Firearms in Australia - Report Example

Name Tutor Course Date Firearms in Australia Introduction Since May 1996, the possession of firearms in Australia has been strictly limited to the persons considered as responsible. Over the years the legitimacy of firearm ownership and authorization of firearm markets have been governed through firearm regulation schemes. For instance, firearm regulations in all the Australian states and territories are enhanced through National Firearms Agreement (NFA). Such regulations were made stiffer and more consistent following the historical horror of Port Arthur massacre that occurred in a Sunday evening 1996. On that dreadful day, an irate young man shot dead more than thirty people and further injuring other eighteen people in Port Arthur, Tasmania. This episode saw the introduction of bans that were levelled against ownership or possession of certain types of firearms such as the long firearms. This paper provides a detailed report of the firearm laws and the issues surrounding firearm possession in Australia. Firearms in Australia According to section six of part two of the Australian firearm Act 1996, the term firearm describes a gun or any other weapon that can propel a projectile by the means of explosive force. The ammunitions categorized under this section include air guns, blank firearms, any improvised or modified item and frames and receivers of firearms. Modified items refer to the objects that would otherwise be used as firearms if they had nothing missing from them. Similarly, Mouzos notes that in accordance to the Regulation 4F of the 1998 Regulations of the 1998, the term firearms refers to the devices that are designed to discharge bullets, shorts or other projectiles through explosive charge or by means of compressed air (1). Such devices may include self-loading shotguns and fire riffles, self-loading centre-fire rifles, handguns such as pistols and revolvers, rim fire rifles among others. Gun buybacks Leigh and Neill point it out that as part of NAF, the firearms, which were considered illegal for citizen ownership, were subjected to buybacks by the government (510). In this instance, the owners were being compensated for the surrendered firearms at the market prices. According to Leigh, more than 65,000 guns were handed returned (1). Gun buyback is similarly a federal program that has been extensively employed by the US government to repossess illegal firearms from the civilians. Following the shooting of three teenagers in the same neighbourhood in Seattle in Washington State in 1992, a committee was formed to purposely eliminate the firearm violence. Their major aim was to raise USD $100, 000 which was to be used to buy back the estimated 2, 000 guns that were in the possession of the civilians. Although the gun buyback program has been found to have little impact, the Australian gun buyback has significant advantage compared to other states. The program has enabled larger scale of gun buyback. Leigh and Neill observe that the number of firearms retrieved from the civilians through the programme in the subsequent year after the Port Arthur incidence was five times compared to the numbers of firearms obtained in the United Kingdom in the same year (511). Secondly, the programme was not centralized in the state. This implies that the gun owners did not have to travel across the Australian states so as to replace their guns since the policy was conducted across the nation. This strategy was more effective than the compared to the buyback policy in the US which is often limited to certain regions. Finally, considering the fact that Australia is an Island and that the country does no have domestic firms manufacturing firearms for the retail market, the legal restriction on gun possession was more effective than in other countries (Leigh and Neill 511). The gun buyback policy in the US has often been criticized in number of ways. For example, according to Hirsh, the policy is often blamed for its inability to attract criminals. Similarly, its failure to retrieve the types of firearms used in criminal acts has also been pointed out (6). This is perhaps one of the reasons why the policy is considered popular but ineffective. However, the Daily Hampshire Gazette point it out that the intension of the gum buyback k policy is not to compel the criminal to surrender their weapon but to control the number of prohibited guns that are possessed by civilians. The underpinning agenda is to promote gun safety a homes and in the community. Furthermore, the policy has also been criticised for reasons such as failure to reduce the rates of crimes and violence and not being able to control the large number of guns owned the Americans. Effects of firearm policy in Controlling Gun related deaths Firearm possession and homicide related cases. Generally, within the realm of economic of crime one of the most confronted issues is the connection between firearm possession and the rates of violent deaths. It is observable that gun possession or availability of guns to the civilians is potential cause of unlawful intentional killings otherwise referred to as homicides. According to Mathew, the Australian Firearm Act of 1996 has significantly impacted on the decline of rates of firearm homicides in the country (1). Similarly, Leigh and Neill observe that NFA has enabled substantial drop in the rates of firearm deaths in Australia. In this case the rates of firearm related homicide have significantly fallen by fifty nine percent in 2006 within a population of 20, million people. According to Chapman et al, there was 2.4% steady decrease of firearm related homicide annually after the introduction of the gun laws in Australia (1). As a result, in comparison to the historical standards, the rates of homicide as well as gun related suicides are current very low as opposed to the pre-firearm legislation. Table 1 show a clear indication that the firearm related deaths have been declining significantly over the decades. The rate of deaths resulting from firearm suicide has been relatively low since 1998. The rate firearm homicides on the other hand have been volatile. However, the rates have declined within the 2004 to 2007 time frame. Table 1.Number of deaths and type of firearm used for homicides and suicides Suicide