Drizzt
Member
Courier Mail (Queensland, Australia)
July 5, 2003 Saturday
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 32
LENGTH: 904 words
HEADLINE: Effort to save money means police guns could be turned on themselves
BYLINE: Sean Parnell
BODY:
IN JANUARY 1999, the logistics manager for the Queensland Police Service came up with an idea he believed would save the State Government as much as $1 million.
Rod Williams, in a memo to corporate services, asked for a policy decision on whether outdated Ruger handguns and some Smith and Wesson revolvers could be traded in -- and not destroyed -- when the QPS upgraded to state-of-the-art Glock pistols.
Corporate services boss Dick Warry raised the memo with then commissioner Jim O'Sullivan and they had some problems with the idea, particularly the potential for adverse "community/political reaction" given the NSW police destroyed their surplus weapons when they upgraded to Glocks.
Warry told Williams their preferred option was "for destruction by way of smelting, under the most stringent controls and supervision" but offered the logistics manager the chance to respond before O'Sullivan signed off on a final policy.
Williams agreed that smelting would be "a very expedient and logistically simple solution" and "clearly be the least-risk option in terms of community/political reaction".
But he said the NSW case was different, as their handguns were stamped with the NSW Police Service badge and "almost exclusively of the elderly blue-metal .38 variety which are at the lower end of the revolver attractiveness/value spectrum".
"In contrast, the Queensland revolvers carry no Queensland Police Service markings, are newer and are almost exclusively of the stainless-steel variety.
"They are therefore at the very attractive/valuable end of the revolver spectrum."
In the end, Williams' persistence paid off and he was authorised to sound out Glock about the prospects of a trade-in.
Glock officials in Hong Kong and Austria began looking for potential buyers and, at one stage, reminded Williams that revolvers with barrels of under 100mm could not be imported into the United States and "consequently the governments of Queensland and Australia must be flexible with respect to the sale of these items in foreign countries other than the US, in case buyers for such products could be found".
In May 2000, Warry wrote to O'Sullivan and his deputy Ron McGibbon, informed them of a generous trade-in offer for 3674 old revolvers and said "having regard for the history of this matter, the efforts undertaken by (Williams) and Glock, and the potential returns to the service from the disposal of these superseded pistols by way of trade-in, I recommend that (Williams) be authorised to proceed accordingly".
O'Sullivan and McGibbon agreed, and those police-issue revolvers, many still in good condition, were spared from the scrapheap in an effort to slash the bill for 8600 new Glocks.
The extraordinary exchange, revealed under Freedom of Information laws, contains no evidence the QPS sought to ensure its old guns went to responsible, law-abiding and legitimate dealers and shooters.
As of this week, the QPS is running a handgun buyback which will compensate owners of newly banned weapons under a national program devised by Prime Minister John Howard, supported by state premiers and territory chief ministers, and implemented by police ministers.
Ironically, had the QPS put its old weapons in storage for a couple of years, it theoretically could have compensated itself -- only those Ruger handguns and the Smith and Wesson revolvers would now have to be destroyed under stringent controls and supervision.
Australia has joined the US in banning the import of prohibited revolvers with barrels of less than 100mm, but it is unclear if any of the old QPS guns have already slipped back through Customs and into the hands of legal or illegal shooters.
The crackdown on guns comes after the success of Howard's original gun buyback which followed Martin Bryant's murderous rampage at Port Arthur.
This time a shooting at Monash University was the trigger for reforms, and governments are now offering a six-month amnesty to those wanting to get rid of illegal handguns, offering inducements to sporting shooters to hand in their legal and illegal weapons, and tightening controls on those who continue to own high-powered small arms.
The new laws give exemptions to security personnel (including police) and primary producers, and there are fears of a boom in gun ownership in those groups.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty, who is concerned decommissioned police handguns may have fallen into the wrong hands, believes criminals may be misusing exemptions in gun laws to arm themselves.
As chairman of the Australian Crime Commission, Keelty is keen for law enforcement officials to shine some light on the underground handgun trade and get concealable weapons off the streets.
More work is being done on storage requirements for legal handguns, given research showing most thefts occur from private residences, and the QPS will use the buyback to conduct an unprecedented audit of all licensed gun owners.
Senior police estimate between 7000 and 8000 handguns will be collected and destroyed in Queensland and the national compensation bill is set to rise well above $100 million.
But governments, police and other law-enforcement officials realise the buyback alone will not solve the gun problem, and more work is needed to claw back ground already lost to criminals.
