Anti-handgun Push
by Paul Peake
Australian Shooters Journal
May 1999
One off the anti-gun lobby's principal tactics is the promotion of highly selective statistics. Carefully chosen figures which appear to vindicate its anti-firearm philosophy form the basis of many of the movement's claims and these in turn are often promulgated by an accommodating media. Recently, the lobby and some of its supporters, including the Australian Democrats' Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja, (1) have begun to call for a ban on private handgun ownership, citing a supposed increase in the number of pistols imported into Australia. A review of the evidence shows, however, that a significant percentage of the handguns brought into the country over the past three years have in fact gone to various law enforcement agencies, while the number of firearms imported for civilian use has actually declined considerably.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data covering handgun imports from 23 countries of origin show that 9,590 pistols and revolvers arrived in the country in 1996, 7,447 in 1997 and 12,681 in 1998. Ostensibly, the numbers suggest an increase over the past two years - a notion readily seized upon by the anti-gun lobby. Closer inspection reveals a very different picture, however. According to Grycol International, one of Australia's largest firearm importers, New South Wales police contract No. 970/1142, involving the purchase of 13,000 semi-automatic pistols, was awarded to Austrian manufacturer Glock in March, 1997. Similarly, Queensland Police contract No. E540 for 1,500 pistols was awarded to the same company in April, 1998. The impact of these two very large purchases can be clearly seen in Table 1. While over 90% of the countries of origin cited in the ABS figures recorded a decline in the number of handguns shipped into Australia at some point between 1996 and 1998, imports from Austria increased by over 1,700%.
Anecdotal evidence from police sources around the country suggests that as many as 9,500 of the 14,500 semi-automatic pistols eventually destined for service use have already been received with upwards of 8,000 going to New South Wales and 1,500 to Queensland. Beyond the handguns involved in the NSW and Qld contracts, however, several other Australian jurisdictions are presently testing a range of potential replacements for their current service issue firearms. While the exact number of handguns brought into the country for evaluation purposes is not known, it may equate to as many as two or three thousand additional guns over the past several years.
When the huge increase in the number of firearms imported from Austria for official use is taken into account, there has in fact been a marked decline in the overall number of handguns arriving in Australia since 1996. Pistol and revolver imports from the United States, traditionally one of the strongest sources of supply and a good indicator of the current trend, were down by more than 50% in 1998 compared with two years earlier. Imports from Italy, another important supplier, along with Brazil, the Philippines, Canada and the Czech Republic were also down significantly in 1998.
ABS figures indicate that rifle and shotgun imports are also down considerably on pre-1996 levels. As Table 2 shows, despite an increase in the financial year 1996-97, possibly a result of shooters replacing confiscated firearms in the wake of the 'buyback' scheme, the number of longarms brought into the country fell by around 38% in 1997-98 compared to imports four years earlier.
With the ABS data as a guide, suggestions that a rise in violent crime is somehow connected to an increase in handgun imports are nonsense. Clearly, the number of pistols and revolvers brought into Australia for legitimate sporting purposes has declined over the past several years, as has the number of firearms generally, even allowing for an increase in rifle and shotgun imports in 1996-97.
Evidence that firearm imports into Australia have fallen considerably, the obvious futility of penalising law-abiding gun owners and even reports from the movement's chief mentor the United Nations, suggesting that as many as 3000 illegal guns may be smuggled into the country each year, (2) are of no consequence to the anti-gun lobby and its supporters. The movement has been working hard to try to manufacture a connection in the public's mind between legitimate private handgun use and crime, a fact illustrated by recent claims put forward by the Coalition For Gun Control:
We have a handgun problem in Australia on two fronts. Firstly, semi-automatic and self-loading handguns are still available in Australia. They pose a great risk. Secondly, these guns are frequently stolen, fuelling their availability for those people who have no respect for the law....
Every illegal gun starts its life as a legal one....
The perpetrator of the Dunblane massacre, Thomas Hamilton, would qualify for a handgun licence in Australia today. (3)
What is an unsuspecting public meant to infer from the lobby's claims? - law-abiding owners are to blame for the criminal misuse of handguns and anyone who might want a pistol is a potential mass murderer!
The promotion of carefully selected figures is indeed the anti-gun lobby's principal tactic and an obliging media its chief asset. Shooters would be right to suspect recent efforts to connect violent crime to sporting pistols. The anti-gun movement has made it very clear that it sees the outlawing of handguns as the next phase in its campaign to destroy private firearms ownership in Australia:
Our position is that semi-automatic and self-loading handguns (including revolvers) have the same propensity to do harm as semi-automatic and self-loading rifles and must be banned in Australia - just as rifles are - other than for use by police....
The Federal Government could consider a buy-back scheme to compensate the owners of handguns affected by the changes. Any such scheme ought to conclude after the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. (4)
Shooters need to pressure their local politicians, both state and federal, pointing out the following facts.
Pistol and revolver imports for private sporting use have declined considerably over the past several years. Handgun sports are already rigorously controlled throughout Australia and have an enviable safety record. Anyone seeking to be licensed to own a handgun must prove a 'genuine need' and potential licensees are required to undergo comprehensive training and an extensive probationary period before they are even eligible to apply for a licence.
Penalising law-abiding firearm owners by banning handguns is likely to prove as fruitless in the battle against violent crime as the Howard government's 'buyback' confiscation scheme has been with regard to longarms. The fact is criminals don't hand in their guns. The anti-gun lobby knows it, but then again it's not the criminal's guns they are after - it's yours.
1. 'Handgun ban sought' (March 15th, 1999), The Canberra Times, p4.
2. Johnson, L, Green, G and McKay, S (February 26th, 1999), 'UN to hit illegal
gun trade', The Age.
3. 'Coalition For Gun Control' media release, March 12th, 1999.
4. Ibid.
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