Re: GUN REGISTRY
Register ya guns....? you go for it......
Port Arthur...
Just after noon on 28th April 1996, an unknown marksman opened fire on diners in the Broad Arrow Cafe at Port Arthur in Australia. In less than 20 minutes at this and five other crime scenes, the marksman killed 35, injured 22, and crippled two cars with only 64 shots. Nineteen of the first twenty dead in the Broad Arrow Cafe died from single shots to the head, all fired by the unknown marksman from his right hip. This staggering display of marksman- ship was blamed on left-handed and intellectually impaired Martin Bryant, who had no shooting experience, or military training of any kind. From the time of his arrest, remand prisoner Martin Bryant was illegally held in strict solitary confinement and denied access to media of any kind until his police interrogation on 4th July 1996. When he refused to admit to the Port Arthur Massacre at interrogation, he was once more placed back in illegal solitary confinement. Eventually in desperation during November 1996, Martin Bryant pleaded "guilty" 72 times, thereby allowing the authorities to avoid a humiliating trial at which they could present no hard evidence of guilt. Intellectually impaired Martin Bryant was convicted by a hysterical media pack, then forced to plead guilty by prison officials illegally enforcing solitary confinement.
Timeline pertaining to Port Arthur.
1975 In the aftermath of the Hilton Hotel bombing in Sydney in 1975, Canberra and the States established the Standing Advisory Committee on Commonwealth State Co-operation for Protection against Violence (SAC-PAV). Involvement in these national and local exercises was to prove invaluable as Tasmania Police set about managing the Port Arthur Massacre. The responses were to work so well that there were times when it all seemed like an exercise, despite the enormity of all that had happened. (Suddenly One Sunday, page 99).
1979 December 18 The Australian Government enacts the Convention on Discrimination against Women into Australian Law.
Buried within this innocuous seeming document is the call for general and complete disarmament!
1987 August 9 On the evening of the 9th August 1987 19 year-old Julian Knight hid in a small park in Hoddle Street, Clifton Hill and then started shooting at the passing traffic. Knight had enlisted in the Australian Army, and had received training in the use of firearms. At Hoddle Street, he shot dead 7 people, and wounded another seventeen.
1987 December 8 On the afternoon of the 8th December 1987, Frank Vitkovic shot 8 people dead and wounded a further 5 people.
He then went through a window on the 12th floor and plunged to his death.
Amazingly, Victorian Police Minister Race Mathews, and Attorney General Jim Kennan were able to witness the event from a building diagonally opposite shortly before the event commenced at 4.20 PM. Mr Mathews stated "I arrived to see Jim about 4 minutes before the shooting started and we were in conference on the 21st floor".
How incredible that the two most pertinent Ministers just happened to be together and in the right spot and at the right time!
1987 December In December 1987, after a specially called Premier’s meeting in Hobart, the New South Wales Labour Premier, Mr. Barry Unsworth stated, "There will never be uniform gun laws in Australia until there is a massacre in Tasmania." This quote is extremely prophetic, as it was only after the Tasmanian massacre in April, 1996 that the Federal government forced the States into adopting laws prepared by bureaucrats from within the Federal Attorney General’s office.
1991 Strathfield Shopping Plaza, Sydney, 7 killed.
1993 Suicide of Maurice Bryant: Life has been hard for Carleen, probably hardest of all when she realised that her son Martin needed speech therapy as a child, and other remedial help later which led to an invalid pension.
As a mother she handled difficult situations well enough but her husband Maurice found it much harder, he was a devoted husband and father and a highly organised man, but Carleen says "It was more difficult for him, Martin was his son and fathers expect their sons to be normal."
Hard though Maurice tried over the years he slowly but surely became depressed and "mentioned" suicide on a number of occasions.
Then without warning in 1993 Maurice took his own life at the family farm at Copping, but long before his death had already taken steps to minimise its impact on Carleen and their children.
Carleen was dreading all of the paperwork after his death "because Maurice always looked after that', but was astonished to find all of the documents she needed placed in a single neat pile where she could easily find them.
Even more astonishing, months earlier Maurice had transferred the Hydro account from their joint names to Carleen alone, ensuring things would run automatically after he died.
1994 July 1 The Southern Tasmanian Mortuary Ambulance first came to pass on 1 July 1994 when the Justice Dept decided it needed a private contractor to remove bodies from crime scenes.
The EMA Report explains about the Mortuary Vehicles...
His usual mortuary ambulance is an ex-Tasmanian Ambulance Service Ford F-100 capable of carrying four bodies.
Also present was a Chevrolet truck to the chassis of which Mr Charlton had attached a refrigerated covered compartment capable of storing sixteen bodies.
