Please note that the Australian Federal Police and Bureau of Statistics place gun crime at higher percentages since this report.
Gun Control in Australia
If you happened to watch Channel Nine News on, 30 July 2013, you would have witnessed a flustered NSW Police Commissioner and Police Minister seemingly exhausted of ideas on how to tackle Sydney’s growing spate of gun violence.
Repeating the same tired line “People must report illegal guns”, they continue to ignore the root cause of gun crime or why witnesses are too scared to come forward.
For decades many Australian journalists have perpetuated the simplistic ideology that stricter gun control laws will solve gun crime, whilst ignoring the mountain of evidence demonstrating no connection between lawful firearms use and organised crime.
Despite our streets being awash with firearms, many continue to hail John Howard’s tremendous success, passing what are arguably known around the world as the most comprehensive and draconian firearms laws in the OECD. Some commentators will go as far as saying we need stronger laws to combat gun crime. But short of installing airport style security at the exit point of every home and entry point of every public place, we need to face the reality that criminals do not obey the law, and that we will never stop the evil acts of every mad man.
In response to the Channel Nine news report, Miranda Divine from the Daily Telegraph wrote a blog warning “We are facing an explosion of gang violence to rival Los Angeles 30 years ago”. It was a well researched article, exposing many truths about gun violence in Western Sydney, but it did not draw on the parallels between Australia and America and why we are facing this explosion in gun crime.
I’ll draw comparisons later between our two countries, how we are inadvertently creating a much larger problem for society, and what we need to do to reverse this trend.
But first, some background……..
Ideology
One of the biggest challenges we face in the debate about guns is the ideology people have that we can ban guns, fix our border controls or implement more laws to solve gun crime.
When you look at the border protection issue, it is absolutely farcical to believe we have the money or resources to check all the freight that comes into Australia. We cannot stop the tonnes of drugs flowing into this country, so what makes anyone seriously believe we can stop a few metal parts shipped with other metal parts. At least a dog can be trained to detect drugs, but it’s impossible to train a dog to detect metal or plastic parts.
It’s also well known that we have corruption in both our police force and border security. Whatever controls we put in place, however much money we spend, we will never plug the holes. No police force around the world ever has and no police force ever will.
The sad reality is, we need to learn how to live with guns in society. Guns were invented in the 13th century and are rudimentary in design. It’s bizarre to believe they could not possibly be made at home using blueprints readily available from the internet. The authorities know this, but they won’t change their stubborn approach to the problem until we change our attitude as a society. Accepting the status-quo is not working.
Learn
how to make a 9mm submachine gun at home from a book you can buy online.
how a jeweler made up to 100 MAC 10 9mm submachine guns.
how to make a zip gun watching a video online.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5d5_1368241065
about illegal manufacture in Australia as an example.
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1716034/gallery-lake-man-made-guns-at-home/?cs=305
about the new technology of 3D printers.
about how firearms were imported from Tennesse in engine parts.
about our leaky postal service.
how to buy firearms online illegally from a US exporter.
about CNC machines owned by many factories and home owners.
what happens to firearms after handed in during an amnesty.
Smuggled guns: customs officers lied about scans
http://www.theage.com.au/national/smuggled-guns-customs-officers-lied-about-scan-20121220-2bplc.html
Massacres
By far the most emotive anti-gun argument is the issue of massacres. Massacres are not preventable, but we can employ smart measures to mitigate the risk of experiencing a massacre and mitigate against the number of fatalities and casualties. The do-gooders, with their idealistic views, still have the absurd view that deranged people and criminals obey the law. They keep pushing for more and more laws, ironically making it even easier for a mad man to inflict more carnage.
In 1990, the President of the United States introduced “The Gun-Free School Zones Act”. Quite possibly the worst gun legislation introduced by any country ever! The legislation was nothing but an advertisement for madmen, advising where the easy targets were. If they wanted to inflict the most carnage possible, a school would be the best place to do it. Since the legislation was introduced, school massacres have increased five fold. The NRA have lobbied hard against this legislation and to repeal it, but the mainstream media refuses to listen to their arguments or air the words “Gun Free Zone” in any press release. Instead, the media continues to verbal the NRA by suggesting “Their solution is we need more guns. They are just a self-interested lobby group interested in selling more guns”.
Across many states, authorities refused to enforce the “Gun Free School Zones Act”. Some state legislatures even passed their own laws, allowing teachers who are trained to conceal and carry to carry a gun in school. There have been no mass shootings in schools where teachers are allowed to conceal and carry. I’ll talk more about conceal and carry later.
Australia is not immune to another gun massacre and many are of the view that we have just been lucky. The Australian-New Zealand Counter Terrorism Committee recognises this by recently releasing the Australian Government guide to surviving a mass shooting.
