Firearm legislation in Australia

April 2007
‘Australian Firearm Thefts, 2004-05’
Australian Insitute of Criminology
Crime Facts Info, 3 April 2007, no. 145
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/cfi/cfi145.html

The Australian Institute of Criminology's National Firearms Theft Monitoring Program was established in 2006 to examine all incidents of firearms theft reported to police. In the program's first annual report, for 2004-05, almost 1,500 firearms, or less than 0.1 of one percent of all registered firearms, were reported as stolen in 668 incidents (Borzycki & Mouzos 2007). This represents a downward trend since earlier research (Mouzos 2002). The figure below shows the majority of rifles (80%), shotguns (82%) and handguns (60%) were stolen from private residential premises. A sizeable minority of handguns (31%) were stolen from business and commercial locations.

July 2003
‘Decrease in Firearm Homicides’
Australian Insitute of Criminology
Crime Facts Info, 22 July 2003, no. 54
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/cfi/cfi054.html

According to the Homicide in Australia: 2001-2002 National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) Annual Report, despite an overall increase in homicide victimisation in 2001-02, there was a decrease in the number of recorded homicides where the type of weapon used was a firearm. Between 1 July 1989 and 30 June 2002 there has been a gradual decline in the use of firearms to commit homicide. Firearms were used in 26 per cent of homicides in Australia in 1989-90, compared to 14 per cent in 2001-02. This represents a 25 per cent decrease, and is the lowest proportion of homicides committed with a firearm since the inception of the NHMP in 1990. The most common type of firearms used to commit homicide in 2001-02 were handguns (56 per cent) and in most cases the firearm used in the homicide was not registered or licensed to either the victim or the offender.

June 2003
‘National Handgun Buyback Scheme set to kick off’
The Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator The Honourable Chris Ellison
Press release, 30 July 2003
www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/justiceministerHome.nsf/Page/Media_Releases_2003_2nd_Quarter_30_June_2003_-_National_Handgun_Buyback_Scheme_set_to_kick_off

‘National Firearm Trafficking Policy Agreement’
The Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator The Honourable Chris Ellison
Press release, 17 April 2002
www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/justiceministerHome.nsf/Page/Media_Releases_2002_2nd_Quarter_17_April_2002_-_National_Firearms_Trafficking_Policy_Agreement

May 2000
‘The Licensing and Registration Status of Firearms Used in Homicide’
by Jenny Mouzos, Australian Insitute of Criminology
Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, May 2000, No. 151
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi151.html

The licensing and registration status of offenders and firearms used in homicide are examined using data held as part of the National Homicide Monitoring Program. The findings of the report show that since 1997 licensed firearm owners have not been responsible for over 90 per cent of firearm related homicides. Most firearms used to commit homicide were not registered and their owners not licensed.