Australians Own As Many Firearms As In 1996: Study

CANBERRA, Jan 14 (Bernama) -- Australians now own as many firearms as they did at the time of the Port Arthur shootings in 1996, China's Xinhua news agency reported quoting new study by the University of Sydney revealed recently.

More than one million guns were destroyed in the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre, but the research by Professor Philip Alpers, from the Sydney University school of public health, said Australians have steadily restocked and the number of firearms in the community now totals around 3.2 million.

In the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania in 1996, a deranged gunman shot dead 35 people and wounded another 23. Then Prime Minister John Howard pushed through stringent national controls, banning semi-automatic rifles and pump-action shotguns and introducing more stringent licensing. In the guns buyback, Australians surrendered more than 700,000 firearms.

"What our research found was that a huge number of people gave in their guns for no compensation at all," he said. "These hadn't been added into the discussions. So a million guns were taken out of circulation and put into the smelter."

www.bernama.com...

I live in country NSW and almost everyone I know owns a gun to shoot kangaroos and pigs. All people have to do is get a gun license and then keep their guns in a safe. Is that really such a big deal?

Also, nobody I know has a gun for 'protection'. Most people that own guns in Australia own them for shooting/hunting.

I think it would be a good idea for all the US patriots to put their costumes away and settle down.

I am glad Australia has sensible gun laws. Why do Americans have to be so dramatic about everything? Why do Americans need military style weapons? So dramatic.

All the gun talk is just a distraction from the economic problems.

Australians own as many guns now as they did before the gun laws. No big deal. All American patriots can stop acting like America is some beacon of freedom. If Australians want to own guns they can but there are rules since guns are kinda dangerous.... Any advanced nation should be able to understand that there must be rules as far as gun ownership goes.

America reminds me of Somalia. Real libertarians. Somalia and America get more alike each day. Americans would be better off worrying about their economy and National Debt.

I wish we lived on an island.. with no borders to worry about for guns to be brought in.. or cartels.. or etc. Gee, Im smack in the middle of the country and I have ms-13 here and they ran in the paper a few weeks ago about the few they arrested for a home invasion. Funny, the rest of us knew where to direct a rescue for dogs used for fighting by them, but the police just cant seem to arrest illegal criminal enterprises here unless they murder someone.

There is a big world out there, and some even think outside of their borders and across the waters at times to see the reality of the issue.

You see, we DO have laws, but funny thing.. the criminals dont abide by them. This is a 2010 story, but it happened not very far from me and stuck in my head. I would LOVE to see his permit ( We have to have a FOID card here to own a firearm)...

stlouis.cbslocal.com...

As I am a American and know little about Australia, i will refer you to Ed Chenel.
Please read.

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..... lone, 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 andassaults 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! Will you be one of the sheep to turn yours in? WHY? You will need it.

Now, there are "rules" here in America, please learn our laws, or refrain from talking about them.
America reminds you of Somalia, but Australia reminds me of another slave country.

Now with opinions aside you if have real facts to post that will help your opinion please do, but please refrain from having an opinion on things you know nothing about. Would I give an opinion on a Mars probe design? No, that would be silly because I know nothing about it.

reply to post by Advantage


Im not sure I undrstand what you are trying to say. Cant tell if you are American or Australian. Cant tell if you support gun laws or not.

You are saying police in Australia are no good so we need guns? And semi automatic ones? I would disagree with that.

Originally posted by GunzCoty
As I am a American and know little about Australia, i will refer you to Ed Chenel.
Please read.

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..... lone, 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 andassaults 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! Will you be one of the sheep to turn yours in? WHY? You will need it.

Now, there are "rules" here in America, please learn our laws, or refrain from talking about them.
America reminds you of Somalia, but Australia reminds me of another slave country.

Now with opinions aside you if have real facts to post that will help your opinion please do, but please refrain from having an opinion on things you know nothing about. Would I give an opinion on a Mars probe design? No, that would be silly because I know nothing about it.

The 'rules' are very lax. I am glad to see you are about to tighten them up like every other advanced nation.