This vehicle had, in the past, been regarded as an expensive aberration that would never have a use.[EMA]
1995 November Roland Browne was the spokesman for the Tasmanian branch of "The Coalition for Gun Control". In November 1995, Browne warned not only Tasmanians, but all Australians that if Tasmania did not enact tougher firearm laws then there would be a massacre in Tasmania of massive proportions.
1996
After the Dunblane massacre, Roland Browne appeared on "A Current Affairs", and again all Australians were warned that if the Tasmanian Government didn’t implement proper firearm laws, then a massacre of monumental proportions would occur.
1996 May 5 The Sun Herald reported May 5 1996 that ex-Premier of NSW, Barry Unsworth made this prediction in 1987 - Before Uniform Gun Laws become possible in all States there will have to be a massacre in Tasmania.
1996 April 22-23 On 22 and 23 April 1996, five days prior to the tragedy, an Aviation Seminar was held at the Police Academy. The seminar considered Tasmania’s resource capability to cope with a domestic aircraft accident and identified the support available from other states.
Other exercises were held to test anti terrorist arrangements. ...and managing an event with multiple deaths and casualties.[EMA]
1996 April 26 The final version of "Code Brown" was ready at Royal Hobart Hospital
1996 April 28 0600H Martin Bryant had his alarm set for 6AM
1996 April 28 0800H Petra leaves Martin's house at 8AM.
1996 April 28 The Director of surgery, Dr Stephen Wilkinson, had been in the nearby Repatriation Hospital that morning, conducting an Early Management of Severe Trauma (EMST) course for twenty-five doctors from all over Australia. The course, presented by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in conjunction with hospital specialists, aims at improving capacity to respond to major emergencies, and one of the scenarios that morning had been a multiple shooting. (Suddenly one Sunday pages 93, 94, 95) What would have been the result had the shooting at Port Arthur occurred half an hour later. The possibility that most of the specialist doctors would have left Hobart by plane, and would not have been available for the coming emergency.
1996 April 28 0947H The alarm at Bryant's house is activated indicating he had left.
1996 April 28 The Bryant's Volvo passes through Cambridge....
1996 April 28 Craig Coombs CEO Port Arthur. "It just so happened that 10 of my most senior staff were heading away for a 2 day training seminar to Swansea, a seaside resort on the State's east coast, about 2 hours from the site". [EMA]
1996 April 28 The local police were at the Saltwater River area which is approximately 25 minutes travelling time from the site of the carnage and they were immediately despatched. [EMA]
1996 April 28 1100H There were two interesting observations made late in the morning and at about midday by two people who reside in the area, one Mr Simmons, heard at about 11 a.m. two shots. What Mr. Bugg failed to tell the court was that Mr Andrew Simmons was in fact a close neighbour of the Martins, he also fails to tell the court that Mr Simmons was a supervisor at the Port Arthur Historical Site, and that on this particular morning he was required to attend a management meeting at Swansea with the ten most senior staff of the management of the Port Arthur Historical Site.
The other little detail that Mr. Bugg QC failed to inform the court was that Mr Simmons was expecting his ride to arrive at 11.15 a.m. on that Sunday morning and so would have been alert to any sound that might have indicated that his ride was approaching, or the fact that Mr. Simmons may have been outside his home when he heard the two shots.
1996 April 28 1200HFurther down towards Port Arthur and near the boat ramp a Mr Doug McCutcheon heard a series of rapidly fired shots and his best estimate of the time of that was about twelve o’clock to twelve thirty. He estimated that the calibre of the rifle used was larger than .22!
The final item Mr. Bugg failed to inform the court was that Martin Bryant was somewhere between Forcett and Eaglehawk Neck at the time of these two shots being fired.
1996 April 28 1145H At about 11.45 a.m. a Peninsula resident, Mr Copping, drove past "Seascape" on the Arthur Highway. He had known the Martins for a number of years, and when he looked towards "The Seascape" building he observed a yellow Volvo sedan backed up into the front door of the main home with the driver’s door open.
There was a surfboard on the rack and he took particular notice of this because being a person who had surfed in the area some many years before he knew that the weather was not good for surfing and he recalled that when he spoke to the police because he said he thought to himself at the time that a lot of surfers had improved somewhat since his day of surfing if they could afford to stay overnight when the weather was like that.
He drove through past Port Arthur township and then returned at about 12.40 p.m., in other words he was driving back towards "The Seascape", and as he did so he noticed the yellow Volvo being driven towards Port Arthur about two hundred metres south of the general store at Port Arthur itself.
1996 April 28 1230H An elderly couple call in to Seascape as they leave Port Arthur. An agitated young man with long hair discourages from from remaining.
