Australia Takes Aim at Guns, Again, After Confiscation Scheme Fails to Disarm Criminals
Australia Takes Aim at Guns, Again, After Confiscation Scheme Fails to Disarm Criminals
The much-heralded Australian gun confiscation scheme of the late 1990s failed to disarm criminals to such a degree that Australia is going after guns again, beginning in July of this year.
In other words, the gun confiscation scheme Hillary Clinton praised on October 16, 2016, as “worth looking at” for gun policy in America actually created an uneven playing field where law-abiding citizens turned in their guns while criminals retained theirs….
On August 21, 2013–over 15 years after Australia’s forced buyback/confiscation scheme was carried out–Breitbart News reported that Australian gun crime was “out of control.” The Ballina Shire Advocate reported “over 9,000 guns [had] been taken off New South Wales (NSW) streets and 3352 people [had been] charged” during police operations in the previous 12 months alone.
On October 22, 2016–20 years after the forced buyback/confiscation scheme was carried out–Breitbart News reported the Australian government’s admission that hundreds of thousands of “illegal firearms” remained in criminal possession.
Moreover, The Age reported:
- Known criminals were caught with firearms 755 times [in 2015], compared to 143 times in 2011
- The epicentre of the problem is a triangle between Coolaroo, Campbellfield and Glenroy in the north-west, with Cranbourne, Narre Warren and Dandenong in the south-east close behind
- Criminals are using gunshot wounds to the arms and legs as warnings to pay debts
- Assault rifles and handguns are being smuggled into Australia via shipments of electronics and metal parts.