The stuff you posted is nonsense.

edit- link or are you too ashamed? Stats from year after new laws? From 1996? And I wouldnt trust them. Source? Link? Looks like trash propaganda.

reply to post by HenryNorris


Why does the military need those weapons? Why does it make sense to take guns away from 'commoners', but if I put on a uniform and call my self government, all of a sudden I can own guns, tell people what to do and decide who lives and dies? Government should NEVER get more rights than the people. Who has used those guns to kill more people than any citizen? Government. How about the fact that our government routinely bombs women and children? Where's the outrage over bombs? What are bombs exclusively used for? Gun control advocates are THE BIGGEST hypocrites. US is number one in the world in gun ownership by far. So we're number one in gun deaths, right? Wrong, try 28th. Violent crime has dropped almost 50% the last 20 years, according to the FBI. The media can take one shooting and turn it into an epidemic, because all the media is controlled by the same people. It's a shame to see so many people totally manipulated by all the BS.

Originally posted by HenryNorris
reply to post by Advantage

 

Im not sure I undrstand what you are trying to say. Cant tell if you are American or Australian. Cant tell if you support gun laws or not.

You are saying police in Australia are no good so we need guns? And semi automatic ones? I would disagree with that.

I live in a state in the US with some of the toughest laws on the books for firearms. In Chicago you cant even have a handgun. Chicago has the worst gun crime in the country. We have to have a photo ID permit to own ANY gun or to buy ammo. YET... criminals with assault rifles are a very common problem here and we have rampant criminal activity with firearms. We do not live on an island as you do and have borders which you do not... and if the criminals want guns.. there is a constant flow from our lower border that is notoriously open and easy to cross because if we say we want federal law upheld and drugs/criminals/guns brought to be stopped from crossing into our country we are called any number of disparaging names and told we are built on immigrants and cant demand these things. I am not an immigrant nor is my family, so save that childishness. To gripe about our gun issue and make threads concerning it, perhaps at the very least familiarize yourself with our internal issues and law. I know exactly what our issues are and our law.. I have just 2 weeks ago quit my job working for our prosecuting attorney. Ive seen very well what the problem is in my own county in the center of the country. It is NOT the law abiding gun owner who is the problem, but strangely enough.. our govt wants YOU ( those who dont know, wont listen when we tell you, and rely on the news to get your facts about us ) and our own citizens to believe that is the case.

So the amount of guns owned by australians since 1996 hasnt increased,

yet our population has increased almost 22-23% since then. (18mil > 23mil)

reply to post by HenryNorris


Hey Henry, I don't know if you have noticed but America isn't Australia. Unlike Australia, America has a constitution to fight for, America has 300 Million people, 280 Million more than Australia, How the hell can we even compare ourselves to them? And just because one psychopath does something stupid, doesn't mean everyone should pay the price. Smoking kills more people per year than guns yet we just put sickening pictures and health warnings on the packets.

reply to post by Merlin Lawndart

Its a stupid argument. If you dont like your government then dont vote for them. If you are republican then you are the minority suck it up. Thats democracy.

Are so many Americans really potential terrorists.

I am surprised that so many will admit on the internet that they seek gun ownership to protect themselves from the government. Only in America.

If you take up arms against your government you are a terrorist. Citizens dont need what soldiers do.

I see that the effort is wasted here.

Carry on.

reply to post by HenryNorris


Also, nobody I know has a gun for 'protection'. Most people that own guns in Australia own them for shooting/hunting.


Well, there's the problem right there...inbred mentality and group think are a no go.


You see firearms as a sport of leisure, where as the possibility of using it as a tool of defense has missed the proverbial mark.


As for your watered down generalization, here's one: Funny how you find the motivation to displace an indigenous species easy to come by, but the thought of protecting your own never occurred.

Originally posted by DarknStormy
reply to post by HenryNorris

 

Hey Henry, I don't know if you have noticed but America isn't Australia. Unlike Australia, America has a constitution to fight for, America has 300 Million people, 280 Million more than Australia, How the hell can we even compare ourselves to them? And just because one psychopath does something stupid, doesn't mean everyone should pay the price. Smoking kills more people per year than guns yet we just put sickening pictures and health warnings on the packets.

We have a constitution. You think America is the only nation with a constitution?

So your best stuff is to say that Americans have a constitution and shouldnt be punished by having their semi autos taken away? The constitution encourages terrorism and is dated. Needs amendments once in a while I guess. And my opinion has nothing to do with mass murder. I dont think people should have guns for protection at all. I never have. Guns are for criminals. Policing is for police. If guns stopped crime then America would be safe.

And you are a strange libertarian if you want to ban smoking.

Originally posted by HenryNorris
reply to post by Merlin Lawndart

 

Its a stupid argument. If you dont like your government then dont vote for them. If you are republican then you are the minority suck it up. Thats democracy.