Bad people do bad things
Say the name Roger Dean and most people wouldn’t know who you’re talking about. It was only late last year, November 2012, when he pleaded guilty to arson for the Quakers Hill nursing home fire, killing 11 people and badly burning 8 others.
Today, as I write this blog, I learned to discover Roger was convicted to life in prison without parole.
Roger chose to use a box of matches to massacre 11 people instead of a gun, so it begs the question, why is he is not as revered by the media as Martin Bryant? Marilyn Manson summed up the media culture well when he spoke about the cycle of fear and consumption in Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling for Columbine. I disagree with many of Michael’s views, but that one interview is worth consideration.
It’s no secret the media thrives on fear for ratings. If it bleeds, it leads. If there is a gun, even better! But by far the best ratings and sales can be made glorifying killers such as the Boston Bomber when they put him on the cover of “Rolling Stone” magazine.
The techniques the media uses for its own self-gratification cost lives and will continue to cost lives if we don’t have a fair debate about gun ownership and gun crime. We should pass laws to stop giving killers rock star status. I’d rather we never knew their names or saw their faces. However, this is an unrealistic ask in a world with the internet, so I’m not going to push it.
Read more about Australia’s mass murder arsonists.
Gun ownership in Australia
Many Australians are of the belief that since the 1996 gun buyback, all guns are now illegal. These people are surprised to hear that nearly 800,000 Australians have been issued a firearms license for any number of genuine reasons. Australians legally own approximately 3.2 million registered firearms – firearms that include shotguns, rifles, semi-automatic handguns, revolvers and air guns.
The demographic consists of primary producers, sporting shooters, recreational hunters, professional vertebrate pest controllers, theatrical armorers and collectors.
Primary producers, professional shooters and some clay target shooters also have licenses to own semi-automatic shotguns and rifles.
Gun buyback 1996 – Australia
In 1996, the Australian tax payer funded half a billion dollars for the gun buyback of semi-automatic longarms. Broadly speaking, the legislation included a raft of other measures, including stricter licensing and safe storage laws, as well as the registration of firearms.
The on-going cost to manage our firearms registries is estimated at approximately $70 million per year, but it is difficult to measure the additional cost burden on the police force and border protection agencies who also have an administrative responsibility to process paperwork for the registry.
The police force is required to conduct routine safe storage inspections of firearms owned by licensed individuals. The cost to conduct inspections across 800,000 homes would no doubt be significant. Then there is the opportunity cost to the community when police are conducting these inspections, rather than patrolling crime hot spots.
The plan
Information from the Firearms Association of Australia suggests that prior to announcing the buyback of semi-automatic long-arms, the State Police Ministers were told at the May 10th, 1996 meeting that…
“No reliable figures of total numbers of firearms in Australia are available. Estimates for all firearms vary from 3.5 million… to over 10 million. Best estimates of the number of military-style semi-automatics suggest around 350,000 throughout Australia. Best estimates for other semi-automatic, self-loading (sic) or pump action longarms suggest around 3,000,000.”
“The Attorney-General’s Department estimated that 3.35 million firearms would become prohibited.”
Results
The buyback resulted in 640,381 firearms being turned into police. The buyback yielded such embarrassing results for the government, with only the State of Victoria willing to release official figures as to what was handed in.
Of the 192,940 firearms handed in by Victorians, only 6,420 were classed as “Prohibited” firearms. These consist of automatic and semi-automatic centrefire rifles.
Pump-action shotguns and semi-automatic shotguns (limited to a five shot capacity) as well as semi-automatic rimfire rifles are still available, but restricted to those with a genuine need.
At best guess, 21,308 prohibited firearms were handed in nationally, well short of the best estimate of 350,000 thought to be in circulation.
Most in the firearms community believe a significant proportion of firearms handed in were inherited from deceased estates – grandpa’s old shotgun or rifle. The buyback was also a great opportunity for firearms owners to get almost as-new prices for old firearms, allowing them to upgrade to a new firearm for little cost.
Even the gun prohibitionists acknowledge that the buyback was a failure. Gun Control Australia’s John Crook says “It may be that we have to start this buy-back again because it is estimated there are still approximately 300,000 prohibited weapons to be brought in”.
Homicide
Statistics from the Australian Institute of Criminology show no evidence the gun buyback and gun laws of 1996 had any effect on the homicide rate.
John Howard is very tricky with his words when selling the 1996 gun laws as a success. He never talks about overall homicide rates, but rather how gun homicide has fallen.
Conclusion
In 2008, the Melbourne Institute released a working paper on “The Australian Firearms Buyback and Its Effect on Gun Deaths”.
