Posted on 02/10/2007 11:29:03 PM PST by fishhound
A NETWORK of firearms dealers has rorted the $600 million national guns buyback scheme, and weapons supposedly destroyed years ago have resurfaced in criminal hands in NSW.
The Herald can reveal that at least two of the so-called "phantom guns" - both pistols written off by the Queensland Firearms Registry - have been fired at the scene of separate unsolved robberies in Sydney in the past six months. Police believe there are hundreds more like them.
The buyback scheme has been credited with removing about 650,000 firearms from the streets in the past 10 years. A newly elected John Howard staked his political future on forcing it through after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. He still regards it as one his finest achievements.
But thousands of the guns were never destroyed. The man largely responsible for the rort is Frank Curr, a licensed firearms dealer and pawn shop owner from Wacol in Queensland.
Curr paraded as a civic-minded dealer concerned about drugs and violence in his neighbourhood while secretly arming criminals across the border with an estimated 2000 guns he had been paid to destroy or render inoperable. Only 50 of the weapons have been recovered.
Curr, who was convicted last year and will be sentenced next week, was brought down by a four-year covert operation by the NSW Firearms Squad, which describes him as Australia's largest dealer in illegal firearms.
Police say Curr used a network of 20 other illegal arms dealers in NSW and Queensland, with links to Victoria and South Australia, to flood Sydney with 1600 to 2000 guns between 1998 and 2002. At the same time, Curr was being reimbursed by the Government for supposedly destroying or rendering harmless firearms he had received from gun owners who surrendered their weapons.
Detective Inspector Albert Joseph, of the Firearms Squad, and other undercover officers infiltrated the heart of the illegal gun trade operating from Queensland. He says only a few of Curr's guns were recovered because of steps the dealer took to obliterate their serial numbers. Those that have been found had remnants of their serial numbers that were traceable by ballistic experts.
Police alleged that Curr made between $1.6 million and $2 million before he and his network of illegal gun dealers - which included a cartel on the NSW mid North Coast and Blue Mountains - was finally shut down.
Inspector Joseph said Curr corrupted a licensed armourer into providing certificates that weapons had been rendered harmless, so the dealer could then sell them as replica pistols in Queensland, thereby exploiting a loophole in the buyback scheme.
In evidence presented to the trial, police said official statistics showed handgun violence had increased more than fourfold since 1996.
"The possession and sale of illicit firearms is the subject of intense media, political and community interest and the recent release of statistics by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research clearly indicate the significant rise of handgun-related crimes resulting in violence," Inspector Joseph told the court.
Both the pistols recovered in NSW were used in robberies in which only the empty cartridge cases of bullets fired were found at the scenes of the crimes.
* A man faced court yesterday after police uncovered a cache of weapons, including a rocket launcher and a hand grenade, in his Melbourne home and ute.
Timothy Robert Vivoda, 36, of Monbulk, faced eight firearms-related charges in Ringwood Magistrates Court. Army experts told the court the rocket launcher and the grenade were inoperable. Vivoda's lawyer said the weapons were in the ute because they were to be taken to the tip.
Vivoda was remanded to reappear in the same court on Monday.
"The man largely responsible for the rort is Frank Curr..."
What is a "rort" ....and the good man is a curr, by jolly, and I demand satisfaction. (sorry that is the best Aussiespeak I can manage)
"...the weapons were in the ute because they were to be taken to the tip..."
What's a ute? A tip?
Um, ok. I wonder though, did he sell them to criminals, as in folks who rob, steal and injure for fun and profit? Or did he sell them to average home owners, who wished to protect their families, who were thus classified as criminals? When it's a crime to own a gun, any decent citizen who wishes to exercise his God-given right to self-defense, becomes a criminal.
Oh. Well, that makes sense. Thanks, iowamark.
I have an idea that apparently never occurred to the Australians:
ROUND UP THE OUTLAWS, TAKE AWAY THEIR GUNS AND PUT THEM IN PRISON!
Let's see now, the road to Hell needs paving. Now, what would be a good paving material? Hmmm, I know!!!
as long as its not the inlaws :)
Ah. I though a "ute" was a teenager as pronounced by the late Surgeon General, Joycelyn Elders.
Someone told me that, not long ago, they they took the guns away from citizens in Australia. Does anyone know if this is true? That there is no legal possession there?
Handguns (maximum .38 cal) are licensed and are only allowed for target shooting. You must be a member of a range.
First, a "rort" is not just a "derogatory term". It has a meaning. More like fraud, con, trick, scam, etc.
Onward.
When the Buy-Back happened I was forced to Hand In 3 of my firearms...
