Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Australia Australia Admits Gun Control FAILURE

Despite strict gun laws and a failed buyback program, Australia still has an estimated 260,000 illegal firearms in the country. Australia’s Justice Minister has all but admitted defeat and has called for an amnesty program that would enable people to turn in their illegal firearms without “fear of prosecution.” Aside from being prosecuted for wanting to arm themselves, of course.

Reuters reported:

Australia on Friday announced a gun amnesty for next year after a criminal intelligence report estimated there were 260,000 illegal firearms in the country.

Australia introduced tight curbs on gun ownership after the massacre of 35 people by a lone gunman in and around a cafe at a former prison colony in Tasmania in 1996.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan outlined the “amnesty plan” in the wake of the failed buyback program to reporters in Melbourne:

The amnesty will provide an opportunity for those individuals who, for whatever reason are in possession of an unregistered firearm, to hand it in without fear of being prosecuted.

While Australia has some of the strongest firearm controls in the world, illicit firearms remain the weapon of choice for criminals.

And there’s the point. Criminals will get their hands on weapons — all restrictive laws regarding firearms do is ensure that law-abiding citizens are rendered defenseless and, in many cases, otherwise-law-abiding citizens are forced to break the law in order to arm themselves against criminals who wish to do them harm.

The Federalist exposed the false success claims of the Australian gun restrictions that have actually been clear failures:

In fact, according to the Australian government’s own statistics, a number of serious crimes peaked in the years after the ban. Manslaughter, sexual assault, kidnapping, armed robbery, and unarmed robbery all saw peaks in the years following the ban, and most remain near or above pre-ban rates. The effects of the 1996 ban on violent crime are, frankly, unimpressive at best.

Violence Declined Stateside Without A Gun Ban

It’s even less impressive when again compared to America’s decrease in violent crime over the same period. According to data from the U.S. Justice Department, violent crime fell nearly 72 percent between 1993 and 2011. Again, this happened as guns were being manufactured and purchased at an ever-increasing rate.

The media has also tried to cover up the truth with claims that there have been no mass shootings since Australia’s highly restrictive gun laws were put in place. Bearing Arms reported:

At Monash, seven people were shot (two fatally) by a murderous student who was armed with multiple handguns. All six handguns were acquired legally. The attacker was later determined to be mentally ill. The Hectorville siege that saw seven people shot(three fatally) was conducted with a shotgun that was legal under Australian law. The attacker in this incident was also found to be mentally ill. The Hunt family murders were likewise carried out with a legally-owned shotgun. The murderer in this instance was thought to be highly stressed due to his wife’s head injury.

In spite of the evidence and common sense, Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has said that Australia’s failed buyback program is something that we should consider here in the United States.

This is a disturbing combination of two things: the left’s bizarre fixation on celebrating failure and their crusade to “fundamentally transform” America by stripping us of our constitutional rights.

A Clinton presidency would be a disaster on a variety of levels. We’ve already seen many examples of how her dangerous policies have failed other countries in the Western world, yet she and her cronies insist on implementing them. That is why this election is so critical — this country may not survive a Clinton presidency.


http://thefederalistpapers.org/us/australia-admits-gun-control-failure-announces-change-of-direction

Latest estimate, published last week, was 600,000 illegal firearms in Aus.

I think it would be higher. I have heard that there were 330,000 SKS/SKK rifles imported into Australia by the Hawke/Keating Labour Government, although no one seems to know the exact figure, in a trade deal with China in th late '80's early 90's. I was told by a Police Inspector that about 30,000 were handed in during the 'Buyback' (Steal-back) following the harsh gunlaws enacted after Port Arthur in 1996 after strong bullying/threats of the Australian states by then Prime Minister John Howard.

Seems criminals/terrorists have little issue with obtaining unregistered firearms.....

If I was going to die or be imprisoned if caught committing a crime, I would want to be well armed to prevent such.

Thanks for sharing. Glad for the link to back up the post. That's important.

I think you're right, that there's pretty good evidence that the number of illegal firearms is considerably higher than 260,000. Roughly 640,000 firearms were handed in, in the first buyback. This covered self-loading longarms and pump-action shotguns. Based on import figures and figures for local production there should have been several million. As well as the SKS/SKK rifles, there were something like 500,000 M1 carbines imported, and with those types alone you have more than the total number of firearms handed in, and you haven't even started on the other centrefire rifles and the numerous shotguns and .22s imported and made here.

Estimates for the total number of illegal firearms range up to 6 million. See for example LINK

FWIW I remember being told by contacts in the plumbing industry that certain sizes of poly pipe and end caps suddenly disappeared off the shelves of suppliers, and remained in very short supply for a while.

Not only were the buybacks a complete failure in getting firearms out of circulation, they actually created a grey market. As well, for the investment of over a billion dollars thus far, and counting, there were no measurable benefits to homicide rates. The decline which had started several years prior to the first buyback continued, unaffected by the buybacks. Interestingly, over the very same time period, the homicide rate in the US also declined steadily - and it declined at a faster rate than did Australia's.

On the plus side...Australians learnt an awful lot about camouflage and the grey man.

"illegal firearms". Sounds ominous. It's scary just to think about all those illegal firearms, if you're the kind of person that wears footy pajamas.

If they were legal firearms they would way less scary.

I've wondered about that incident for some time, witnesses said the assailant was firing his self-loader from the hip,
with 19 of the 35 killed by headshots...then theres the report that he killed 12 people in just 15 seconds.

Starman, I have been in the remains of the Broad Arrow Cafe. It is tiny. Not sure if he killed 12 people in 15 seconds.

There is an interesting article for a police journal I read by the police ballistican that attended Port Arthur.

Rock, are you referring to police ballistician Dutton , APJ Sept 1998 issue?

Police video of crime scene.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0cb_1380615712

Thats it. You are correct re shooting time.

Sound track recorded his first 21 shots in 25 seconds. That is some shooting.....

We would have been looking at the same cshit if Hillary had been elected

Estimating illegal firearms is a lot like estimating bear numbers without DNA hair capture/recapture.

There's a lot more out there than the "officials" think- or will admit to.

New Zealand has very relaxed gun laws and does't seem to have any problems, but Australia has so many do-gooders and anti-progressive nut cases running around that getting a firearms licence is all but impossible unless you are mates with a cattle station owner. So one has to buy a rifle on the black market if you wish to protect yourself.

RSB.

Appears there isn't much fear of prosecution among Aussie gunowners...more like they rather take their chances

By the time you are down to offering amnesty as an incentive, you are out of ammo.

But liberals aren't persuaded by reality--they know better!

Hillary is another breed of sociopath, however,--she would have shot legal gun owners once they turned down the amnesty offer.

How in the hell do they know there are about 260,000 illegal guns in the Country?
Sounds like a number someone pulled out of their rear end.

Which proves...that you deserve the gov you voted for