Homicide 1990–95 (A) Number of deaths Rate per 1 million % of deaths 1998–2003 (B) Number of deaths Rate pre I million % of deaths Change in deaths (B-A) Change in number of deaths % change in death rates Hand gun Rifle/shot gun Other unspec 118 1891 675 1.1 1.79 6.4 4.4% 70.5% 25.1% 153 998 242 1.3 8.6 2.1 11.0% 71.6% 17.4% 35 -893 -433 18.1% -51.9 -67.3 Hand gun Rifle/ shotgun Other unspec 34 242 180 0.3 0.23 1.7 7.5 % 53.1% 39.5% 64 112 131 0.6 1.0 1.1 20.8% 36.5% 42.7% 30 -130 -49 71.5 -57.8 -33.7 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Cause of Death collection (Leigh and Neil ). The impressive results of controlled firearm deaths in Australia can largely be attributed to the gun buyback policy. In this instance the study conducted by Leigh and Neil indicates that retrieval of 3,500 guns from every 100,000 Australians contributed significantly to the reduction of firearm related suicide by almost eighty percent. This also led to the substantial decrease in the rate of firearm related deaths. Figure 1 below shows the trends of the homicides in Australia over the last two decades. Fig 1 Firearm homicides incidences in Australia between 1990 to2006 Source adopted from Australian Institute of Criminology: Homicide statistic Firearms trade in Australia Irrespective of the fact that ownership of firearms in Australia subjected under strict regulations, there are still illicit importation, ownership, storage and usage of firearms. Some of the large pool of the illegal firearms are acquired and stocked for the purposes of being used in organized crimes. Illicit firearm trade in Australia is characterized by the covert techniques of supply and demand of firearms. The purveyors of the illicit firearm trade often elude the legal system through use of fake documents, mislabelling and laundering of payments. For instance, imported package of firearms may be labelled as ‘plumbing parts’ to conceal their identity. They are smuggling into the country in inconspicuous parts in most cases. This is because the illicit traders cannot order them in large numbers. There are also group of traders sail between the legitimate traders and the illicit traders. According to Mouzos, this group of traders represents policy in influx (2). They often import and export government experiments with new diplomatic links. This group of traders are referred to as grey traders. Other than just smuggling parts into the countries, some of the illegal illicit traders and grey market traders also illegally import parts that can be used to manufacture the prohibited firearms or modify the existing ones. According to Bracknell, illicit manufacturing of firearms refers to the use of raw material to illegally produce firearms or to assemble various parts. According to Kerlatec, it is always estimated that the illicit domestic market of firearms is increasingly being supplied by the firearms that are locally manufactured (160). Corruption is also one of the major factors of the illicit firearm trade. In this case, the officials who are responsible issuance of firearm licences may be engaged in corruptible deals with the illicit traders or the grey market traders. Similarly, the licensed traders may engage in corruptions. Normally, the procedures regarding firearm importation are well stated within the legal system. The importer must first of all get a written certification either from the police r from the police department or from weapons registry. According to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, the original certifications must be presented to Customs and Border Protection at the time of importation. It is at this particular point that licensed traders are likely to entice corrupt custom officers. I most cases, the licensed firearm dealers have the authority to import large number of firearms. They may also have vast knowledge as far as processes and legislation of importation, sales and distribution of firearms are concerned. Due to these facts, they are likely to associate with the illegal traders. In the long run, the imported firearms may end p in the wrong hands. The driving factor behind such activities is generally the need for large profit margins Conclusion In conclusion, the strict firearms law in Australia has significantly helped in reducing firearm related deaths. This paper has demonstrated that the introduction of firearm reforms has seen reduction in the rates of firearm suicide deaths in Australia. Although the rates of firearm homicides are not sharply reduced compared to suicide cases, the total rate in subsequent decades are relatively lower compared to pre-firearm reform data. Similarly, compared to the firearm legislation in the US, the Australian case has achieved impressive results in terms of retrieving firearms from the civilians and obtaining home safety. Firearm trade in Australia is characterized by both legal and illicit trades. Through legal means, the traders are expected to obtain requisite authorization from the police department or the weapon registry. However, illicit firearm trade is conducted through illegal smuggling of firearms or disassembled parts. Works cited Australian Capital Territory (2015). Australian Firearms Act 199. Retrieved on January 10, 2015 from Australian Institute of Criminology. ‘Homicide statistics’, 21 February, 2013. Web 11 January, 2015. < http://www.aic.gov.au/statistics/homicide.html> Australian Custom And Border Service, ‘Importing Imitation Firearms’. June 2011. Web 11January,2015. Bricknell, Samantha. Firearm trafficking and serious and organized crime gangs. 2012. Web 11 January, 2015. Chapman S, Alpers P., Agho K. And Jones M. “Australia's 1996 gun law reforms: faster falls in firearm deaths, firearm suicides, and a decade without mass shootings”, Inj Prev. Dec 2006; 12(6): 365–372. Daily Hampshire Gazette Editorial: Gun buybacks send message, secure results Tuesday, October 15, 2013. Web 11 January, 2015 Hirsh Michael, Goods for Guns- A Model Gun Buyback Programme http://www.cuinjuryresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Hirsh.pdf Kerlatec, J. (2007). Illegal firearm trafficking: A NSW perspective. Australian Police Journal 158–160 Leigh Andrew. This Country Proves That National Gun Buybacks Reduce Mass Shootings. 5 June 2014. Web 11 January, 2015. Read More