@DaveB .. hm the problem is far more difficult. In Australia, New Zealand and of course Germany - there are quite strict gun laws to law abiding persons.
I am aware this is now getting very OFF TOPIC. However it is difficult to put it elsewhere.
Criminals don't care. ( I am not in law enforcement, but together with some former experts and a few colleagues we were developing some software that allows "profiling".
That profiling had other issues in mind - e.g. hack attacks, prediction of impacts if a certain machine in an assembly line fails etc.
But profiling of criminal organisations was also an interesting use case - patterns of activity.. e.h. who what, how, victims, when, gain, - methods of cleaning up, and so on.
So to get signatures and behavioural patterns. - Little to imagine that this concept is transferrable to many daily applications, customer behaviour, and so on.
Due to this I got some insight .. it already quite a while ago. But most of it might still be true:
Many years ago there were a bunch of Albanians in Frankfurt, controlled drugs, redlight district, and kind of illegal / frauding with gambling on street - thimblerig etc..
Drive-By shootings with select-fire / fully automatic firearms happened there. We had an office close to Frankfurt Central - and my assistant was there in a car and bulled flied over her head. Police Special Units (SEK) were then sent out (after a very long time tolerating this ) indeed short before elections - and the Albanians were more or less entirely eradicated - out of business, arrested - went of to other places outside Germany. -
So there was demand, and the market was still there. So the HA moved in. Not in public - but rather silent. No drive by shootings, no issues. So for ordinary people and business - there were no harm and risk. If people went in there seeking trouble they got what they asked for. - Still addicts are there, homeless, whores. But the HA had it somewhat under control - and here and there, if certain groups tried to move in - the police got somehow informed - but nothing from inside HA. Was a kind of gentlemen agreement.
But generation changed - different type of HA members, new nationalities, the raise of the Bandido MC, - and lower politicians that need to profile for a career.. so instead of resolving the real problem, social improvments education.. they took the low hanging fruit and the easy to identify Outlaw MCs.
Now its different - because what they didn't touch were the gangsters and gentlemen criminals in the background. -
What we have now are certain groups of eastern Europe establishing themselves (from countries currently fighting a war.. and even if we should avoid politics.. the UA is not as nice and friendly as everybody thinks it is) So - we ve got an illegal firearms business, drugs, whores, protection rackets, blackmailed police - (we know where your residence is) witness and judges. And sponsor certain politicians as well. That is perhaps anywhere else in the west the very same.
To me, its quite interesting.. in countries / states with relaxed gun laws - there are perhaps more gun accidents.
But mass shootings and crime occurs mostly where people relate to much on government and stricter gun laws.
The press notices of mass shootings are always where no response is possible, - any attempted mass shooting that were prevented / stopped by an armed bystander aren't making it to the media.
The big Mercedes Benz G, Range Rovers, and others are very attractive to these type of criminal - not really a signature vehicle by the top levels (they prefer other type of street transport) Its more the middle management and "service teams" that use these.
I am glad Ineos Grenadier is more down to earth, not a luxury vehicle and on about 100mph top speed and a newbie - not really in focus of this business. (It might change in the future - if Ineos establishes itself beyond original idea)
But -what is happening here and perhaps at Gold Coast (AUS) and elsewhere is mostly political fault. Tax spending elsewhere, instead of investing in police and crime prevention measures. Keeping citizens safe, allowing responsibility and civil rights. Instead politicians mind their private business first - and use sometimes criminal activities as a decoy or even take profits of it.
That is reality as I see it. To bad everywhere the same.