Now your just making yourself look stupid.

Are so many Americans really potential terrorists.

According to the government, yes. Your government also thinks the same about you.

I am surprised that so many will admit on the internet that they seek gun ownership to protect themselves from the government. Only in America.

Why? Whats wrong with it? Are they going to be accused of participating in terrorist activities and charged?

If you take up arms against your government you are a terrorist. Citizens dont need what soldiers do.

And this is the part where you have no idea what your talking about.

They'll have to pry my guns from my dead cold hands, it's tyranny and the liberal neocon illuminati globalists want to take the guns so that we're unable to stand up to them. It's all clear as day. If you're not screaming anf furious then you are unAmerican and a traitor to your nation.

I mean look at Australia. You all had your guns ripped right out from under you. You had no choice. You were neutered when they took your guns. you were men, but now you're cowards - little girls wearing short skirts and afraid to bend over in a dark room.

*reads op*

*arguments all fall down*

*New tactic*

I don't care about Australia, you sound like a slave country to me. They will have to pry my guns from my cold dead hands.

Originally posted by facelift
reply to post by HenryNorris

 

Also, nobody I know has a gun for 'protection'. Most people that own guns in Australia own them for shooting/hunting.


Well, there's the problem right there...inbred mentality and group think are a no go.


You see firearms as a sport of leisure, where as the possibility of using it as a tool of defense has missed the proverbial mark.


As for your watered down generalization, here's one: Funny how you find the motivation to displace an indigenous species easy to come by, but the thought of protecting your own never occurred.

Well I dont own a gun and I am from the city. But its only America that has inbreds in the country areas isnt it? Down in the deep south or something?

And no I dont need a gun for defense. I dont live in fear. If a criminal kills me then so be it. Im not a scared little American I guess.

Also I dont shoot animals. But again, you are American? You guys are crazy over your shooting compared to Australia.

Most Australians are not so afraid of criminals.

reply to post by HenryNorris


Lax?
I had to get a federal, state and local background check done after taking a training course, just to get a permit to carry.
There is no link because it was sent as an email to a member of the CCDL, how do you link another persons email?
I can show you a youtube video of the Australian news saying after they banned guns, not only did crime rates go up, but they had "new" crime they did not know how to deal with called home invasions.



Here you go!

Now show me yours.

Originally posted by HenryNorris
We have a constitution. You think America is the only nation with a constitution?

Sorry, I was thinking of the bill of rights.

So your best stuff is to say that Americans have a constitution and shouldnt be punished by having their semi autos taken away? The constitution encourages terrorism and is dated.

Yeah, why should every gun owner be punished for one persons actions. You could murder someone with a knife tommorow, is the rest of the country going to do your jail time?

Needs amendments once in a while I guess. And my opinion has nothing to do with mass murder. I dont think people should have guns for protection at all. I never have. Guns are for criminals. Policing is for police. If guns stopped crime then America would be safe.

Switzzerland has a population armed to the teeth and with that, have one of the lowest shooting rates in the world. Your argument has been proven bs in numerous other threads here. As for "Guns are for criminals", that must mean everyone who owns a gun where you live in NSW is a criminal even if they are just hunting. Police officers must be criminals for carrying.. You don't make any sense.

And you are a strange libertarian if you want to ban smoking.

I don't care, I used it as an example. It kills more people than guns do, deal with it.

reply to post by HenryNorris


Australia has one of the most abrasive modern democracies in existence. Second only perhaps to the UK. You want us to follow YOUR lead? ..... please

Originally posted by winofiend
They'll have to pry my guns from my dead cold hands, it's tyranny and the liberal neocon illuminati globalists want to take the guns so that we're unable to stand up to them. It's all clear as day. If you're not screaming anf furious then you are unAmerican and a traitor to your nation.

I mean look at Australia. You all had your guns ripped right out from under you. You had no choice. You were neutered when they took your guns. you were men, but now you're cowards - little girls wearing short skirts and afraid to bend over in a dark room.

*reads op*

*arguments all fall down*

*New tactic*

I don't care about Australia, you sound like a slave country to me. They will have to pry my guns from my cold dead hands.

edit on 13-1-2013 by winofiend because: (no reason given)

You sound like a potential terorist. This is exactly why America needs gun laws.

You are saying you will fight to the death to keep your semi auto? I doubt it and you shouldnt say that stuff in public. Someone may read that and take your advice. Even if you are serious about terrorism you should not encourage others.