WillBrink
04-14-15, 11:32
As with gun control any place, a total fail. Criminals have them, law abiding do not. That's never been, nor will ever be, a formula that promotes Liberty or Freedom, or lower crime for the average law abiding citizen. It's a great formula for thugs and governments who wish to keep control (the "control" part of gun control) over its citizens.
Illegal gun numbers a mystery, Senate inquiry finds
Australian authorities have no firm idea how many illegal guns are in the country due to shortcomings in data collection, a parliamentary inquiry has found.
However, it is believed that there are hundreds of thousands of illegal guns in the Australian community.
The Senate inquiry has called for a shake-up of national record-keeping, including more money for the agencies that track illicit guns and a review of how data is collected and kept.
This includes the need for "more accurate" data on firearm thefts, the recovery of stolen guns and seizures of illegally imported weapons. The all-party committee that carried out the probe also calls for state and territory police forces to provide better and more consistent data to federal authorities – and for that data to be shared nationally.
And it sounds the alarm about emerging 3D printing technology, which can be used to easily and cheaply make guns.
"One of the clear revelations arising out of this inquiry was the lack of accurate, comprehensive data with regard to illicit firearms in Australia," the committee's report states.
"Due to the insufficiency of information available, it is difficult to make conclusions regarding the size of the illicit firearms market or the manner in which firearms transition from the licit market to the illicit.
"It is nearly impossible to estimate the size of the illicit market."
The committee noted that the Australian Crime Commission's estimate of 260,000 guns unaccounted for in the Australia community was "a conservative estimate".
It acknowledged it was very difficult to keep accurate data about illegal guns – given they are by definition hidden from authorities – but it added that it was "concerned that … we do not know the size of the problem".
"It is clear that further measures are required to improve the quality and accuracy of the data collected and held nationally," it says.
The inquiry found there was concern among authorities that data was out of date and that the main two organisations that try to track illicit weapon numbers – the ACC and the Australian Institute of Criminology – are using different data sets.
Also, the raw data provided by state and territory police forces was of questionable quality.
Illegal guns come both from the "black market" – guns that are illegally imported or made – and the "grey market", made up largely of guns that were once legally owned but were not handed in under John Howard's 1996 gun buyback scheme and may now have found their way into the hands of criminals.
The committee also raised fears that Australian criminals could use 3D printing to make their own guns, which are then easily disposable and hard to detect. Police had already uncovered cases where guns had been made this way.
It called for federal and state governments to look at uniform regulations covering 3D printing.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/illegal-gun-numbers-a-mystery-senate-inquiry-finds-20150410-1mi4lw.html
Illegal gun numbers a mystery, Senate inquiry finds
Australian authorities have no firm idea how many illegal guns are in the country due to shortcomings in data collection, a parliamentary inquiry has found.
However, it is believed that there are hundreds of thousands of illegal guns in the Australian community.
The Senate inquiry has called for a shake-up of national record-keeping, including more money for the agencies that track illicit guns and a review of how data is collected and kept.
This includes the need for "more accurate" data on firearm thefts, the recovery of stolen guns and seizures of illegally imported weapons. The all-party committee that carried out the probe also calls for state and territory police forces to provide better and more consistent data to federal authorities – and for that data to be shared nationally.
And it sounds the alarm about emerging 3D printing technology, which can be used to easily and cheaply make guns.
"One of the clear revelations arising out of this inquiry was the lack of accurate, comprehensive data with regard to illicit firearms in Australia," the committee's report states.
"Due to the insufficiency of information available, it is difficult to make conclusions regarding the size of the illicit firearms market or the manner in which firearms transition from the licit market to the illicit.
"It is nearly impossible to estimate the size of the illicit market."
The committee noted that the Australian Crime Commission's estimate of 260,000 guns unaccounted for in the Australia community was "a conservative estimate".
It acknowledged it was very difficult to keep accurate data about illegal guns – given they are by definition hidden from authorities – but it added that it was "concerned that … we do not know the size of the problem".
"It is clear that further measures are required to improve the quality and accuracy of the data collected and held nationally," it says.
The inquiry found there was concern among authorities that data was out of date and that the main two organisations that try to track illicit weapon numbers – the ACC and the Australian Institute of Criminology – are using different data sets.
Also, the raw data provided by state and territory police forces was of questionable quality.
Illegal guns come both from the "black market" – guns that are illegally imported or made – and the "grey market", made up largely of guns that were once legally owned but were not handed in under John Howard's 1996 gun buyback scheme and may now have found their way into the hands of criminals.
The committee also raised fears that Australian criminals could use 3D printing to make their own guns, which are then easily disposable and hard to detect. Police had already uncovered cases where guns had been made this way.
It called for federal and state governments to look at uniform regulations covering 3D printing.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/illegal-gun-numbers-a-mystery-senate-inquiry-finds-20150410-1mi4lw.html