Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his children

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Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his children

Post by rc42 » 07 Apr 2021, 9:29 pm

NSW weapons licensing messed up and ignored history of domestic violence, granted the guy a firerams license, he then bought guns and shot his children.
You can be sure that the highlighted "key failures by government agencies" will have NSW following the way that QLD now treats license applications and renewals with a 'reject first, ask questions later' approach.

"A coroner has found the tragic deaths of two Sydney children, shot by their father, could have been prevented. Despite having a history of domestic violence, John Edwards was able to gain a gun licence before murdering son Jack and daughter Jennifer in their West Pennant Hills home. Today, the coroner highlighted key failures by government agencies. More: https://7news.link/2PHWkXt​ "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEGjCEd7Nl8
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Re: Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his childr

Post by bigrich » 08 Apr 2021, 4:36 am

Very tragic story that should never have happened
Weapons licensing stuffed up badly
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Re: Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his childr

Post by straightshooter » 08 Apr 2021, 6:44 am

There appears to be very little ventilation of the means by which he obtained a commissioner's permit and whether individuals in the bureaucracy responsible for it's grant, all the way up to the commissioner, have been disciplined in any way.
"Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about."
"There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking." Sir Joshua Reynolds
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Re: Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his childr

Post by bigrich » 08 Apr 2021, 8:28 am

straightshooter wrote:There appears to be very little ventilation of the means by which he obtained a commissioner's permit and whether individuals in the bureaucracy responsible for it's grant, all the way up to the commissioner, have been disciplined in any way.


Yup. Sure as , LFAO’s will end up getting screwed over this.
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Re: Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his childr

Post by rc42 » 08 Apr 2021, 8:33 am

One unfortunate truth of situations like this is that psychopaths like this guy will always find a way to kill their victims and themselves whether they have access to firearms of not.
There was a similar case in Brisbane recently when the guy dowsed himself and his family in petrol in a car and killed them all.

No doubt the rules will toughen again and commissioner's permits will become near impossible to get but not a single life will be saved. But how a person with his history got through the process beggars belief.
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Re: Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his childr

Post by Robin » 08 Apr 2021, 9:28 am

For the family, It saddens me to hear this , as a father and even tho my child makes me angry at times, I could never imagine hurting them or my wife, so for me, I don't understand what goes on in these guys heads.

One of my neighbours has a DVO on her x husband and even tho he has threaten her and her kids life, the cops cant touch him or charge him, this family is scared that her x will eventually find them, fyi she doesn't know I have guns, I'm very picky on who I let know as anything can happen if too many know.

Weapons licensing really fd up on this and what scares me about this is that on this forum, there has been a couple of people who have asked about getting a licence and having mental issues, thats just this site, I can imagine there are alot more out there, if they all apply, then eventually at least one will slip through.

I don't want to see it harder to get a licence, for me, I really enjoy shooting, the bang, the smell and most things that go with it, However I would like to see a better process to prevent this type of mistakes, What I would like to see is this become more computer automated rather then too much human, the computer scans the application and at the same time, it can do all the checks, it can check any police record, if something pops up, then it sends the application to someone for further checking, this way the first stage is a def YES, NO or Needs further checking, processing time will also be faster.
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Re: Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his childr

Post by boingk » 08 Apr 2021, 12:29 pm

Hadn't been charged since 1998.

License granted in 2017.

Went and shot his kids before offing himself.

Just goes to show that no matter how strict the processes and conditions are there will always be that one determined a$$hole who goes the whole nine yard to achieve his ends.

I doubt there will be many recommendations implemented. When I have the opportunity to speak with Police most are against the current spate of inspections and seizures resulting from DV offences - they view it as pushing people to not report issues that would otherwise benefit from Police interaction by coming to a peaceful resolution.

There is a point when the ownus of conduct comes back on the individual and not the system.

We are WELL beyond that point as I see it.

- boingk
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Re: Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his childr

Post by on_one_wheel » 08 Apr 2021, 1:08 pm

This is extremely tragic, any lives lost is very upsetting, even more so when it's taken from such young and innocent people... heartbreaking.

The anti's will have a field day with the term "fit and proper person" unfortunately they will be dancing on their graves to spread their anti firearm stance.
I seriously doubt that this tragedy would have been avoided in the absence of firearms, the perpetrator would have done it regardless by any other means.
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Re: Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his childr

Post by Larry » 08 Apr 2021, 1:42 pm

If the dates boingk posted are correct I dont see it as a failing of the system. As after 5 years any conviction can be put aside or taken into account when granting a license. I agree with the 5 year and 10 year time out periods just because you f up once does not mean you are a nut job or crim for the rest of your life.
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Re: Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his childr

Post by Robin » 08 Apr 2021, 2:30 pm

Larry wrote:If the dates boingk posted are correct I dont see it as a failing of the system. As after 5 years any conviction can be put aside or taken into account when granting a license. I agree with the 5 year and 10 year time out periods just because you f up once does not mean you are a nut job or crim for the rest of your life.


I partially agree and disagree there.

Some crime should have a expiry date, smoking weed , speeding , maybe a drink driving offence should be on that list

Some Crime should should be on the naughty list for life, like murder , rape, DV , repeating drink drivers. should be on that list , if it your offence involves the victim to be affected for life or dead should be on that list.
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Re: Sydney inquest into licensed father that shot his childr

Post by Bugman » 08 Apr 2021, 4:15 pm

Have a read of the findings on the NSW Coroners Court website. Some 270 pages of details etc. Let us hope that this will not happen again, but I doubt it.
I would suggest the report be read before commenting further. Just a suggestion. Do I have a more intimate knowledge on this matter, yes.
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