The working paper concluded: “Although gun buybacks appear to be a logical and sensible policy that helps to placate the public’s fears, the evidence so far suggests that in the Australian context, the high expenditure incurred to fund the 1996 gun buyback has not translated into any tangible reductions in terms of firearm deaths.”
John R. Lott JR Ph.D is regarded as the foremost world expert in crime rates in relation to gun control measures being introduced. He has had over 90 articles published in various journals around the world. In 2012 he analysed the growing trend of violent crime since the 1996 gun control laws were enacted and concluded less guns translates to more violent crime.
Read the Harvard research paper that says….
“..the burden of proof rests on the proponents of the more guns equal more death and fewer guns equal less death mantra, especially since they argue public policy ought to be based on that mantra. To bear that burden would at the very least require showing that a large number of nations with more guns have more death and that nations that have imposed stringent gun controls have achieved substantial reductions in criminal violence (or suicide). But those correlations are not observed when a large number of nations are compared across the world.”
Firearms Registry
On April 2012, Canada abolished their firearms registry citing it a complete failure and waste of public funds. The police chiefs argued there have been tens of thousands of searches of the registry and that it was an important tool to help prevent and solve gun crime. When asked to supply records of the searches to the committee tasked to review the firearms registry, there was no evidence the searches could be linked to gun crime. The searches merely related to gun owners making licensing inquires. Watch this important video to learn the arguments that supported it be abolished.
Despite Canada abolishing their registry, our Labor Government have committed to buying the intellectual property of the system.
Gun Control tricks of the trade
Gun control advocates are poorly educated on the various types and functions of firearms, ignore crime data and often make up their own evidence.
They “ALWAYS” conveniently ignore the following facts:
1) We have porous borders.
2) Firearms are registered by serial numbers to owners.
3) Firearms are randomly and routinely inspected by law enforcement.
4) Ballistics checks enable the ability to track firearms back to crime scenes.
5) No evidence exists to suggest licensed firearms owners provide the criminal underworld with firearms.
American gun culture
Another furphy Gun Control advocates like to peddle is “We don’t want an American gun culture”.
You might be led to believe that we have a lot of guns, but to put the 3.2 million registered firearms we own into perspective, the small arms survey ranks Australia as 42 in gun ownership per capita
We are well behind Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, France, Canada, Austria, Germany, Iceland, New Zealand, Greece, Northern Ireland and the Czech Republic in terms of gun ownership. Yet our crime levels far exceed most of these countries.
We would need to increase our gun ownership six-fold and import over 20 million more firearms to rival America on per capita gun ownership.
Seeding firearms to criminals
For decades, the media and politicians have drawn a connection between gun violence and the sporting shooting community, asserting that our great Olympic shooters or hard working farmers have been seeding the criminal element with firearms.
The notion that an individual, who has passed federal criminal police checks and background checks into character, would risk jail to earn a quick buck by providing firearms to criminals is simply ludicrous.
But despite the absurdity, the NSW Police Commissioner, desperate to make a dent in gun crime, introduced the Ammunition Control Legislation in 2012, to track sales of ammunition. This legislation was simply more red tape and more administration for police to manage. The spirit of the legislation assumes a licensed shooter would risk jail time to make a small profit.
Firearms theft
Gun control advocates such as “Samantha Lee” have again ignored all the evidence, claiming “theft was the main source of black-market firearms, along with rogue arms dealers selling them under the counter.”
Customs and the Firearms Registry keep track of all firearms legally entering the country. Serial numbers are tracked and firearms dealers are routinely audited. Firearms may only be purchased with a firearms licence. Details of the transaction are recorded from the importer through to the dealer and then to the owner. The transaction is processed by Australian Customs and the Firearms Registry throughout its lifecycle, using the Permit To Acquire (PTA) and Customs B709 paperwork process. The physical transfer of a firearm from importer to buyer often involve delays of approximately 3 months.
What Samantha is notably silent about is the revelation the NSW Police dumped the firearms registry database into an excel spreadsheet, before loading it onto their intranet for access to all sworn officers and thousands of civilians. The security breach lasted for 18 months, without any audit trail as to who may have copied the information to sell to organised crime groups. The police continue to deny the data fell into the wrong hands, but are at a loss to explain why there has been a spate of gun thefts across NSW.
Growing gun violence
For decades, the media and politicians have drawn a simplistic connection between gun ownership and gun violence. Politicians are faced with thousands of proposals and policies throughout their term in office. It is naive to think they actually read the detail behind the comprehensive policy proposals. They would much rather support the two page, easy-to-read, gun control policy that says “Gun Control = Crime Control”
American politicians have made the same mistake with dire consequences. It has taken the United States decades to reverse the “Gun Control” culture that started in 1968 after the assassination of John F Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. Lyndon Johnson enacted knee-jerk legislation through the Gun Control Act of 1968, with the very view that strict gun laws would prevent gun crime. The 2nd amendment right to bear arms was infringed, escalating violent crime by 200% over only a few short years.
