The NRA tried to use our gun story as propaganda
...Dr McPhedran would not rule out the possibility that the 1996 buyback and ban on semi-automatics led to an underground market for firearms in Australia.
“It’s not unreasonable to say that it can certainly happen,” she said.
“However, our data about guns in Australia before 1996 isn’t terribly comprehensive so it is a difficult question to answer – we still don’t really know how many guns were not handed in during the buyback.”..
Australia’s Gun 'Buyback' Created a Violent Firearms Black Market. Why Should the U.S. Do the Same?
...In Australia, part of the supply of banned firearms comes from defiance of the original prohibition. The Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia estimates compliance with the "buyback" at 19 percent.
Other researchers agree. In a white paper on the results of gun control efforts around the world, Franz Csaszar, a professor of criminology at the University of Vienna, Austria, gives examples of large-scale non-compliance with the ban. He points out, "In Australia it is estimated that only about 20% of all banned self-loading rifles have been given up to the authorities."...
Spike in handgun crimes reveals nation’s secret problem
...Associate Professor Philip Alpers, one of Australia’s leading firearms researchers and a director of the Centre for Armed Violence Reduction at the University of Sydney, said the national ban on semi-automatic weapons following the Port Arthur massacre had spawned criminal demand for handguns.
“The ban on semi-automatics created demand by criminals for other types of guns,” he said, adding: “The criminal’s gun of choice today is the semi-automatic pistol.”
Our investigation found:
• NSW: in 2014-15, there were 3463 firearms charges, up 83 per cent on 2005-06
• Victoria: in 2014-15, there were 3645 firearms-related charges, up 85 per cent on 2005-06
• SA: in 2014, charges for possession and trafficking of guns are up 49 per cent on 2010-11
• Tasmania: in 2014, charges for unlawful gun possession were up 32 per cent on 2005-06
...Samantha Lee, an advocate for tighter firearms laws at Gun Control Australia, said the laws regulating the sale of ammunition in Tasmania and Victoria were weak.
“There is very little regulation of ammunition purchase,” she said. “In most jurisdictions you can purchase ammunition because you have a firearm licence and there is no restriction on the type you can purchase – so if you own a rifle you can still purchase ammunition for a handgun.”
Assoc Prof Alpers said the increased police focus on the ammunition trade had been an important development.
“Gun enthusiasts are quite right when they say guns don’t kill – it’s the bullets that kill,” he said. “For many years we just focused on the guns and ignored the ammunition that was lying around – now people are starting to realise that ammunition control is just as important.”...
Australia’s hidden gun problem: the worst suburbs for gun crime
The deadly weapon that’s about to be sold near you
...Gun control campaigners are calling on state governments to ban a new lever-action gun that can fire seven bullets in as many seconds.
The Turkish-made Adler A110 has some of the characteristics of a semi-automatic weapon, but is technically classified as a shotgun under national gun laws.
Samantha Lee, the chair of Gun Control Australia, said the Adler A110 should be banned because it approximates the performance of semi-automatic weapons that are illegal under national gun laws....
Chart of the day: More guns, less gun violence between 1993 and 2013
AFTER ORLANDO, THE HOMEMADE AR-15 INDUSTRY SURGES