Sean Parnell is state political correspondent for The Courier-Mail
July 5, 2003 Saturday
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 32
LENGTH: 904 words
HEADLINE: Effort to save money means police guns could be turned on themselves
BYLINE: Sean Parnell
BODY:
IN JANUARY 1999, the logistics manager for the Queensland Police Service came up with an idea he believed would save the State Government as much as $1 million.
Rod Williams, in a memo to corporate services, asked for a policy decision on whether outdated Ruger handguns and some Smith and Wesson revolvers could be traded in -- and not destroyed -- when the QPS upgraded to state-of-the-art Glock pistols.
Corporate services boss Dick Warry raised the memo with then commissioner Jim O'Sullivan and they had some problems with the idea, particularly the potential for adverse "community/political reaction" given the NSW police destroyed their surplus weapons when they upgraded to Glocks.
Warry told Williams their preferred option was "for destruction by way of smelting, under the most stringent controls and supervision" but offered the logistics manager the chance to respond before O'Sullivan signed off on a final policy.
Williams agreed that smelting would be "a very expedient and logistically simple solution" and "clearly be the least-risk option in terms of community/political reaction".
But he said the NSW case was different, as their handguns were stamped with the NSW Police Service badge and "almost exclusively of the elderly blue-metal .38 variety which are at the lower end of the revolver attractiveness/value spectrum".
"In contrast, the Queensland revolvers carry no Queensland Police Service markings, are newer and are almost exclusively of the stainless-steel variety.
"They are therefore at the very attractive/valuable end of the revolver spectrum."
In the end, Williams' persistence paid off and he was authorised to sound out Glock about the prospects of a trade-in.
Glock officials in Hong Kong and Austria began looking for potential buyers and, at one stage, reminded Williams that revolvers with barrels of under 100mm could not be imported into the United States and "consequently the governments of Queensland and Australia must be flexible with respect to the sale of these items in foreign countries other than the US, in case buyers for such products could be found".
In May 2000, Warry wrote to O'Sullivan and his deputy Ron McGibbon, informed them of a generous trade-in offer for 3674 old revolvers and said "having regard for the history of this matter, the efforts undertaken by (Williams) and Glock, and the potential returns to the service from the disposal of these superseded pistols by way of trade-in, I recommend that (Williams) be authorised to proceed accordingly".
O'Sullivan and McGibbon agreed, and those police-issue revolvers, many still in good condition, were spared from the scrapheap in an effort to slash the bill for 8600 new Glocks.
The extraordinary exchange, revealed under Freedom of Information laws, contains no evidence the QPS sought to ensure its old guns went to responsible, law-abiding and legitimate dealers and shooters.
As of this week, the QPS is running a handgun buyback which will compensate owners of newly banned weapons under a national program devised by Prime Minister John Howard, supported by state premiers and territory chief ministers, and implemented by police ministers.
Ironically, had the QPS put its old weapons in storage for a couple of years, it theoretically could have compensated itself -- only those Ruger handguns and the Smith and Wesson revolvers would now have to be destroyed under stringent controls and supervision.
Australia has joined the US in banning the import of prohibited revolvers with barrels of less than 100mm, but it is unclear if any of the old QPS guns have already slipped back through Customs and into the hands of legal or illegal shooters.
The crackdown on guns comes after the success of Howard's original gun buyback which followed Martin Bryant's murderous rampage at Port Arthur.
This time a shooting at Monash University was the trigger for reforms, and governments are now offering a six-month amnesty to those wanting to get rid of illegal handguns, offering inducements to sporting shooters to hand in their legal and illegal weapons, and tightening controls on those who continue to own high-powered small arms.
The new laws give exemptions to security personnel (including police) and primary producers, and there are fears of a boom in gun ownership in those groups.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty, who is concerned decommissioned police handguns may have fallen into the wrong hands, believes criminals may be misusing exemptions in gun laws to arm themselves.
As chairman of the Australian Crime Commission, Keelty is keen for law enforcement officials to shine some light on the underground handgun trade and get concealable weapons off the streets.
More work is being done on storage requirements for legal handguns, given research showing most thefts occur from private residences, and the QPS will use the buyback to conduct an unprecedented audit of all licensed gun owners.
Senior police estimate between 7000 and 8000 handguns will be collected and destroyed in Queensland and the national compensation bill is set to rise well above $100 million.
But governments, police and other law-enforcement officials realise the buyback alone will not solve the gun problem, and more work is needed to claw back ground already lost to criminals.
Sean Parnell is state political correspondent for The Courier-Mail