Shotgun - 12 guage, 8 shot pump (now illegal because it was a Pump Action shotgun with a magazine capacity of more than 2)
Shotgun 410, 4 shot (illegal because it was a Pump with a magazine capacity of more than 2)
22 rimfire, 1022 Carbine (illegal because it was a semi-auto)
You can own a centerfire bolt action, rimfire, side-by-side or O/U shotgun, and other firearms Except those on the Banned list. And ONLY if you have a valid reason. Self defense is NOT a valid reason. Valid reasons include... member of an Approved shooting club, written permission from a Land Owner granting permission to shot on his land and what types of firearms may by shot on their land, occupation such as securtity guard or professional hunter, livelihood such as farmer.
You can own a semi-auto shotgun only if you have a medical condition which prohibits your ability to Open a side-by-side or O/U shotgun. Handguns are a more complicated thing.
To get a license now requires...
=> You sit a Safety Course and are issued a Certificate (this is a 7 to 8 hour course involving the theory and practical).
=> Join a club or have land owner permission or other reason
=> Have someone you know - who is not your relative - endorse two passport size photos
=> Present proof of your residence
=> Complete the application and submit all the above.
28 days later the Weapons Licensing Branch (note it says Weapons licensing and not Firearm licensing) will look at your application.
If granted and you now wish to buy a firearm you must get a Permission To Buy from your local police. The first one takes 28 days.
Rimfire and shotguns are considered "Category A" while Centerfire is considered "Category B". You can buy as many Category A firearms as you like, without question. But must provide a Valid Reason for each Category B - they don't understand different calibers have different reasons and Operational and Use abilities.
ALL guns must be stored in a Gun Safe or other storage of equal ability. If weighing less than 150kg (330 pounds) it must be bolted to the floor or wall. All handgun safes, regardless of weight, must be bolted down. The gun is to be stored unloaded with its bolt removed. The ammo stored separately in its own locked container within the safe. (The state of Queensland is now conducting Random Gun Storage Inspections - you are issues a letter informing you if you have been chosen, two weeks prior to the inspection.)
You must present your firearm license to buy ammo.
Here's the Official Website for the Firearm Licensing for the state of Queensland http://www.police.qld.gov.au/programs/weaponsLicensing/
Note: In this state you used to be able to walk into a sport store or gun store, present your Driving License and walk out with a firearm. How times have changed.
When Howard (the leader of the country) introduced the Gun Control Measures he Forced the states into implementing them - each state governs their own firearm laws - by threatening them with Federal Govt funding withdrawals. The money for the buyback came by Adding an Addtional 1% levy to the Medicare Levy all tax payers pay for Community Health - yes, he took your money to then use it to buy back your own guns!
Most people simply went and bought replacement firearms. So just as many guns were in circulation.
Story: As I lived on a boarder town between two states I had two licenses. Neither state recognised the Safety Course of the other state even though it is a National Course. I then moved. And the day after one of my state licenses expired there was a note from the local police to contact them Immediately - they had come to confiscate my guns!. I asked them how they knew where I was as I had Not updated my firearm license details and they told me they traced me through my driver's license. - The firearm license and driver's license were Not to be linked, we were told.
As there is a Database of gun owners, a plice office can, frmo his cars onboard computure, look up your name and address and know if you are armed, as well as the armed nature of others in your street!
The anti-gun people in this country consist of two groups. One group has two or three members, the other... unknown numbers, though probably not much more. But Howard believed their silly lobbying when he introduced the Gun Control. Howard Personally does not think citizens should be armed, and has stated he looks for Any reason to get more guns out of the public's hands.
If the police confiscate guns these days, they call an Approved Armorer who collects the guns and Destroys them - usually with a Drop Saw, HA! A certificate is then issued attaining to its destruction. The destroyed guns are carted away in special locked steel dumpsters.
Going by the article, it wasn't Only guns from the buyback in 1998 he has been selling. It sounds like confiscated guns he has collected from the police since that time have been the main source of his loot.
The law is so stupid that, a Barrel - without an action or stock, just a barrel such as a spare barrel - is also considered a separate firearm and needs to be Registered accordinly. BB guns and airrifles are Category A firearms.
Handguns - nothing larger than .38 with a barrel shorter than 100mm for revolvers. 9mm such as Glocks, can Not have a mag bigger than 10 rounds or a length shorter than 120mm, for citizens, police are different. Most cops now carry Glocks.
Thank You for your informative and well written, articulate, response to my question.
I asked it because a friend told me that a friend over there lost a $100k collection. I had been a little skeptical.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.