Director of Public Prosecutions in S. Australia calls for a ban on all guns

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http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22587048-421,00.html

Ban all guns in South Australia - DPP
By Nick Henderson
October 15, 2007 11:19am
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GUNS ownership should be completely banned in South Australia, Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Pallaras claims.

No, it should not be!

Following a shooting in the city over the weekend Mr Pallaras said all guns should be made illegal.

So, let me try to understand this logic; if a gun "kills" someone, then all guns should be banned, so if a car "kills" someone, then all cars should be banned.

"It seems to me we are slipping into a mode where by we are coming to accept this is the sort of behaviour that we should tolerate in this city," he told morning ABC radio.

No one thinks tolerating murder is good.

"I think it is a time now while it is perhaps in its early stages to stamp on it hard.

"The answer is, in my view, gun control and gun eradication it is simply not enough to licence people with guns because that hasn't worked - people are still getting shot."

Newsflash! Banning guns is not going to work either! The criminals are still going to have guns, and are still going to commit crimes. The only people who will suffer are the law abiding citizens who do not have a good way to defend themselves any more.

 

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http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22593984-1702,00.html

SA rejects total gun ownership ban


October 16, 2007 09:56am

Article from: AAP

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THE South Australian Government has rejected calls for a total ban on gun ownership across the state.

Police Minister Paul Holloway and Attorney-General Michael Atkinson said a total ban would disadvantage sporting shooters and farmers.

They said the Government had already increased penalties for illegal gun use and gun-related crime was not on the rise.

Yesterday Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Pallaras suggested the ban as police continued to investigate two shootings in Adelaide, one of which left a man in hospital in a critical condition.

"I'm reluctant to totally prohibit anything because prohibition historically hasn't seemed to work very well," Mr Pallaras told ABC radio.

No, way, someone actually "gets in" a little.

"But I'm tending towards that view because, even though it may well impinge upon the rights of some gunowners, it's a question of balance.

"The balance is between the rights of the gunowners to shoot, and the rights of a society not to be shot."

See, now you're starting down the road to crazy town,...and... you're there. Punish the criminals, not the rights of gunowners!

His comments were described as unrealistic by farmers, while the firearms lobby said it would do nothing to reduce crime or the number of illegal guns in society.

Yes, exactly! Where has this gun lobby been? Especially when Australia was destroying the guns which were "bought at a fair market value" from their rightful owners.

Mr Atkinson said today gun ownership already was strictly controlled in South Australia.

"The guns being used in street shootings have invariably been obtained on the black market through underworld fixers, such as the criminal bikie gangs," he said.

So your laws are doing NOTHING to stop crime.

"I'm concerned that an unsophisticated attempt to ban all guns could see even more ending up in the hands of those criminal gangs."

Today police declared one of the weekend shooting incidents a major crime.

They said a 23-year-old man remained in a critical condition in hospital after being shot in the neck outside a gaming lounge.

The shot was fired from a moving vehicle with several more hitting windows of the building.

"Police believe the man was targeted and it was not a random act," a police spokesman said.