And if you in the US don't either it is because you have not seen the TV series Underbelly and its sequel, Underbelly II. Apologies! Profound Apologies! (It is an Australian version of the Soprano's featuring real people)

A real estate developer who was hit the other day in front of his child, turns out to be an associate and enforcer for Ibriham, the successor to George Freemen, whose life and operations was featured in Underbelly. One would have though the law enforcement of two states and the Feds would have tidied all this up, but no, it is business as usual for crims and low lifers, and surprise, surprise, the tentacles reach all the way into the New South Wales government and political fallout is expected within days.

These things are not playing out on our screens but in our streets and they are more violent than the script writers can dream up. Bikies running riot in airports, nocking off underworld heavies, property developers being nocked over in the street, a government in shambles, and whose name is linked to it all, The heir to a drug empire in plain view. The hollywood of the south
http://www.smh.com.au/national/a-mur...0906-fctt.html
http://www.smh.com.au/national/how-a...0906-fcts.html

I don't watch TV I realized years ago real life IS getting more bizarre than TV.

Yes this saga is taking a very bizzaire twist, with a great deal of political skulduggery and a cast of characters who have featured strongly in various scandals over the years. It seems to have everything; assassination, drugs, prostitution, loan sharking, influence peddling, political corruption, corporate fraud, shonky property development, money laundering and names that read like who's who at the zoo
The stain that keeps spreading

Is it true that your government confiscated your private firearms a couple of years ago?

Is this rise in violent crime related to that?

No that is untrue, military style assault rifles became illegal following the Port Arthur massacre, but other firearms are legal but must be licensed. There has been no rise in violent crime as a result of the removal of military weapons, there has been a rise in crime associated with ethnic gangs, drugs and bikies, who are carrying out a turf war, but this is related to their culture of violence not availability of weapons. What it comes down to in our society is you must have a good reason for possession of weapons, no one is permitted to carry any concealed weapon. We do not believe in the gun culture prevalent in the US and our society works well without it. I have no fear of being attacked even in the largest city.www.theaustralian.news.com.au/.../0,25197,26055441-5006785,00.html

People like McGurk are a rarity in our society, when they do become known, they become notorious very quickly. Violence is often imported, McGurk was a New Zealander.

First of all, did the gang wars and turf wars start at the same time that the gun laws changed? Because the rise in crime rates in your country are suspiciously well-timed with the newer, stricter gun laws. An outsider looking at those statistics would draw the conclusion that the crime rates changed because the gun laws changed. However, if the gang wars started at the same time, that could indeed be a factor in why crime rates went up. Since I don't know the history of those gang wars, I cannot comment.

I do note one thing, however... ethnic gang wars and turf wars tend to be clustered in geographic specific areas. It has been a while since I looked at Australias crime statistics, but I remember the crime rates increasing in ALL areas of Australia, not just certain parts of certain cities or towns. Which leads me to believe that while the gang wars may be PART of the cause of the rise in crime statistics, they are NOT the full story. Which begs the question, if not gangs and not the change in gun laws, what is the cause of those rising crime statistics?

Elliot

What is the source of rising crime in any place. Drugs, disadvantage, but lack of guns isn't it. There is no proof that availability of guns has curbed crime in the US, or lack of them has increased it in Australia. The ethnic gangs became much more obvious here after 9/11 when the issues of Muslims in the community surfaced. We have ethnic based crime in various communities and gang related crime also. The bikies are banned in SA http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news...0915-fojq.htmlwith similar laws being considered in other states, the italian community has spawned the mafia in Melbourne and Griffith with its attendant drugs. Melbourne is one of the most violent cities in Australia but they fight each other or the police, in Sydney it is the Lebanese and Vietnamese, Sydney even has a middle east gangs squad to combat these groups. So if I was looking for a reason I would say refugee resettlement is the reason. People from regions of the world with serious internal problems who continue their war in their new home. People who congregate together in poorer sections of a city, form a ghetto and are subject to exploitation by their own and of course the ever present aboriginal problem which mirrors to some extent the problems of other groups.

If you look at the people arrested for violence here you find Lebanese, Somalians, Vietnamese, Sri Lankans, Tongans, Maori, Aboriginals. So it is apparent that those who are marginalised are the source communities, Just as our illegal immigration problems stem from Iraqi, Afghan, Sri Lankan sources. Most of our problems are imported and those that are indigenous stem form one source and it all has to do with social issues not firearms

The american gun lobby won't find evidence to support them here, violent crime is the lowest in twelve years so I would say lack of firearms was a major contributorhttp://www.alp.org.au/media/0309/msha310.php