The next logical step was harsher penalties for criminals, followed by mandatory sentencing and the three strikes and you’re out rule.
America was so tough on its criminals that it wasn’t long before its prisons were filled to capacity. America built more prisons and even tent prisons, creating a breeding ground for criminal gangs to network and host crime schools.
Criminal records made it almost impossible to find a decent job, and the inability to live on the minimum wage has resulted in more criminals becoming recidivists.
It wasn’t until nearly two decades later, in 1987, that Florida introduced Conceal and Carry permits. These permits, issued by the local Sheriff, allow citizens to legally carry a concealed firearm, after obtaining a federal background check and undergoing comprehensive firearms training and training on obligations on the use of deadly force.
Quoting a conceal and carry page…. ‘Anti-gun folks were horrified. Obviously concealed carry would turn Florida into another Dodge City. Blood would flow in the streets. Fender-benders would turn into firefights.
The fight was tough, but the Unified Sportsmen of Florida succeeded. The dire predictions? A year later, the President of the police chiefs association, who had opposed the bill, was asked if he had kept track of all the problems the law caused. “There aren’t any,” he said.’
Over the next 25 years, almost every state across America has adopted Conceal and Carry permit laws, significantly reducing the contact crime victimisation rate and putting the United States nearly on par with Australia, but both above the OECD statistical median.
Crime rates halved and it is estimated over 500,000 home invasions are prevented each year and over 2,000,000 violent crimes averted. In the case that a firearms is drawn, the firearm is only discharged once in every thousand incidents.
American law enforcement has been so impressed by the laws that they have responded overwhelmingly to reject firearms restriction, including magazine capacity restrictions, semi-automatic AR-15s (commonly referred to by the media as assault weapons). Many Sheriffs have written to President Obama advising that whatever Federal firearms laws he plans to introduce, neither he nor his deputies will enforce them.
Gun deaths in America Comparative
Many might be justifiably afraid of conceal and carry laws in Australia, citing statistics that America has 11,000 gun deaths (excluding suicide) each year. This might be true, but they also need to recognise that America has 14 times the population of Australia and that 8,900 of those deaths are gang homicide related.
So to put gun deaths in America into perspective, we will subtract 8,900 from 11,000 and divide by 14. The final total is a far more palatable equivalent of 150, which is not far off the Australian gun homicide rate.
Since 1993, gun deaths in America have halved. This has been widely attributed to conceal and carry laws.
Illinois is one of the last states to introduce conceal and carry legislation, passed on the 9th of July 2013. The gun homicide rate in Chicago, Illinois is currently at 15.2 per 100,000.
Suicide
The media love to cherry pick statistics. Recently the courier mail wrote a great article exposing how much gun violence we have in Australia, but when comparing Australia to America, they inflated their figures to 10.3 deaths per 100,000 disregarding the fact roughly 65% of those deaths are suicide related. Since 1996 gun laws were introduced, there is no evidence in the Australian context overall suicide rates had fallen.
John Howard is very tricky with his words when selling the 1996 gun laws as a success. He never talks about overall suicide rates, but rather how gun suicide has fallen.
Root Cause
The root cause of growing gun violence in America from 1968, and in Australia since the draconian 1996 laws were introduced, can be broken into six categories. We need to stop wasting money controlling our law abiding citizens, but rather trust them and redirect this investment into better education, mental health, drug education and closing the gap on poverty.
Media
The dangerous rhetoric by some media continues to indoctrinate Australians to lobby politicians to introduce further gun control measures. Celebrating and glorifying mass murderers only puts ideas into the heads of those already deranged. The media preempted the Port Arthur massacre with a scary story about guns just prior to the shooting. Coincidence?
You’ll hear much about the Zimmerman case in both the American and Australian media. A young black boy was gunned down in cold blood by a blood thirsty white man. The trial by media in this particular case is overwhelming evidence the media brazenly lies for ratings. If you’ve been led to believe an innocent young boy was gunned down, you may wish to watch this short clip exposing the truth. The entire trial is also online on youtube, so judge for yourself.
Socio-economic circumstances
There is a direct correlation between the growing socio-economic divide and an increased demand for drugs. Those fighting poverty and homelessness are likely to join criminal gangs and peddle drugs in order to survive. We need to fix that divide by offering better opportunities and education to our young people.
Multiculturalism
More cultures equate to a larger number of gangs, exponentially increasing turf wars and gun violence. We need to be cognisant that multiculturalism, coupled with a socio-economic divide, will exacerbate gang wars. More gangs = more competition.