1996 April 28 1300H Roger Larner speaks to the driver of the Volvo and asks "Who is it?" They speak for 10 minutes, despite knowing Martin for 18 years, Mr Larner failed to recognise him!
1996 April 28 1310H At about 1310 he entered the historic site of port Arthur, paid his entrance fee at the toll booth and drove to the car park where, despite directions to the contrary, he parked nearby to the Broad Arrow Cafe adjacent to the water.[EMA]
?
If the Volvo passed the toll booth at 1310, why would it take 15 minutes to park the car 100 metres away as inferred in the next time frame?
1996 April 28 1325H At about 1.25 p.m. the security manager at the site, Mr. Ian Kingston, was directing people in the carpark when he saw "Bryant", who indicated that he wanted to park his vehicle near the water’s edge. Mr Kingston directed him away from that area because it is normally reserved for campervans and the carpark area was quite busy o that day.
"Bryant" became argumentative but drove off in his car and parked it near the information centre. Mr Kingston attended other matters and then later noticed that "Bryant" had moved his car back to the water’s edge. He saw "Bryant" alight from the car carrying a bag, a sport’s type bag, a video camera, and he then walked towards the Broad arrow café.
"Bryant" then walked in to the dining area of the café and placed his bag on a table in the north-western corner of the café. That’s being indicated on the plan now, so he’s walked through a good two thirds of the café area towards the north-western corner. The table that he placed the sports bag on was not occupied and he immediately took out the AR15 rifle which was fitted with a thirty shot magazine, although the Crown case is that there were approximately twenty six live rounds of ammunition in the magazine at that time.
1996 April 28 1327H Nobody inside the Broad Arrow Café was taking any particular notice of the time. However the Tour Guides were. There were three of them, and they were due to take a new tour out at precisely 1.30 p.m. One of the Tour guides was talking on the telephone to a friend, when the shooting started. The exact time was 1.27 p.m.
Another Tour Guide was just looking out to check upon how many visitors were gathered at the start off point, and the Tour Guide Manager was not yet getting ready to start the tour rolling. All three of these persons were clock-watchers. It is part of their profession, and they are very aware of the time. If they stated that the shooting started at 1.27 p.m., then that point should be accepted as fact... it was ignored.
1996 April 28 Zero Hour-4minThe police report the arrival at the decoy site of Saltwater River
1996 April 28 Zero Hour- Gunman eats lunch
1996 April 28 Zero Hour-30 seconds The gunman puts the Prince sportsbag on a table, Mick Sargent watched and they made eye contact for 15 seconds, when he looked next the man was looking towards an Asian couple while he inzipped the bag.
1996 April 28 13.27 The first two shots rang out immediately killing Mr Yee Ng with a shot to the upper neck, and Miss Sou Chung with a shot to the head.
Swivelling on the spot and firing from the right hip, the gunman fired at Mr Michael Sargent who was wounded in the head as he dived for the floor.
He then killed Miss Kate Scott with a shot to the head.
The gunman continues through the Broad Arrow, next killing Mr. Anthony Nightingale, who was seated by himself facing towards Bryant, so in other words he was looking in a northerly direction.
From the evidence of one of the witnesses in the café who survived, Mr. Nightingale stood up when the shooting started and called out "No, no, not here", he was then shot, a single shot to the neck area causing fatal injuries.
Next was Mr Walter Bennet with a shot to the upper neck, with the latter bullet passing straight through and hitting Mr Raymond Sharpe in the head with fatal results.
Then Mr Kevin Sharpe was killed by a shot to the head and was also hit in the arm, with shrapnel and bone fragments from the second intermediate strike on Mr Kevin Sharpe then apparently wounding Mr Gary Broome, and possibly John and Gaye Fidler.
Still firing from the hip the gunman swivelled and killed Mr Andrew Mills and Mr Tony Kistan with single shots to the head, with shrapnel and skull fragments from those shots apparently wounding Mrs Thelma Walker, Mrs Pamela Law and Mrs Patricia Baker.
Again the gunman turned, shooting and wounding Mr Graham Colyer in the neck, before swiveling and killing Mr Mervyn Howard with a shot to the head, next he shot Mary Howard in the neck with non fatal effect and then despatched Mrs Mary Elizabeth Howard at point blank range.
The gunman turned back, killing Miss Sarah Loughton with a head shot.
Moving towards the rear of the building the gunman shot Mr Robert Elliot in the head, causing serious injuries and an additional round hit his left upper arm.
ELAPSED TIME 15 SECONDS......... Next the very professional gunman moved towards the area of the souvenir shop and killed Nicole Burgess with a shot to the head.
