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Thread ID: 125237	2012-06-16 04:32:00	Ex-gangster plans gang museum	Iantech (16386)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1281916	2012-06-16 04:32:00	. stuff . co . nz/national/7115024/Ex-gangster-plans-gang-museum" target="_blank">www . stuff . co . nz A heavy-set man saunters over on a cloud of exuberance and salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a wide grin and a leather jacket as he zeroes in for a bear hug . This can only be Willy McGregor, former gang member and now church man, who has long buried his 1970s title of top dog of Palmerston North . "What a silly game," he says of his past . "Back in our gang days, we were men of our word . If I said I was going to come around to burn your house down, you can bank on you wouldn't have a house the next day . I don't say that with any pride and I must stress that . " These days, Mr McGregor, who did not wish to reveal his former gang affiliation, is a family man who quotes scripture off the cuff and wears a white ribbon against family violence . He wants Palmerston North – his old stomping ground – to be the home of what surely must be New Zealand's first gang museum, where old-timers can reminisce about the past and share cautionary tales to educate the next generation against following in their footsteps . "I like to think we can set up a small type of museum . I'd like people to come in and see first-hand the good and the bad . " But Palmerston North area police commander Inspector Pat Handcock is no fan of the museum concept . "My only comment is that anything that provides gangs with leverage or notoriety in our city, I'm totally against . " Palmerston North gained nationwide attention for all the wrong reasons in 2002 when gang associate Wallace Whatuira was shot dead . The killing sparked a wave of gang violence but police and community organisations have managed to purge most of the city's gangsters . Mr McGregor is chairman of the charitable trust Outcast Ministries – a pillar of support for gang members trying to extract themselves from a lifestyle of drugs and violence . His preferred description is "former gang members who are now walking with the law" . "The Chosen" is the Palmerston North offshoot of the charity . Volunteers advocate for former gang-members, helping them settle their debts and visiting them in prison . Unsavoury as the idea of a gang museum might be, Mr McGregor's past makes for an interesting tale . He's knocked on many a door in New Zealand's badlands to negotiate mercy for reformed gang-members, he is on a first-name basis with people just as familiar with the wrong side of a courtroom, and he's done his time behind bars too . "I've come away from a lifestyle that can grab and really hold people," he says, explaining that the reasons good guys are suckered in to a gang lifestyle are quite simple . Like him, they might have been peer-pressured – seduced by the mana bestowed upon gang members that eludes them in everyday society . Some join for the protection, and others are attracted to the "extended whanau" offering a steady stream of drugs, booze and women . Mr McGregor said escaping that lifestyle was difficult, but a step worth taking . "Ten seconds of stupidity can get you two years in prison . At the end of the day you get tired of that . " Do you think it will put young potential gang members off by visiting such a place or is having a museum to gangs like celebrating them and making it something that someone would want to be part of instead? Will it cause more gang problems if there is more stuff in the museum from one gang and another gang is not as well represented? Interesting .	Iantech (16386)
1281917	2012-06-16 05:06:00	Probably would encourage gang violence.	ChazTheGeek (16619)
1281918	2012-06-16 05:42:00	They would probably steal the exhibits...	ruup (1827)
1281919	2012-06-16 05:51:00	I bet some gantstaz are gonna get disgruntled over something and burn the place down... Any takers?	Cato (6936)
1281920	2012-06-16 05:57:00	Well, as long as the ever suffering Taxpayer doesn’t have to contribute in any shape or form I really don’t care. Personally, I don’t think there is a snowballs chance in hell of the Gangs sitting around smoking a Peace Pipe, but if someone thinks it’s possible, good luck to them. :thumbs:	B.M. (505)
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