Self-defence rights
Our inalienable civil liberty. We must have the legal right to defend ourselves. Criminals will be far more brazen in attacking a law abiding citizen knowing they’re almost certainly guaranteed to be disarmed – ‘BY LAW’.
Police Mantra
A systemic belief that the police should be the only ones to have guns and that citizens with guns are a danger. This creates a cultural divide between the police and the community, hindering investigations into crime. Police need to learn from US cops who have overwhelmingly accepted ‘APPROVED’ lawful citizens carrying firearms.
State Budgets
Despite no evidence of any public safety benefit, we continue to waste millions of dollars managing a firearms registry bureaucracy. These much needed funds must be redirected to police and border control intelligence work to further put the pressure on organised crime.
Australia making the mistakes of America
With gun crime (drive by shootings) exploding in Western Sydney, police continue to remain defiant that harsher penalties will deter criminals from carrying or using firearms.
Mandatory Sentencing.
Mandatory sentencing is usually the first tool in the crime kit bag promoted by police to influence politicians to pass legislation guaranteeing lengthy prison terms for those who commit gun crime. The public are mostly supportive of these measures, but have little understanding of the consequences.
Crime School.
More criminals sent to jail results in more prisons and ultimately larger crime schools. Prisons are education centres for criminals to build crime networks, collaborate on opportunities and run crime syndicates from the inside. They’re also used as opportunities to recruit petty criminals to participate in more serious criminal behavior after they have been released.
3 Strikes and you’re out.
Mandatory sentencing has a positive short term effect on reducing crime, but as these criminals are released back into society, we see a trend of increasing crime, more brazen and more violent criminal activity. Law makers in the US were then forced to introduced “3 strikes and you’re out” legislation, effectively jailing violent repeat offenders indefinitely. Again putting more strain on the prison system and increasing the size of the crime school.
Under-cover operations.
There have been few cases where police have successfully managed to infiltrate organised crime groups by placing under-cover operatives inside to gather evidence in order to charge and convict the leaders of these gangs. The success of under-cover operations has been limited as well as expensive.
Initiation killings.
Crime gangs are weary of under-cover operatives infiltrating organised crime groups, so gangs have forced new recruits to commit initiation killings – random killings in order to prove their legitimacy as a gang affiliate.
Moving forward
America have recognised the ever increasing number of innocent victims as a result of their policies. This has put pressure on law makers to support self-defence laws known as conceal and carry laws across almost the entire US. A policy Australia should consider adopting to stem the tide of skyrocketing gun violence. Something which they just cannot hide so easily anymore.
Meanwhile Tony Abbott has Federal Bodyguards armed to the teeth…
Gun Control – A victims perspective!!!
Father of Newtown shooting victim speaks about gun control
Sandy Hook Father Destroys Congress
Gun Control in Australia
If you happened to watch Channel Nine News on, 30 July 2013, you would have witnessed a flustered NSW Police Commissioner and Police Minister seemingly exhausted of ideas on how to tackle Sydney’s growing spate of gun violence.
Repeating the same tired line “People must report illegal guns”, they continue to ignore the root cause of gun crime or why witnesses are too scared to come forward.
For decades many Australian journalists have perpetuated the simplistic ideology that stricter gun control laws will solve gun crime, whilst ignoring the mountain of evidence demonstrating no connection between lawful firearms use and organised crime.
Despite our streets being awash with firearms, many continue to hail John Howard’s tremendous success, passing what are arguably known around the world as the most comprehensive and draconian firearms laws in the OECD. Some commentators will go as far as saying we need stronger laws to combat gun crime. But short of installing airport style security at the exit point of every home and entry point of every public place, we need to face the reality that criminals do not obey the law, and that we will never stop the evil acts of every mad man.
In response to the Channel Nine news report, Miranda Divine from the Daily Telegraph wrote a blog warning “We are facing an explosion of gang violence to rival Los Angeles 30 years ago”. It was a well researched article, exposing many truths about gun violence in Western Sydney, but it did not draw on the parallels between Australia and America and why we are facing this explosion in gun crime.
I’ll draw comparisons later between our two countries, how we are inadvertently creating a much larger problem for society, and what we need to do to reverse this trend.
But first, some background……..
Ideology
One of the biggest challenges we face in the debate about guns is the ideology people have that we can ban guns, fix our border controls or implement more laws to solve gun crime.
When you look at the border protection issue, it is absolutely farcical to believe we have the money or resources to check all the freight that comes into Australia. We cannot stop the tonnes of drugs flowing into this country, so what makes anyone seriously believe we can stop a few metal parts shipped with other metal parts. At least a dog can be trained to detect drugs, but it’s impossible to train a dog to detect metal or plastic parts.
