Australia's Gun Laws: Little Effect

[srad]

Sorry if this is a repost, I tried a few searches & didn't find reference to this Time article:

Australia's Gun Laws: Little Effect - TIME

Australia instituted a federal AWB back in '96... they actually bought back 650,000 'now illegal' weapons from citizens... at a huge cost... and destroyed them. The government also mandated federal licensing and registration of ALL firearms in order to dissuade its citizens from gun ownership because of the bureaucratic hassle.

Last year a prof at the University of Sydney compiled a study to see if the ban had any positive effect... and of course it didn't.

What the article didn't include was the fact that crime statistics at the end of the first year that the AWB and new federal regs took effect revealed the following:

* Australia-wide, homicides were up 3.2 percent; in the state of
Victoria homicides with firearms were up 300 percent
* Australia-wide, assaults were up 8.6 percent
* Australia-wide, armed robberies were up 44 percent

Seems like the destruction of 650,000 guns by the government and a temporary decrease in new gun ownership created a short-lived 'open season' for bag guys for the first year.

The sad thing is that the people of Australia never fought for nor ever reclaimed their private rights since.

 

[Bigum1969]

Sorry if this is a repost, I tried a few searches & didn't find reference to this Time article:

Australia's Gun Laws: Little Effect - TIME

Australia instituted a federal AWB back in '96... they actually bought back 650,000 'now illegal' weapons from citizens... at a huge cost... and destroyed them. The government also mandated federal licensing and registration of ALL firearms in order to dissuade its citizens from gun ownership because of the bureaucratic hassle.

Last year a prof at the University of Sydney compiled a study to see if the ban had any positive effect... and of course it didn't.

What the article didn't include was the fact that crime statistics at the end of the first year that the AWB and new federal regs took effect revealed the following:

* Australia-wide, homicides were up 3.2 percent; in the state of
Victoria homicides with firearms were up 300 percent
* Australia-wide, assaults were up 8.6 percent
* Australia-wide, armed robberies were up 44 percent

Seems like the destruction of 650,000 guns by the government and a temporary decrease in new gun ownership created a short-lived 'open season' for bag guys for the first year.

The sad thing is that the people of Australia never fought for nor ever reclaimed their private rights since.

But, the politicians and the could say they did something. It may not make things better, but it makes them feel better. That's the essence of what what we'll be fighting in this country soon, I fear. Mass killings and shooting are very emotional and draw a response that is often based on feelings vs. what will actually work.

 

[Principal Skinr]

That is why I joined the NRA. I know some people don't like some of the things they do or say, but they do one thing very well: defend 2nd amendment rights. They are the best organized and they know how and where to push. Every one of us who values our gun rights should join.

 

[hookedonjeep]

One almost has to laugh at the irony of it all....... Throughout history, evil men knew that the one true way to control a population was to disarm it's private citizens. If the sheeple cannot fight back, then it's all good in the neighborhood. When will history not be doomed to repeat itself? When will folks wake up and see that they are pissing away their ability to rule themselves? I guess that some people just accept whatever comes their way, because it is always easier to lay down than it is to stand up........ but then again........ nothing worth having ever comes easy......

 

[Octomonkey]

For a devil's advocate approach, here's a rebuttal to those statistics.

snopes.com: Australian Guns Stats

 

[dross]

For a devil's advocate approach, here's a rebuttal to those statistics.

snopes.com: Australian Guns Stats

Good points about statistics. I find it interesting that the left (and snopes is definitely left-leaning) gets a razor-sharp understanding of statistics when they need to attack a position on the right, but they will blatantly abuse statistics when it makes their point.

Let's make sure we don't do the same, and lose our moral high ground.