More than 2300 registered firearms have been stolen from private residences across NSW since 2009, prompting calls from the industry that the thefts were more than coincidence.
Fifty firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition were stolen from registered NSW gun owners in one period of 16 days, with claims the firearms registry has been compromised.
One robbery victim had eight guns stolen within months of being audited by police and his new address added to the registry.
“I was audited by police in May last year and robbed in October. I had eight weapons stolen from a secure safe,” the victim said.
“I live in an estate of 70 homes and was the only place robbed. To me it was obvious I was targeted with information from somewhere.
“Call me cynical but it is too much of a coincidence.
“I have been in the same shooters club for years and never had a problem.”
In a number of cases since May 14, when the robberies began, entire gun safes have been removed from properties with weapons inside.
Officers said criminals could access the information through a variety of sources – not just the registry.
However dealers are not buying the explanation from police saying the registry would be a gold mine to criminals as it contained details of the types of weapons, where they were stored and addresses of owners.
“We have no evidence to suggest the information has come from the registry,” head of the firearms and organised crime squad Detective Superintendent Ken Finch said.
He said there was no investigation into the registry at the moment – but nothing had been ruled out.
Supt Finch agreed some of the recent thefts appeared to be targeted: “Most are in rural areas where people know locals have multiple weapons.”
Supt Finch said the registry was subject to strict audit provisions and not accessible by all police officers.
“Access is only granted by a local area commander when it is needed for an investigation.”
He said only a limited number of civilians had access and usage of the list was strictly monitored: “Gun clubs are another possible source of information. Some robberies could be opportunistic.”
No reported investigation has been conducted to date into NSW Firearms Registry information leaks and co-ordinated gun theft from registered owners.
Highly trained policewoman mistakes .40 cal pistol for Taser
Meanwhile a highly-trained policewoman Sergeant Sheree Bissett shot and killed a man at Lakemba who had mental issues and was harming himself, posing no threat to any other person.
Witnesses state Sergeant Bissett and three other female officers attended the incident where she tested her Taser several times then drew her Glock handgun and without any proper warning shot Salter in the back.
Deputy State Coroner Scott Mitchell said the critical incident investigation report, written by Detective Inspector Russell Oxford of the NSW Homicide Squad, was “seriously flawed” and he thought it is more likely than not that Sergeant Bissett mistakenly chose her Glock, having intended to employ her Taser.
Tactical Response police at the Lindt Café siege in Sydney according to a military advisor were armed with the wrong firearms for the situation and botched the apprehension of Islamic terrorist Man Haron Monis, killing a hostage with a stray bullet.
The officers claimed to the NSW Police Integrity Commission Mr Salter grappled with Constable Abela before Sergeant Bissett shot him in the back, but paramedics and Mr Salter’s father said there was no contact.
Wilson, Abela and Metcalfe have been charged with perjury and giving false evidence, while Bissett has been charged with one count of giving false evidence to the commission. All four have been ordered to stand trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre on April 26, 2016.
These officers are still out there, not suspended, with guns, and the capabilities of fabricating evidence.
The public should be terrified that Sergeant Sheree Bissett who has difficulty distinguishing between a non-lethal Taser and a Glock .40 cal pistol, is still on duty with a firearm in her holster.
The great shame of it all is the SSAA could have prevented the registration of individual firearms and could have campaigned for licenses to be issued for life. When it hit the fan in 1997 the SSAA was nowhere to be found.
This has been going on for years.
It took years of lobbying by SSAA and Shooters Party to police for them to have the licensee’s address removed from firearms licenses.
It’s a known fact that in WA, SA, VIC that they use their insecure radios to transmit information when doing safe inspections. Until very recently, only NSW is sourcing new radios that are secure.
Additionally – information has been sourced from FAR by criminals.
Naturally this will be used to justify the removal of ALL firearms into secure armouries – bigger honey pots.
And all the while, the simple causes – police and their systems – remain aloof from any criticism. Through the clever application of misinformation via police self promotion, the general public believe that police are experts in the use of firearms, when nothing could be further from the truth.
PC
yep, from what i understand, and a number of news articles on the breach in NSW firearms registry security, the data contents of the registry were copied to the “general access drive” of the police computer system to facilitate general duty officers being able to get names and addresses for safe inspections etc, unfortunately the drive is accessible to all staff even cleaning staff. the data would easily fit onto a flash drive, and would be a very valuable commodity. as to rural areas being targeted, a rifle isn’t exactly a criminal’s choice in firearm, a pistol is, most farms have rifles and shotguns, does the claim that rural properties are targeted make sense? handgun thefts are mainly from security companies, where many pistols are stored in one place making it a more viable target, or opportunistic thefts from police and security guards while wearing the gun. the list of accidents from police use of firearms is if collected together astounding, and points to the very inadequate training they receive with respect to firearms.