President message - April 2007
In an effort to bring forward all information regarding
firearms ownership in Australia, the SSAA recently contacted Jenny
Mouzos, who along with Marie Borzycki, both of the Australian Institute
of Criminology, has produced a summary of the Firearms Theft in Australia
2004-05 report.
It is always pleasing to see a downward trend in firearms
theft and to learn that stolen firearms represented only 0.06 per cent
of all registered firearms. Even though we may applaud some positive
results, all firearms owners must bear in mind the ways in which we
can amend the more negative results.
The report and the summary are unbiased productions
and offer information so the whole shooting community can consider
positive measures to reduce the number of firearms which may be misused
in the community.
We thank Dr Jenny Mouzos for her summary.
Bob Green
SSAA National President
Firearms theft in Australia 2004-05: A summary of the
latest results Jenny Mouzos PhD and Maria Borzycki PhD - Australian
Institute of Criminology
In March 2007, the Australian Institute of Criminology
(AIC) released the latest publication on firearms theft in Australia
(Borzycki & Mouzos 2007). The report presents the results of the
analyses of all incidents of firearms theft reported to police in Australian
states and territories for the period July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005.
Funded
by the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department,
the research was undertaken to further build upon knowledge gained
in an earlier exploration of firearms theft in Australia (see Mouzos & Sakurai
2006). Specifically this report examines the characteristics of commonly
stolen firearms, the modi operandi of thefts, and related issues such
as compliance with firearms storage requirements, repeat victimisation
and the recovery of and/or use of stolen firearms in other crime.
A
summary of the results of this latest research are outlined below.
Key findings regarding stolen
firearms:
• A total of 1470 firearms were stolen in 668 incidents reported during
the examined one-year period.
• Stolen firearms represented 0.06 per cent of all registered firearms
in Australia.
• Less than 0.1 of 1 per cent of Australian firearm licence holders
(0.09 per cent) reported firearms theft incidents.
• Just more than half of all incidents involved the theft of a single
firearm. The number of firearms stolen in multiple firearm thefts ranged from
two to 19.
• Rifles accounted for the majority (58 per cent) of all stolen firearms
and one-quarter were shotguns. Handguns constituted 7 per cent of reported
stolen firearms.
• Six in 10 stolen firearms were classified as Category A firearms,
around one in four as Category B and 7 per cent as Category H. One per cent
was classified as Category C and less than 1 per cent as Category D.
• Nearly nine in 10 (88 per cent) of firearms reported stolen were
registered.
Key findings regarding theft incidents:
• Nearly 90 per cent of incidents were reported within two weeks of
the firearm theft.
• The majority of incidents (83 per cent) occurred in urban areas.
• Around three-quarters of all theft incidents were from private residences.
More than 80 per cent of all stolen rifles and shotguns and 60 per cent of
stolen handguns were taken from this location type.
• 13 per cent of incidents involved theft from vehicles or while firearms
were in transit and the majority of these thefts resulted in the loss of single
firearms.
• Just more than one in 10 thefts occurred in business or commercial
premises. Around 30 per cent of all handguns, 11 per cent of shotguns and 8
per cent of rifles were stolen from this location.
• Six in 10 incidents also involved the theft of non-firearm items.
The most commonly stolen non-firearm item was tools (15 per cent of the total
types of goods reported stolen).
• Ammunition was stolen in addition to firearms in 27 per cent of incidents.
Ammunition was stored separately to firearms in 17 per cent of firearm plus
ammunition thefts.
Key findings regarding compliance
and prosecution:
• 53 per cent of incidents involved the theft of firearms from owners
who were compliant with firearm storage requirements. The majority of incidents
where non-compliance was reported involved firearms stored in locations other
than locked safes or receptacles.
• Charges had been laid or were pending against owners in 42 per cent
of incidents in which non-compliance had been noted.
• A total of 122 charges relating to 109 incidents were reported. Nearly
six in 10 charges related to the inappropriate storage of firearms or ammunition.
Key findings on related issues:
• Previous thefts involving the loss of firearms in the same location
had occurred in 3 per cent of all incidents, but compliance with storage requirements
at the time of the currently examined theft was noted in only two-thirds of
these incidents.
• Some or all of the stolen firearms were recovered in around one in
eight incidents and recovered firearms were returned to owners in half of these
cases.
• Less than half of the incidents included information regarding whether
stolen firearms had subsequently been used in some other crime. Available data
show that firearms stolen in 1 per cent of incidents were known to be used
in later criminal incidents (which included murder, suicide, armed robbery,
fraud and goods/licensing offences).
Future directions in policy and
practice:
• Compared to the results from previous research (see Mouzos 2002),
current data indicate there is a downward trend in the number of firearms reported
stolen to police. Ongoing examination of firearm theft by the AIC, funded by
the Australian Government, will allow monitoring of this trend.
• Other issues, such as firearm theft from vehicles, and incidents
where entire storage receptacles are stolen, will also be examined and monitored
over time, facilitating future evidence-based firearms policy.
References
Borzycki M & Mouzos J 2007. Firearms Theft in Australia 2004-05,
Research and Public Policy, series no. 73, Canberra: Australian Institute
of Criminology. http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/73/rpp73.pdf
Mouzos J 2002. Firearms Theft in Australia, Trends & Issues in
Crime and Criminal Justice, no. 230, Canberra: Australian Institute
of Criminology.
Mouzos J & Sakurai Y 2006. Firearms Theft in Australia: A Six-month
Exploratory Analysis, Technical and background paper, no. 20, Canberra:
Australian Institute of Criminology. http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tbp/tbp020/
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