on the weekend."
NZ: Firearms powder enroute from Australia to USA banned from Auckland wharves
"Ports of Auckland says it will not allow potentially explosive firearms powder to be stored on its wharves, despite a Government permit for that purpose. Approval from the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) for four containers, each holding up to 14 tonnes of the smokeless power, to be shipped through Auckland this year en route from Australia to California has upset Friends of the Earth and will be raised at a meeting tomorrow night of a port community reference forum."
US: Conflating "pro-gun" with "pro-crime"
"A time-honoured strategy of the forcible citizen disarmament lobby is to paint a distorted picture that links gun owners with criminals. When I say "time-honoured," I mean just that. ,,,recently, those of us who oppose proposed legislation to empower the Attorney General to unilaterally prevent someone from purchasing a gun, simply by designating him a "suspected terrorist" (no evidence necessary), are accused of being on the terrorists' side."
US: Gun control advocates concede that loss in court case 'may be inevitable'
"For gun-control advocates, defeat may be inevitable in the Chicago handgun-ban case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The question is whether they will get a consolation prize. The central issue in the case, set for argument March 2, is whether the Constitution’s Second Amendment applies to state and local gun laws, in addition to those enacted by the federal government and District of Columbia. When the court in 2008 struck down D.C.’s handgun ban and declared that the Second Amendment protects individual rights, the five justices in the majority suggested the court eventually would bind states and cities."
QLD: One in seven afraid to go out at night
"One in seven Queenslanders are too scared to walk the streets of their neighbourhoods alone at night, a new survey of crime victims by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows. The ABS found 14 per cent of Queenslanders refuse to walk alone because of their safety concerns and almost another 3 per cent feel "unsafe or very unsafe" doing so. Roughly half that number refuse to use public transport after dark for the same reason." 08
