ARMED & DANGEROUS?
STANDING in line at the ATM in Garden City Booragoon, I noticed a well-built dude walk past carrying a fat money bag and sporting a firearm on his left hip. This was a few days after Bondi.
BlogThis! was nervous.
I asked a bank staffer who the individual was. Security? Why no ID, badge or stencilled jacket? It felt unsettling, even if he was only escorting cash. Much like someone sitting down to eat sushi wearing a real samurai sword.
The armed individual’s lethal weapon was just a handspan away when he walked past me and surprised customers. In a crazy dog day afternoon moment, the thought of reaching out …
I asked police patrolling the busy shopping centre whether they were aware of unidentified security openly carrying guns and standing in lines with members of the public. They didn’t like it, but they were licensed.
BlogThis! contacted a firearms expert who said armed security should wear identifiable clothing given sensitivities over recent shooting incidents and terrorist attacks.
He said in the unlikely event someone could snatch the firearm without a fight with a trained security guard, they would then need to check the safety on the gun and whether there was a bullet in the chamber, which there should not be under strict safety precautions to avoid such a scenario.
What could go wrong?
In WA, the Security and Related Activities (Control) Act allows licensed security officers to carry a firearm while, “escorting money or articles of value or for standing guard at an automatic teller machine while it is malfunctioning or is being repaired or serviced”.
Police Commissioner Col Blanch confirmed that the presence of police officers armed with semi-automatic weapons in crowded public spaces is the new normal in WA following the Bondi shootings.
What do readers think? Do you feel safe knowing security officers can carry loaded firearms in public? The posts below provide some insight:
Phil Colez: ‘I have to say, They had this in Istanbul about 8 years ago and I was to scared to even break wind in public, so it does work.’
Ron Davies: ‘Saw army personnel in KFC Denpasar Bali having lunch armed to the brim. A bit daunting but it was also reassuring as it was after the second bombing.’
Sam West: ‘WA police cant even be trusted to conduct vehicle chases safely. But carrying semi-auto weapins in a dissarmed society is ludacrously stupid and absolutely unjustifiable.’
Joe Gurak: ‘What did the local & federal Goverment manage or mismanage to get us into this place. It wasn’t normal before and should never be allowed to become normalised.’
Marianne Torretti: ‘I was at the Cockburn shopping centre on Saturday and saw police officers with rifles. Didn’t make me feel comfortable.’
Additional stories at www.streetwisemedia.com.au.