It’s also well known that we have corruption in both our police force and border security. Whatever controls we put in place, however much money we spend, we will never plug the holes. No police force around the world ever has and no police force ever will.
The sad reality is, we need to learn how to live with guns in society. Guns were invented in the 13th century and are rudimentary in design. It’s bizarre to believe they could not possibly be made at home using blueprints readily available from the internet. The authorities know this, but they won’t change their stubborn approach to the problem until we change our attitude as a society. Accepting the status-quo is not working.
Learn
how to make a 9mm submachine gun at home from a book you can buy online.
how a jeweler made up to 100 MAC 10 9mm submachine guns.
how to make a zip gun watching a video online.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5d5_1368241065
about illegal manufacture in Australia as an example.
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1716034/gallery-lake-man-made-guns-at-home/?cs=305
about the new technology of 3D printers.
about how firearms were imported from Tennesse in engine parts.
about our leaky postal service.
how to buy firearms online illegally from a US exporter.
about CNC machines owned by many factories and home owners.
what happens to firearms after handed in during an amnesty.
Smuggled guns: customs officers lied about scans
http://www.theage.com.au/national/smuggled-guns-customs-officers-lied-about-scan-20121220-2bplc.html
Massacres
By far the most emotive anti-gun argument is the issue of massacres. Massacres are not preventable, but we can employ smart measures to mitigate the risk of experiencing a massacre and mitigate against the number of fatalities and casualties. The do-gooders, with their idealistic views, still have the absurd view that deranged people and criminals obey the law. They keep pushing for more and more laws, ironically making it even easier for a mad man to inflict more carnage.
In 1990, the President of the United States introduced “The Gun-Free School Zones Act”. Quite possibly the worst gun legislation introduced by any country ever! The legislation was nothing but an advertisement for madmen, advising where the easy targets were. If they wanted to inflict the most carnage possible, a school would be the best place to do it. Since the legislation was introduced, school massacres have increased five fold. The NRA have lobbied hard against this legislation and to repeal it, but the mainstream media refuses to listen to their arguments or air the words “Gun Free Zone” in any press release. Instead, the media continues to verbal the NRA by suggesting “Their solution is we need more guns. They are just a self-interested lobby group interested in selling more guns”.
Across many states, authorities refused to enforce the “Gun Free School Zones Act”. Some state legislatures even passed their own laws, allowing teachers who are trained to conceal and carry to carry a gun in school. There have been no mass shootings in schools where teachers are allowed to conceal and carry. I’ll talk more about conceal and carry later.
Australia is not immune to another gun massacre and many are of the view that we have just been lucky. The Australian-New Zealand Counter Terrorism Committee recognises this by recently releasing the Australian Government guide to surviving a mass shooting.
Bad people do bad things
Say the name Roger Dean and most people wouldn’t know who you’re talking about. It was only late last year, November 2012, when he pleaded guilty to arson for the Quakers Hill nursing home fire, killing 11 people and badly burning 8 others.
Today, as I write this blog, I learned to discover Roger was convicted to life in prison without parole.
Roger chose to use a box of matches to massacre 11 people instead of a gun, so it begs the question, why is he is not as revered by the media as Martin Bryant? Marilyn Manson summed up the media culture well when he spoke about the cycle of fear and consumption in Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling for Columbine. I disagree with many of Michael’s views, but that one interview is worth consideration.
It’s no secret the media thrives on fear for ratings. If it bleeds, it leads. If there is a gun, even better! But by far the best ratings and sales can be made glorifying killers such as the Boston Bomber when they put him on the cover of “Rolling Stone” magazine.
The techniques the media uses for its own self-gratification cost lives and will continue to cost lives if we don’t have a fair debate about gun ownership and gun crime. We should pass laws to stop giving killers rock star status. I’d rather we never knew their names or saw their faces. However, this is an unrealistic ask in a world with the internet, so I’m not going to push it.
Read more about Australia’s mass murder arsonists.
Gun ownership in Australia
Many Australians are of the belief that since the 1996 gun buyback, all guns are now illegal. These people are surprised to hear that nearly 800,000 Australians have been issued a firearms license for any number of genuine reasons. Australians legally own approximately 3.2 million registered firearms – firearms that include shotguns, rifles, semi-automatic handguns, revolvers and air guns.
The demographic consists of primary producers, sporting shooters, recreational hunters, professional vertebrate pest controllers, theatrical armorers and collectors.
Primary producers, professional shooters and some clay target shooters also have licenses to own semi-automatic shotguns and rifles.
Gun buyback 1996 – Australia
In 1996, the Australian tax payer funded half a billion dollars for the gun buyback of semi-automatic longarms. Broadly speaking, the legislation included a raft of other measures, including stricter licensing and safe storage laws, as well as the registration of firearms.
