Deadly crime menace we all need to worry about

You will have heard endless amounts youth crime. But there’s another serious problem that rarely gets mentioned and innocent people are being hurt, writes Keith Woods.

Everyone knows about youth crime in this city.

Most of us, if not victims ourselves, know someone who has felt its impacts.

A friend of your columnist woke one night to find teenagers had broken into their house. That was fun.

Others have had cars stolen.

Many more – your columnist included – can speak of attempted break-ins or thefts foiled by the little tykes being disturbed, most often by that most basic of security measures, a trusty family dog.

Most especially because of the sheer volume of these crimes, there is no doubting the seriousness. At the worst extreme, lives are at stake. Stolen cars bombing down the M1 are a deadly threat to passing motorists, and who can forget the horrific murder of Emma Lovell in North Lakes in 2022.

However despite these most serious cases, it is also true that the commission of actual violence against innocent members of the public by youth criminals is not all that common.

In most cases, disturb the buggers in the act and they vamoosh faster than tradies at knock-off time on a Friday.

It’s also worth mentioning that, despite common perceptions, police do to a significant extent have it under control. If you wonder why those stolen cars don’t more often end in a crumpled mess on the M1, taking innocent people with them, the answer is actually quite simple – because police on the Gold Coast have become very skilled at safely bringing them to a halt.

Aerial vision of a crash scene on the Bruce Highway. A woman died and man was shot in alleged carjackings on the Sunshine Coast shortly after midday on Monday. Picture: 7 News

There is another problem, though, of at least equal seriousness, that is not getting the same amount of attention from the general public and politicians – the amount of guns finding their way into the wrong hands.

The serious incidents are piling up.

* On Tuesday April 1 police say a gun was discharged during an altercation at a Surfers Paradise unit block. A father and two sons were injured – police said one of the trio, a 21-year-old, sustained two gunshot wounds to his stomach. Thankfully all three will recover. A 30-year-old man has since been charged with alleged offences including acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm and weapons offences.

* On March 6 a 31-year-old man pulled a gun before stealing a car belonging to an 83-year-old woman in Labrador, striking her legs with the vehicle as he sped away. The armed man attempted to carjack another vehicle a short time later on the Brisbane Rd at Arundel. Responding police officers shot him dead before any more innocent people were hurt.

* On Monday, a Porsche crashed, causing a pile-up on the Bruce Highway on the Sunshine Coast in which a 22-year-old woman was killed. Police said a man allegedly exited the Porsche and shot a 62-year-old man in the arm who had stopped to render assistance before taking off in his vehicle. After that car was also crashed, he allegedly stole a grey Mazda 3 driven by a 16-year-old learner driver, again while armed. He was arrested a short time later near Steve Irwin Way. Police said a firearm was recovered inside the vehicle. A 41-year-old man has since been charged with 15 offences including dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, drugs offences and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Three incidents in which guns were allegedly used. Three incidents where innocent people were seriously hurt.

Bloodied items on a Surfers Paradise street last month after an incident in which a firearm was allegedly discharged. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

Police on the Gold Coast say it is a matter that causes them great concern.

Speaking in Surfers Paradise on Tuesday, Acting Chief Superintendent Peter Miles said getting illicit weapons off the streets was a “number one priority” for officers.

“One weapon in the wrong hands is a concern for us,” Acting Chief Superintendent Peter Miles said on Tuesday.

“I was watching the news last night and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing (regarding the Sunshine Coast incident).

“What a tragedy for the 22-year-old and her family, she was just minding her own business and this is what unfolded.

“The poor old learner driver, and the gentleman that was shot.”

The big question is how, since the reforms that followed the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre, guns now seem so readily available to exactly the kind of people you’d least like to see owning them.

The Australia Institute estimates there are now more than four million guns owned by civilians nationwide – 25 per cent higher than in 1996. There are not all held by farmers in the bush. Far from it.

“Guns are widespread in metropolitan and suburban areas, with one in three firearms in NSW

located in major cities,” a report from the Institute in January revealed.

Of those four million guns nationwide, 1,076,140 were reported to be in Queensland.

Deakin University's Professor David Bright Picture: Deakin University

Of even greater concern, some experts estimate there could be as many as 800,000 firearms circulating in the illicit market.

Deakin University criminologist Professor David Bright told the Herald Sun the federal government needed to get on top of the issue.

“The number of registered and unregistered firearms in the community should be of concern,” Prof Bright said.

“It should be a priority for politicians and for voters as we head into a federal election.”

Prof Bright said a National Firearms Register was supposed to be established following Port Arthur, but “progress towards developing one has been slow”.

Yet while youth crime dominated the state election last October, the rise of gun violence on our streets appears to have gone largely unnoticed.

It is a problem that requires a response at a national level, but with early voting already underway in the Federal election, has it even been mentioned?

Liberal leader Peter Dutton announced a $750 million crime package on Monday, but the proliferation of illegal firearms did not feature. Labor, meanwhile, has gone nowhere near crime issues, perhaps assuming voters will be content with the knowledge they have a Medicare card in their pockets if they become victims.

We all hear so much about youth crime, but this other great menace is rarely if ever mentioned.

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