ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO SLANT

The New York Times is far from alone in its habit of twisting the news. The Australian State of Tasmania was the site of a notorious massacre by a gunman some years ago and the following article from Tasmania's main newspaper is determined to find something bad about what has happened since. What it finds is that in the years since the massacre there has been a big rise in gun ownership in Tasmania -- but ......

There are now more firearms in Tasmania than before the Port Arthur massacre. The number of registered firearms has increased every year since tighter gun laws were introduced in 1996. And the past two years have seen an unprecedented explosion in registered weapons. Tasmania now has one of the highest rates of firearms per licence holder in the country -- an average of about four weapons per licensed shooter. Tasmania Police says there are 145,028 firearms now registered in the state. That is about 3000 more than Auditor-General Mike Blake recently estimated were in Tasmania in the year of the Port Arthur tragedy. The number of registered firearms has exploded by about 20,000 in the past two years.

National Coalition for Gun Control chairman Roland Browne said he was "astounded" by the latest figures. "It's astonishing," Mr Browne said. "There are too many guns kept in houses, there are too many guns, it poses a risk to the community." Mr Browne said the explosion in guns had to be explained. He said the issue ought to be addressed in an ongoing review of the state's gun laws.

Tasmanian Firearms Association president John Green was not surprised by the rise in gun numbers but said the new gun laws meant firearms were better regulated. He said the sharp increase in guns registered in Tasmania was not cause for concern to the community. The community's never been safer," Mr Green said.

Mr Blake's May report titled Gun Control in Tasmania found the new laws had been effective in reducing gun-related violent crime and suicide. The report found that since 1996 there had been a substantial decline in the use of firearms to commit violent crime and suicide. There had also been a parallel reduction in hospital admissions for firearm trauma, particularly as a result of accidental shootings......

So in a triumph of dishonest reporting that would do the New York Times proud, the newspaper has made a FALL in gun deaths into a problem!




Missouri: Carrier scares off assailants with gun: "A veteran contract carrier for The Kansas City Star parked close to the store at 5th Street and Troost Avenue like always early today. It meant a quick trip back to the safety of his van. But one of his four attackers, the biggest guy, was too quick for the carrier to drive away. The assailant and perhaps others in his group rained punches on the 66-year-old carrier through his driver-side window. He used a gun to fend them off, firing three times..... According to police, the carrier was assaulted just before 3 a.m.. The carrier said he saw the men emerge from Garrison Park and run toward him. �I thought at first they were probably just going to ask (for) money,� the carrier said. �I�ve been asked before by people, �I�m not here for trouble; I just need some help.� � He sometimes gives lose change. But these men, probably in their teens or 20s, were running at him. �He just said �Hey,� then pow,� the carrier said. While the carrier was being hit, the van, which he had already put in drive, moved a short distance and smacked into the concrete and brick of the store building. The carrier pulled a .380-caliber handgun from a holster he keeps near his seat. The attackers fled, running east, as the carrier fired a shot out his window. He got out of the van, stumbling, the carrier said, and fired two more shots above his assailants� heads. Investigators were unsure if the gunfire hit any of the attackers. The victim, police said, appeared to be within his rights defending himself."