In a frustrating start to the year for lawful firearms owners, the media continues to sensationalise, present half-truths as facts and fail to include ‘the other side’ of stories relating to firearms.
One example was published on the Herald Sun website on Monday, and later in the Geelong Advertiser, claiming we were “amid a plague of firearm thefts”.
What the journalist failed to mention was that firearm thefts across Victoria are on the decline and have been for four years.
Firearm thefts in Victoria declined by more than 12 per cent – from 816 thefts in 2011-12 to 710 thefts in 2014-15. Hardly a ‘plague’.
In another shocking example of poor journalism by the Herald Sun, an article titled ‘Thieves tracking down firearms owners online to steal their guns’ claimed thieves were using the White Pages online as a tool to snatch guns.
The article claimed that criminals were “scouring websites for gun and shooting clubs” then searching people’s names and addresses on the White Pages.
The baseless article named just one source – rogue Victoria Police officer Craig Gillard, who was in hot water last year for his misleading and unsubstantiated claims about firearms thefts from rural properties.
The Sun fails to provide evidence of which websites were apparently targeted by criminals or any statistical evidence that this actually occurred.
What is more shocking is that no journalist ever contacted SSAA Victoria before running the story. If contacted, the Association would have told the reporter that no member has ever reported that this happened to them.
The journalists appear to have only spoken one source, who is not even a member of Licensing and Regulation Division, that is, if they spoke to him at all. The unauthorised comments made by Craig Gillard are almost identical to those published in The Age on November 29.
A final issue cannot be ignored – the article links lawful firearms owners to a spate of shootings in Melbourne. There is no link. A police taskforce has been established to search for a link between ‘gun crimes’ and stolen firearms, but it has only just been established and has released no findings.
These half-truths, fabrications and lies will continue to circulate online, in print and broadcast media as more and more journalists opt to ‘research’ by reading previous articles, rather than phone around or read reports to get the facts.
SSAA Victoria addresses as many articles as it can, but calls on all members to do what they can to hold these journalists to account.