"The wife of slain policeman Brett Forte has been tormented outside Toowoomba police station

THE wife of slain officer Brett Forte has been tormented by supporters of gunman Rick Maddison outside Toowoomba Police Station this morning.

Senior Constable Susan Forte was so emotional she could barely walk without the support of her family as she exited the station to place flowers at a memorial site.

While hunched over, surrounded by family and media, a carful of Maddison’s associates drove past and yelled: “What about Rick?”.
A gasp could be heard but the Forte family did not otherwise react.
..
Brett Forte’s funeral is expected to be held in Toowoomba next Wednesday."

http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/news/the-wife-of-slain-policeman-brett-forte-has-been-tormented-outside-toowoomba-police-station/news-story/442628661084299ebe3c76e00accf7a3

it will be of great interest, and of community concern, as to how the cop killer Maddison came to have in his possession a high powered automatic weapon. There is no suggestion at this stage that Maddison held the weapon legally, most likely not, but that is of little comfort when considering its impact.

From the ABC;

Australia lagging in reducing gun violence

Dr McPhedran said Australia was behind other countries such as Canada, the UK, parts of Europe and even in the US in reducing gun violence.

"Other countries have had some successes in terms of strategies and interventions to do that. Now legislation is a part of that, but it's not the only path," she said.

"Effective gun violence reduction strategies involve measures like increased seizure and disruption of criminal networks and firearms in criminal possession and it involves the recognising the correlates of gun violence.

"Perhaps it's time for us to ask why other countries have taken that approach and we have lagged behind."

Robert Nioa, the president of the Queensland Firearm Dealers Association, has agreed there needs to be more attention paid to how criminals are accessing weapons.

"We've seen recently evidence that fully automatic guns and handguns are coming in over the border through customs. And yet we haven't seen any serious efforts by governments to address illicit import of firearms," Mr Nioa said.
"I think that one of the big issues in relation to firearms legislation, is that there is this obsession with governments focusing on farmers and licensed individuals and not enough efforts put into stopping criminals getting illicit firearms."