Then Mrs Elizabeth Howard through the chest and arm with fatal consequences.
Swiveling around, the gunman killed Mr Leslie Lever with a shot to the head, and killed Mrs Gwenda Neader with another shot to the head.
Temporarily distracted, he fired back into the cafe area and wounded Mr Peter Crosswell, turning again he shot Mr Jason Winter twice, killing him with a shot to the head.
On his way back to the souvenir area the gunman wounded Mr Dennis Olson, then proceeded to the kill-zone near the locked door where he killed Mr Ronald Jary, Pauline Masters, and Mr Peter Nash, all of them with single shots to the head.
At this stage the gunman had killed twenty and wounded another twelve with 29 rounds,he then stopped firing and changed magazines in a most professional way.
The magazine fitted to the AR15 held 30 rounds total, so by changing magazines after firing only 29 shots the gunman ensured that he still had a live round in the breech in case anyone moved, enabling him to kill that person instantly if caught unawares.
1996 April 28 1332H Wendy's call to the police was logged later at 1.32 pm. then she went outside to look for cover in the bush behind the buildings,
This took at least another minute, giving a minimum total elapsed time of four minutes and more likely five.
As several other colleagues present on the day also attest, the elapsed time was much longer than the "official" 90 seconds
1996 April 28 1335H At 1.35 p.m. Ian Kingston the Security Officer at Port Arthur rang in and reported that 7 people had been shot dead. (Suddenly one Sunday page 97)
1996 April 28 after Cafe Upon leaving the Cafe the gunman fired 4 more shots in different directions to assist his safe departure.
Shots 34-83 to follow.......
1996 April 28 1357H The burning car is reported in the grounds of Seascape
1996 April 28 1400H Code Brown is activated ar Royal Hobart Hospital
1996 April 28 1719H At 1719 hours, the Tasmania Police contacted the National Crisis Centre. That is the only information listed in the Chronology of Police communications. The apparent response comes at 2215 hours, the last item listed in communications on the 28th April. It reads simply, "2215 ASIO Tech Support despatched". What technical support did the Tasmania Police require from ASIO that would have been despatched at such a late hour?
1996 April 28 1830H An anonymous phone call to police suggests that Martin Bryant could be the person holed up in Seascape.
1996 April 28 2215H ASIO Tech Support dispatched.[EMA]
1996 April 29 0747H At 0747 smoke and fire were noticed coming from the top storey. The fire quickly took hold. [EMA]
1996 April 29 0821H A male person believed to be the offender emerged from the building appearing to fire indiscriminately from a hand gun and his clothing appeared to be on fire. He disappeared from view for several seconds and then reappeared naked. [EMA]
1996 May In May 1996, the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and the leader of the national Party, Tim Fischer had a meeting with firearm owners in Central Australia, where he said to them, "If we don’t get it right this time, then next time there is a massacre and there will be, then they’ll take all our guns off us."
1996 June 23 On the 23rd of June 1996 the Sunday Telegraph published a story about a gun collector in Victoria who identified the AR15 rifle used for the Port Arthur killings as one that he had handed in to police during an amnesty in February 1993.
1996 September 30 Bryant kept to his story in the face of tremendous pressure from police interrogators and psychiatrists to admit the enormity of his alleged crimes. He continued to refuse to do so and at the formal hearing on 30th September 1996 pleaded not guilty to all seventy two charges.
1996 October Amazingly, the day before Martin Bryant was due to be sentenced a never before seen amateur video of "Bryant" leaving the cafe was shown on television.
1996 November 22 Mr Justice Cox when passing sentence "Though he has ultimately pleaded guilty.[EMA]
1998 March 5 September On 5th March 1998 the case against Terry Hill was suddenly discontinued.
1999 June 9 Damian Bugg QC is to be promoted with an appointmenr to Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions from the 2cd of August 1999.
1999 July 23 Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer announced a policy framework to "arrest the proliferation of small arms" on National, Regional, and International levels.
This launch clearly outlines the International push for gun control that clearly precipitated the Port Arthur disarmament legislation!
1999 September Displayed on the website for the Southern Tasmanian Mortuary Service.
Vehicle for Sale.
Yellow Chevrolet 350 V8 truck with refrigerated body, hold 22, this vehicle was primarily used as the disaster vehicle in the Port Arthur Massacre.
http://www.alphalink.com.au/~noelmcd/portarth/timeline.htm
http://members.austarmetro.com.au/~hubbca/port_arthur.htm
http://home.overflow.net.au/~nedwood/portarthur.html
http://www.2012.com.au/PA_updateD.html
http://home.overflow.net.au/~nedwood/JoeVialls.html