The on-going cost to manage our firearms registries is estimated at approximately $70 million per year, but it is difficult to measure the additional cost burden on the police force and border protection agencies who also have an administrative responsibility to process paperwork for the registry.
The police force is required to conduct routine safe storage inspections of firearms owned by licensed individuals. The cost to conduct inspections across 800,000 homes would no doubt be significant. Then there is the opportunity cost to the community when police are conducting these inspections, rather than patrolling crime hot spots.
The plan
Information from the Firearms Association of Australia suggests that prior to announcing the buyback of semi-automatic long-arms, the State Police Ministers were told at the May 10th, 1996 meeting that…
“No reliable figures of total numbers of firearms in Australia are available. Estimates for all firearms vary from 3.5 million… to over 10 million. Best estimates of the number of military-style semi-automatics suggest around 350,000 throughout Australia. Best estimates for other semi-automatic, self-loading (sic) or pump action longarms suggest around 3,000,000.”
“The Attorney-General’s Department estimated that 3.35 million firearms would become prohibited.”
Results
The buyback resulted in 640,381 firearms being turned into police. The buyback yielded such embarrassing results for the government, with only the State of Victoria willing to release official figures as to what was handed in.
Of the 192,940 firearms handed in by Victorians, only 6,420 were classed as “Prohibited” firearms. These consist of automatic and semi-automatic centrefire rifles.
Pump-action shotguns and semi-automatic shotguns (limited to a five shot capacity) as well as semi-automatic rimfire rifles are still available, but restricted to those with a genuine need.
At best guess, 21,308 prohibited firearms were handed in nationally, well short of the best estimate of 350,000 thought to be in circulation.
Most in the firearms community believe a significant proportion of firearms handed in were inherited from deceased estates – grandpa’s old shotgun or rifle. The buyback was also a great opportunity for firearms owners to get almost as-new prices for old firearms, allowing them to upgrade to a new firearm for little cost.
Even the gun prohibitionists acknowledge that the buyback was a failure. Gun Control Australia’s John Crook says “It may be that we have to start this buy-back again because it is estimated there are still approximately 300,000 prohibited weapons to be brought in”.
Homicide
Statistics from the Australian Institute of Criminology show no evidence the gun buyback and gun laws of 1996 had any effect on the homicide rate.
John Howard is very tricky with his words when selling the 1996 gun laws as a success. He never talks about overall homicide rates, but rather how gun homicide has fallen.
Conclusion
In 2008, the Melbourne Institute released a working paper on “The Australian Firearms Buyback and Its Effect on Gun Deaths”.
The working paper concluded: “Although gun buybacks appear to be a logical and sensible policy that helps to placate the public’s fears, the evidence so far suggests that in the Australian context, the high expenditure incurred to fund the 1996 gun buyback has not translated into any tangible reductions in terms of firearm deaths.”
John R. Lott JR Ph.D is regarded as the foremost world expert in crime rates in relation to gun control measures being introduced. He has had over 90 articles published in various journals around the world. In 2012 he analysed the growing trend of violent crime since the 1996 gun control laws were enacted and concluded less guns translates to more violent crime.
Read the Harvard research paper that says….
“..the burden of proof rests on the proponents of the more guns equal more death and fewer guns equal less death mantra, especially since they argue public policy ought to be based on that mantra. To bear that burden would at the very least require showing that a large number of nations with more guns have more death and that nations that have imposed stringent gun controls have achieved substantial reductions in criminal violence (or suicide). But those correlations are not observed when a large number of nations are compared across the world.”
Firearms Registry
On April 2012, Canada abolished their firearms registry citing it a complete failure and waste of public funds. The police chiefs argued there have been tens of thousands of searches of the registry and that it was an important tool to help prevent and solve gun crime. When asked to supply records of the searches to the committee tasked to review the firearms registry, there was no evidence the searches could be linked to gun crime. The searches merely related to gun owners making licensing inquires. Watch this important video to learn the arguments that supported it be abolished.
Despite Canada abolishing their registry, our Labor Government have committed to buying the intellectual property of the system.
Gun Control tricks of the trade
Gun control advocates are poorly educated on the various types and functions of firearms, ignore crime data and often make up their own evidence.
They “ALWAYS” conveniently ignore the following facts:
1) We have porous borders.
2) Firearms are registered by serial numbers to owners.
3) Firearms are randomly and routinely inspected by law enforcement.
4) Ballistics checks enable the ability to track firearms back to crime scenes.
5) No evidence exists to suggest licensed firearms owners provide the criminal underworld with firearms.
American gun culture
Another furphy Gun Control advocates like to peddle is “We don’t want an American gun culture”.
