Steele,

"“A Commissioner's Permit overrides all, the blame lies with whoever issued the permit.”

Absolute A grade rot.

Then tell us why it is rot.

Final authority, under the various Firearm Acts, lies with the Commissioner.
A licence may be issued or cancelled by the Commissioner for any reason that he thinks fit.
In this case, he thought that Edwards was a fit and proper person to hold a Pistol Licence and to be given permission to purchase pistols.

"He" of course not necessarily being the Commissioner, but the person to whom authority may have been delegated.

That say's it all, the gun freaks will train any nutter in the finer art of killing, providing the nutter has a scrap of paper from an undisclosed public servant giving him the okay.

I have a solution to that; why not take all the guns off all the gun freaks who have no legitimate reason to have a gun. The amateurs, the funsters, the cowboys, the fools and the freaks.

So many incompetent fools are ducking and weaving on this one, trying to shift the blame onto some other equally incompetent fool that if it was not so serious it would be laughable.

My, my,Paul, you are getting desperate!

The ultimate authority under the Act is the Police Commissioner; club officials cannot overrule his decisions.

There is no avenue of appeal against his decisions under the Act.

Just remember, before you start dribbling again, the club doesn't issue the Firearms Licence nor does it issue the Permits to Acquire, that is all done by the police.

Why do you think that Firearms Registry didn't tell their boss that he was wrong?

Come out into the real world for a change.

By the way have you found anything to substantiate your wild assertion that the US NRA send funds to the SSAA?

The following link on Japanese sword hunts are interesting in the context of gun control as well as that in Germany in 1938 and the US view in the constitution.

http://www.revolvy.com/topic/Sword%20hunt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_gun_control_argument

Issy, stop throwing out the furphies and the smoke screens.

THE FACT IS;

Your mob down at The St Mary's Gun Club were not forced by anyone, including the Commissioner of Police, to take John Edwards as member and train him to ultimately shoot dead his two children. The SSAA as operators of gun club training, a prerequisite for obtaining hand guns, have a responsibility to the community that those you are taking on are not mentally unstable dangerous people.

Do you think a dirty peace of paper washes the bloody of your hand? It don't. The fact is Edwards told the truth about his past history on his application form to the club. But like the bloody fools they are, they seen fit to take him on without any checks of their own being done.

Is your gun club the same, take all comers, providing they've got a scrap of paper. Not good enough!

Go back to my original post and answer the question;

Should Australia be concerned that not enough is done to determine the mental state of those who in the first instance apply for a gun licence, and then their ongoing mental fitness to hold such a licence?

Issy, how about a bit of honesty.

Hi there PAUL1405...

You and I don't often agree with each other on many fronts; however you've got a good point here. Much more care should be taken - 'By the Police' in order to determine the emotional or psychological fitness of all applicants for F/A Licences (not only handguns). If an applicant is flagged, or admits on his application, to having such issues, it should befall a qualified Psychiatrist to give an opinion as to whether a F/A licence should be issued.

After I was diagnosed with war caused PTSD, renewal of my F/A license 'always' had attached to it, a letter from my Psychiatrist indicating I was a fit and proper person to be in possession of a F/A. Yet I went through over 32 years of service with the police carrying a handgun. After retiring, I sought a civilian F/A licence and on the application; where you're asked; 'if I'd ever suffered from any mental illness', I had to 'fess up' to having PTSD, and I was in receipt of a 100% pension from DVA.

Anyone who wilfully conceals evidence of suffering from a mental illness, when seeking a F/A licence, should be banned for a significant period in my view.