# Australian Gun Law.



## sdeprie (May 1, 2004)

I haven't had a chance to check this out, yet. Maybe someone can verify it for me.

Australian Gun Law Update

Here's a thought to warm some of your hearts...

From: Ed Chenel, A police officer in Australia

Hi Yanks, I thought you all would like to see the real figures from
Down Under.

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced

by a new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by

our own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than
$500 million dollars.

The first year results are now in:

Australia-wide, homicides are up 6.2 percent,

Australia-wide, assaults are up 9.6 percent;

Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!

In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up
300 percent.

(Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the
criminals did not and criminals still possess their guns!)

While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in
armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in
the past 12 months, since the criminals now are guaranteed that
their prey is unarmed.

There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of
the elderly, while the resident is at home.

Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety
has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended
in 'successfully ridding Australian society of guns.' You won't 
see
this on the American evening news or hear your governor or members
of the State Assembly disseminating this information.

The Australian experience speaks for itself. Guns in the hands of
honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws
affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note Americans, before it's too late!

FORWARD TO EVERYONE ON YOUR EMAIL LIST. [I DID]

DON'T BE A MEMBER OF THE SILENT MAJORITY.

BE ONE OF THE VOCAL MINORITY WHO WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN IN THE U.S.A


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

sdeprie said:


> I haven't had a chance to check this out, yet. Maybe someone can verify it for me.


http://www.snopes.com/crime/statistics/ausguns.asp



> Australian Guns
> 
> Claim: Statistics demonstrate that crime rates in Australia have increased substantially since the government there instituted a gun buy-back program in 1997.
> 
> ...


http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives ... aguns.html



> This chain uses questionable statistics to "prove" that recent gun control legislation in Australia has actually increased crime there. It is presented as a warning to those in the United States and other countries who are pushing gun control like those in Australia.
> 
> Subject: ABOUT AUSTRALIA
> 
> ...


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## dtlwheels (Apr 5, 2008)

i`ve heard the same statistics elsewhere and it doesn`t surprise me. crooks are crooks, they don`t follow any laws, including gun laws. there`s a bumper sticker that i love that says "criminals prefer unarmed victims"


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## cwoparson (Aug 23, 2007)

One thing that has to be done is to view statistics with critical questions. For example the figures on armed robbery with a firearm.


> Actual figures from the ABS do show an increase in armed robbery from 1995 (5258) to 1996 (6256) to 1997 (9054) to 1998 (10850), but the proportion of firearms used to commit armed robbery has continued to decline over this period:
> 1995 - 27.8%
> 1996 - 25.3%
> 1997 - 24.1%
> ...


First question from me would be why did they decline. I suspect it has more to do with the fact that as the criminal became more aware that the victim would not be armed with a gun, they then chose other arms such as clubs and knives. This would only make sense if the crook knew there would be harsher penalties if using a firearm where as if he used a knife he could still accomplish his deed without facing mandatory sentencing if caught with a firearm. So both sides could in fact have truth to them. Robberies could actually increase with a decline in armed robberies with a firearm. As with everything, the devil is in the details.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

cwoparson said:


> One thing that has to be done is to view statistics with critical questions. For example the figures on armed robbery with a firearm.
> 
> 
> > Actual figures from the ABS do show an increase in armed robbery from 1995 (5258) to 1996 (6256) to 1997 (9054) to 1998 (10850), but the proportion of firearms used to commit armed robbery has continued to decline over this period:
> ...


Good point, I'll add one.

Guns make physical ability meaningless, knives and clubs give the advantage to a big strong robber, guns level that playing field so little old folks and women in general can protect themselves.

No matter what laws are passed I will never give up mine.


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## sdeprie (May 1, 2004)

I think we can get mired in semantics and spins, but the point was that "getting their guns" didn't make people all that safe. Perhaps gun related crimes are down, but other crimes go up. I'll keep mine, thanks.


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## wyominghuntfish (Mar 13, 2008)

I knew that would happen. If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.


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