In a true-to-form beat-up of shooters, state political correspondent Anna Patty has done a job on shooters again by drawing the public’s attention to the fact that, in approximately three-quarters of cases of reported domestic violence (AVOs) involving licensed gun owners, those owners ended up getting their firearms returned, AVOs overturned and licences upheld.
Instead of letting the figures speak for themselves by reporting the obvious ie that the majority of AVOs came about from vexatious (and mendacious) action by spouses, Ms Patty chose to refer to Samantha Lee, well-known shooter-hater and one of the two people who make up the grandly titled National Coalition for Gun Control.
Ms Lee contended that the reason women dropped domestic violence charges was out of fear – well perhaps it would be more realistic to believe that their lawyers advised them that their case had no basis in fact and that they would be wise not to perjure themselves in court.
In any case, can we honestly expect police to knowingly endanger spouses of gun owners where there is a genuine concern for their wellbeing? Ms Lee is really not making any friends of the State’s police who are there to serve and protect and take their responsibility in domestic violence cases very seriously.
It’s time for Ms Patty and the SMH to reintroduce a little balance back into their reporting, it seems.
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