CHRIS THOMSON
WA police have bought $946,000 of rifles but say the purchase will not escalate their firepower.
The spend was sealed by a contract finalised in August with Sydney-based weapons dealer Grycol International.
The .223 caliber rifles are intended to replace and standardise the police force’s varied and ageing mix of rifles.
The rifles are a modern derivative of the AR-15 whose most famous version was the M16 used in the Vietnam War.
They are made by American manufacturer Smith & Wesson, for whom Grycol is the Australian distributor.
Grycol managing director Gary Collibee said his company had been supplying law enforcement agencies “for decades”.
He confirmed this was not the first time he had supplied WA Police.
“It’s a good contract for Smith & Wesson and a good contract for us,” Mr Collibee said of the latest, near million-dollar, deal.
Also included in the contract are spare parts, magazine pouches, cleaning kits, carry cases and training on how to use the weapons.
A police spokesman denied the new rifles were an escalation of armoury.
“WA Police is actually downsizing its holdings of long arm weapons to consolidate the type and caliber of the weapons,” the spokesman said.
He said existing rifles would be destroyed by WA Police, but declined to reveal which branches of the force would be using the guns.
Semi-automatic rifles were banned from public ownership, except in a handful of occupations, in reaction to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre where crazed gunman Martin Bryant killed 35 people with an AR-15.
Whilst our police force are underpaid servants to us all why should they not equip themselves against the ever increasing multi cultural society that create difficult situations from time to time. JMO
The Question is………..Did Martyn Bryant…..do…..all…..the…..shooting?????????
AR-15 or no AR-15 any man with a mental problem can cause equal amounts of damage with a bolt action, semi-auto or pistol. Its not
what we are not allowed to have legally but what people already have illegaly. Name one of the many firearm related crimes that have happened so frequently this year that WHERE registered. Not ONE
Just curious near on million bucks for rifles,how many do you get,is this there new scare tactics for out of control teenage parties,why all the firepower and whats so good about these rifles as to me it only takes a bullet to kill something new or old gun…..
a bit irrelevant really,
of course they are not going to , why would someone who would buy that type of magazine want to read some losers anti gun comments?
the letter writers get enought publicity in the newspapers etc.
i am yet to see a pro- firearm letter published in any newspaper i aus.
i know members of the community that write letters weekly to clarify lies the greens etc are telling , none are ever published.
thats a pretty clear agenda to me.
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Well, your niche agenda has had a pretty good run here.
Ed
Ed. asks ‘would our opponents get the same access to the letters page of a gun mag?’
Its great you enter conversation, Ed. Which prompts the question, are you or this site against decent people doing their sport within the law? A sensational framing of a story can still be fair, its just sad that we have experienced so little knowledge or perspective from journalists over the last 20 years. You might like to think about an article I wrote on the causes of that same Port Arthur Massacre, at http://esvc000055.wic056u.server-web.com/ideas-kill.htm . Also, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Australia you can see the bigger picture of why we feel oppressed by the framing of media stories on gun control.
That would be a very clear anti firearm agenda.
typical.
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Would your opponents get the same access to the letters page of a gun mag?
Ed
It should be noted that both the M16 model used in Vietnam and AR-15 used by Martin Bryant are similar in platform and appearance only, to extend the motoring analogy, it is akin to comparing a 1980 Falcon alongside a 2010 Commodore. As already mentioned, the Smith & Wesson model uses a different action to both, and the M16 in particular is an automatic-capable military model, the M&P15 being based, and only based, on the AR-15 platform, only very distantly related to both Colt models mentioned.
I think a better comparison would have been to highlight other security forces using the same rifle, not distant family members thereof, and I agree that Vietnam and Port Arthur seem to be included more for shock value than factual content, the aforementioned differences, and preferably more, should have been highlighted when mentioning both events. It is very easy to leave out such important details when writing for a target audience unlikely to pick up on such mistakes, I’m sure.
However, the biggest issue I see here is the term “assault rifle”, which the M&P15 is definitely not. It is a self-loading “civilian” rifle, and is completely incapable of automatic or burst fire. It would also appear this term is used for shock value, as it is factually incorrect.
On that same note, however, I’m glad to see (what should read – I’m assuming a typo) “.223″ in place of the more commonly used “5.56mm NATO”, the latter could have been easily used for even more shock value by relating it to the international military chambering, inaccurate though it may be.
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Well argued, Robert.
‘Assault’ reference is gone now and typo fixed.
Ed
The WA Police have implemented a new system to maximise cost and inconvenience associated with legally owning guns. Its a form of institutional misconduct, stealing the little freedom left to the public after the viciously excessive gun laws that make it so difficult already.
Our Parliament should be protecting us from the excess of their servants, instead the half-competent Minister Johnson is their poodle.
hey hey S&W make the AR-15 now do they.
i guess pigs must fly in Perth aswell?
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S&W made and sold these ones, possibly endangering the West Australian flying pig species.
Ed
Ed, you are incorrect in stating the weapons bought by WA police are “the same model as used at Port Arthur”. The Smith and Wesson M&P 15 is a derivative of the AR 15 and has additional features not found on the original. Most notably, the M&P 15 is a piston operated rifle, as opposed to the direct impingement operated AR 15. If you wish to serve the public by throwing anti-gun insinuations and connotations into the air, do yourself a favour and get to know what you are trying to say first. The firearms community considers the media a running joke for the amount of misinformation you and your colleagues report. Please don’t escalate the matter by assuming weapons are identical and that a crazed maniac with a documented history of psychological instability should accurately represent in excess of 3 million firearms owning Australians.
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Ah, so the modern AR15 is the Falcon Futura of the firearms world, then.
The report itself merely said Bryant used an AR 15, after explaining the Vietnam-used weapon was an earlier derivative – thereby implying there are different types of the gun.
Your use of the terms ‘insinuations and connotations’ and ‘misinformation’ smack of conspiracy theory.
oneperth.com.au stands by its reporting on this matter.
Ed
Ed,
thats rubbish .
its added in for the extra hype factor.
whilist semi auto firearms in particular the ar15 were used in the Port Arthur massacre, what does this at all have to do with WA police buying the rifle.
just a bit of your own agenda there.
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And what agenda, specifically, would that be?
The mention of Port Arthur, in the last line of the story – which you and the previous commenter have managed to elevate twice here now – is similar to the mention elsewhere in the story of the gun’s use in Vietnam. It serves to familiarise the non-gun-savvy reader with recognisable examples of the weapon’s previous use.
Hope you’re enjoying the site.
Ed
Semi Automatic rifles were not banned just restricted to certain users, ie commercial or graziers use.
Why does the Journalist feel the need to mention the port arthur massacre? what has that actually got to do with the story?
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Good point about the ‘ban’.
The weapons bought by the police are (a later version of – see comment above) the same model used at Port Arthur. It is in the public interest to report this.
Ed