Dear o sung wu,

I may well be misreading you but it seems you were not placing any responsibility on gun laws which allow a man in suburbia to own two pistols with which to murder his children. Rather you flag the Family Court as responsible in some way.

Now there may well have been issues which neither of us are privy to but increasingly easy access to weapons in this country must be considered a factor.

Dear Philip S,

You wrote;

“more people were saved by people having possession of a gun than people killed by crazies with guns.”

We now have two more children shot in NSW. Can you tell me the corresponding instances where people have been saved by weapon possession in the state this year so we can get some sense on whether you are talking out of your arse.

Dear Is Mise,

Two more kids on your list. Well done mate. Proud of yourself. I wonder in the dad's fetish was as pervasive as your own.

Steele,

"Now there may well have been issues which neither of us are privy to but increasingly easy access to weapons in this country must be considered a factor."

Evidence for this increasing easy access, please?

"We now have two more children shot in NSW. Can you tell me the corresponding instances where people have been saved by weapon possession in the state this year so we can get some sense on whether you are talking out of your arse"

Do you really think that if someone uses a weapon to save themselves that they are going to tell about it and risk prosecution for defending themselves?

"Two more kids on your list. Well done mate. Proud of yourself. I wonder in the dad's fetish was as pervasive as your own."

About up to your usual boorish ad hominem form, and you left the "?" out after "proud of yourself" and "I wonder...".

Hi there STEELEREDUX...

A terrible crime and an awful tragedy. I may well be wrong, but some of the decisions emanating from the Family Court are positively abhorrent as far as accessing the children, for the natural father.

If it's your wish to take me to task over this man being permitted to own and license handguns - please go ahead. I really have no grounds on which to rebut you or your argument.

However there was something rather odd, when one of the media outlets stated, the alleged perpetrator of this shocking crime, had no 'contemporary' criminal history? Should that be taken as, he's not known to police? Or he's not recorded at all (perhaps he's a S. 556A Crimes Act 1900, issue) or he's simply not known. Or he was an axe murderer, when in primary school, but his conduct has been exemplary ever since?

Had I been the Licensing Sergeant who granted this bloke a pistol licence - I'd not get another night's sleep I suspect?

Dear Is Mise,

I'm not sure why you see this as a ad hominem attack.

The definition is “a fallacious argumentative strategy whereby genuine discussion of the topic at hand is avoided by instead attacking the character, motive, or other attribute of the person making the argument, or persons associated with the argument, rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself.”

You are the argument.

Dear o sung wu,

I wasn't so much looking to take you to task as to explore why your first reaction was directed to the Family Court rather than the fact an ordinary suburban dwelling father of two had access to pistols that enabled him to slaughter his kids. It just seems to have slipped under the radar, city homes with weaponry seemingly normative now.

Living in the country I know many people who own rifles or shotguns but the only one I'm aware of who has a pistol licence is my cousin who is a police instructor.

There has been a huge upsurge in both the number of firearms in this country and the number of people allowed to own them. We are going to be hearing more and more of this as the firearm lobby get their way.

Steele,

"There has been a huge upsurge in both the number of firearms in this country and the number of people allowed to own them. We are going to be hearing more and more of this as the firearm lobby get their way"

Evidence?

And shew me where the 1996 firearms laws have been weakened.

Hi (again) STEELEREDUX...

In my third paragraph I questioned why this bloke was granted a pistol licence in the first place? Apparently he was known to police. Which is a strict no, no, whenever you're considering the 'fit and proper person' test on an applicant? It's a way for police to abrogate their responsibility, by declining the application, thus placing it in the hands of a magistrate, if the applicant wishes to pursue his application for a pistol licence.

You're also quite correct when you aver, how difficult it is to obtain a pistol licence, either for sporting purposes or a carrying licence. I must say, well before my time in licensing, until now, it's been inordinately difficult to persuade police to issue a pistol licence of any sort. Whether for sporting purposes (a minimum waiting period of 6 months & the signature of the club Capt. that you're a regular attendee at weekend competitions), or a fully fledged carrying license.

I'd be most surprised if that situation ever changed, to be very honest with you. Coppers are fighting a loosing battle, with illicit importations of hand-guns, so I can't see them ever winning the entire battle altogether?

Concerning the dreadful events over the past 24 hours or so, involving murder and suicide. I really have no answer for you. Wasn't their a mother, somewhere in Victoria, who drove her M/V into a dam in country Victoria, killing two or three of her children, claiming it was an accident? A father who threw his young child from the West Gate-Bridge in Melbourne. STEELE, human beings; being what they are; under some extraordinary circumstances, will do just about anything at all, with the right provocation?