You might be led to believe that we have a lot of guns, but to put the 3.2 million registered firearms we own into perspective, the small arms survey ranks Australia as 42 in gun ownership per capita
We are well behind Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, France, Canada, Austria, Germany, Iceland, New Zealand, Greece, Northern Ireland and the Czech Republic in terms of gun ownership. Yet our crime levels far exceed most of these countries.
We would need to increase our gun ownership six-fold and import over 20 million more firearms to rival America on per capita gun ownership.
Seeding firearms to criminals
For decades, the media and politicians have drawn a connection between gun violence and the sporting shooting community, asserting that our great Olympic shooters or hard working farmers have been seeding the criminal element with firearms.
The notion that an individual, who has passed federal criminal police checks and background checks into character, would risk jail to earn a quick buck by providing firearms to criminals is simply ludicrous.
But despite the absurdity, the NSW Police Commissioner, desperate to make a dent in gun crime, introduced the Ammunition Control Legislation in 2012, to track sales of ammunition. This legislation was simply more red tape and more administration for police to manage. The spirit of the legislation assumes a licensed shooter would risk jail time to make a small profit.
Firearms theft
Gun control advocates such as “Samantha Lee” have again ignored all the evidence, claiming “theft was the main source of black-market firearms, along with rogue arms dealers selling them under the counter.”
Customs and the Firearms Registry keep track of all firearms legally entering the country. Serial numbers are tracked and firearms dealers are routinely audited. Firearms may only be purchased with a firearms licence. Details of the transaction are recorded from the importer through to the dealer and then to the owner. The transaction is processed by Australian Customs and the Firearms Registry throughout its lifecycle, using the Permit To Acquire (PTA) and Customs B709 paperwork process. The physical transfer of a firearm from importer to buyer often involve delays of approximately 3 months.
What Samantha is notably silent about is the revelation the NSW Police dumped the firearms registry database into an excel spreadsheet, before loading it onto their intranet for access to all sworn officers and thousands of civilians. The security breach lasted for 18 months, without any audit trail as to who may have copied the information to sell to organised crime groups. The police continue to deny the data fell into the wrong hands, but are at a loss to explain why there has been a spate of gun thefts across NSW.
Growing gun violence
For decades, the media and politicians have drawn a simplistic connection between gun ownership and gun violence. Politicians are faced with thousands of proposals and policies throughout their term in office. It is naive to think they actually read the detail behind the comprehensive policy proposals. They would much rather support the two page, easy-to-read, gun control policy that says “Gun Control = Crime Control”
American politicians have made the same mistake with dire consequences. It has taken the United States decades to reverse the “Gun Control” culture that started in 1968 after the assassination of John F Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. Lyndon Johnson enacted knee-jerk legislation through the Gun Control Act of 1968, with the very view that strict gun laws would prevent gun crime. The 2nd amendment right to bear arms was infringed, escalating violent crime by 200% over only a few short years.
The next logical step was harsher penalties for criminals, followed by mandatory sentencing and the three strikes and you’re out rule.
America was so tough on its criminals that it wasn’t long before its prisons were filled to capacity. America built more prisons and even tent prisons, creating a breeding ground for criminal gangs to network and host crime schools.
Criminal records made it almost impossible to find a decent job, and the inability to live on the minimum wage has resulted in more criminals becoming recidivists.
It wasn’t until nearly two decades later, in 1987, that Florida introduced Conceal and Carry permits. These permits, issued by the local Sheriff, allow citizens to legally carry a concealed firearm, after obtaining a federal background check and undergoing comprehensive firearms training and training on obligations on the use of deadly force.
Quoting a conceal and carry page…. ‘Anti-gun folks were horrified. Obviously concealed carry would turn Florida into another Dodge City. Blood would flow in the streets. Fender-benders would turn into firefights.
The fight was tough, but the Unified Sportsmen of Florida succeeded. The dire predictions? A year later, the President of the police chiefs association, who had opposed the bill, was asked if he had kept track of all the problems the law caused. “There aren’t any,” he said.’
Over the next 25 years, almost every state across America has adopted Conceal and Carry permit laws, significantly reducing the contact crime victimisation rate and putting the United States nearly on par with Australia, but both above the OECD statistical median.
Crime rates halved and it is estimated over 500,000 home invasions are prevented each year and over 2,000,000 violent crimes averted. In the case that a firearms is drawn, the firearm is only discharged once in every thousand incidents.
American law enforcement has been so impressed by the laws that they have responded overwhelmingly to reject firearms restriction, including magazine capacity restrictions, semi-automatic AR-15s (commonly referred to by the media as assault weapons). Many Sheriffs have written to President Obama advising that whatever Federal firearms laws he plans to introduce, neither he nor his deputies will enforce them.
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