ABC article on gun laws

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ABC article on gun laws

Post by Bent Arrow » 08 Nov 2017, 6:03 pm

Australia missing 'crucial conversations' around tackling gun crime

In the wake of gun-related tragedies at home and abroad, the term 'shooter' has become synonymous with a lot of things.

A close-knit community of self-described 'averages joes', however, is probably not one of them.

As Australia's gun debate rages, sports shooters and academics alike are increasingly concerned about 'knee-jerk' reactions around reform and say the recent discourse is ignoring one key question.

What do we actually know about those driving the demand for stolen and illegally imported firearms in Australia?

"Gun violence doesn't occur in a vacuum, [and] it often seems as if there's a lack of political will here to actually look beneath the surface and tackle the social issues that underpin crime," said Samara McPhedran, a senior research fellow at Griffith University's Violence Research and Prevention Program.

Although high-profile attacks, such as the Texas and Las Vegas shootings, have created a political atmosphere for regulatory change, Dr McPhedran argues legislators would be better off investing that energy into addressing the underlying causes of day-to-day crime.

"What we tend to see in Australia in response to these tragedies is an almost very smug type of approach, and unfortunately we often seem to take the attitude of almost finger pointing or victim blaming," she said.

"Rather than framing our debate around [these incidents], why don't we look at them and other countries and say, well what are they doing well? What can we learn from them?"

In the US, a nation gripped by gun-related homicides, one organisation is bucking the trend.

The National Network for Safe Communities, operating out of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles among other cities, is a community-led partnership bringing together social agencies and law enforcement in a bid to tackle gun crime.

Drawing upon on-the-ground networks, its Group Violence Intervention (GVI) analyses pockets of each city to determine who is driving gun crime, and who is most at risk of shooting or being shot.

Each 'target' group is then directed to a 'call-in', where a partnership of law enforcement, social service providers and community leaders extend an offer of help for those who want it.

"[This] approach aims to strengthen communities' capacity to prevent violence while reducing arrest and incarceration."

Although simple enough in theory, the initiative has had a significant impact.

Gun homicides have fallen by 42 per cent in Stockton, California, while felony and misdemeanour arrests in Cincinnati dropped by 41.3 per cent and 32.7 per cent respectively.

The organisation is now looking to better implement 'customised visits', targeting at-risk groups in homes, hospitals or jails.

"They can be deployed quickly to help interrupt cycles of violence [and] address active disputes and impact players — including those who are not under court supervision and who are therefore difficult to reach," Mr Ben-Menachem said.

Gun owners groups believe Australia too should follow suit, rather than consider new regulatory reforms.

In recent weeks, Lobby group Gun Control Australia has called for an immediate police gun-safe storage blitz for all licence holders who have 10 or more guns.

Such proposals are 'penalising' the wrong people, according to Jack Wegman, President of the Victorian Sports Shooters Association.

"To own a gun here, we're vetted by police, you have to apply for a licence and we have stringent storage requirements. The community has nothing to worry about from legitimate sporting shooters."

Mr Wegman said moves to conflate high-profile mass-shootings overseas with Australia's gun laws had unfairly stigmatised the sports shooting community.

"I remember being made to feel like the rats under the house because I had an interest in shooting," he said.

"[Criminals] will always get illicit firearms. We as a society need to decide whether we're going to focus on targeting them, or heed the calls of anti-gun lobbies to restrict sports shooters' ability to own a firearm."


http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-0 ... fmredir=sm
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Re: ABC article on gun laws

Post by bladeracer » 08 Nov 2017, 6:12 pm

I'm actually impressed with that, pity it probably won't get a decent showing on our media.
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Re: ABC article on gun laws

Post by doc » 09 Nov 2017, 10:10 am

bladeracer wrote:I'm actually impressed with that, pity it probably won't get a decent showing on our media.


+1
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Re: ABC article on gun laws

Post by bladeracer » 09 Nov 2017, 10:32 am

Go and let her know we appreciate legitimate journalism.
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I also sent the link to SSAA and SSAA-Victoria as I didn't see it on their feeds anywhere.
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Re: ABC article on gun laws

Post by SendIt » 16 Nov 2017, 8:48 am

The debate around firearms tends to be a bit immature, and that's sad because it means we miss a lot of opportunities to focus on the real issues.


Perfect summation.
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Re: ABC article on gun laws

Post by RoginaJack » 16 Nov 2017, 3:36 pm

Hi Bladeracer, Yes I've seen the feed and was impressed with it but it makes sense so that might be the last we will see of it.
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Re: ABC article on gun laws

Post by Daddybang » 16 Nov 2017, 3:51 pm

RoginaJack wrote:Hi Bladeracer, Yes I've seen the feed and was impressed with it but it makes sense so that might be the last we will see of it.


Haven't seen anything else on it since!!! :drinks:
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Re: ABC article on gun laws

Post by Baronvonrort » 16 Nov 2017, 11:08 pm

Anything that cites Dr Samara McPhedran will be pretty good.

Here are a few more examples of her writing- https://theconversation.com/profiles/samara-mcphedran-13190/articles
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Re: ABC article on gun laws

Post by darwindingo » 17 Nov 2017, 1:55 am

Baronvonrort wrote:Anything that cites Dr Samara McPhedran will be pretty good.

Here are a few more examples of her writing- https://theconversation.com/profiles/samara-mcphedran-13190/articles


:thumbsup:

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Re: ABC article on gun laws

Post by marksman » 17 Nov 2017, 6:51 am

Baronvonrort wrote:Anything that cites Dr Samara McPhedran will be pretty good.

Here are a few more examples of her writing- https://theconversation.com/profiles/samara-mcphedran-13190/articles


thanks for that :thumbsup: :drinks:
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Re: ABC article on gun laws

Post by Daddybang » 17 Nov 2017, 7:01 am

Baronvonrort wrote:Anything that cites Dr Samara McPhedran will be pretty good.

Here are a few more examples of her writing- https://theconversation.com/profiles/samara-mcphedran-13190/articles


Thanks for the sharing of this. It's good to see well researched non emotive information on firearms. Just a shame that the mainstream media use d@#kheads like alpers or sham lee instead of this ladies research!!! :thumbsup:
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