Mark,
Here you go...
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Britain, Australia top U.S. in violent crime Rates Down Under increase despite strict gun-control measures
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21902
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Australia's Gun Ban, Crime & Video Tape
Between 1980-1995, Australia's firearm-related death rate was cut nearly in half and its firearm-related homicide rate nearly by two-thirds. (The former decreased 46%, from 4.8 deaths per 100,000 population to 2.6; the latter decreased 63%, from eight per 100,000 to three). In 1995, the annual number of firearm-related deaths fell to its lowest point in the 16-year period.
Despite this real progress over a decade and a half, the demented acts of a lone gunman in Port Arthur, Tasmania, on a Sunday in April 1996 were used to launch a massive campaign against law-abiding Australian gun owners. Rather than acknowledging one man's insanity, opportunistic gun control activists and scared politicians rushed to blame "loose gun laws." It didn't matter that those laws required any Tasmanian who wanted to own a firearm or even an air rifle to pass a gun handling course and carry a photo-bearing gun license that had to be produced prior to the purchase of any firearm or ammunition. The end result for all Australians was a government turn-in scheme and the follow-on destruction of more than 640,000 hunting rifles and shotguns.
Ban supporters, including gun prohibitionists in the U.S., are actively promoting the legislation's alleged crime-fighting benefits. Crime statistics, however, contradict them. For example, from 1997-1998, assaults and armed robberies increased in all Australian states. Armed robberies increased from 42% of all robberies in 1997 to 46% in 1998. The number of total violent crimes and the numbers of all individual categories of violent crime, with the exception of murder, increased. In addition, unlawful entries rose 3.3% from 421,569 in 1997 to 435,670 in 1998.
The violent crime statistics shown below were retrieved on March 27, 2000, from the Australia Bureau of Statistics website:
VIOLENT CRIME
1997
1998
TREND
Murder
321
284
-11.5%
Attempted Murder
318
382
+20.1%
Manslaughter
39
49
+25.6%
Assault
124,500
132,967
+6.8%
Sexual Assault
14,353
14,568
+1.5%
Kidnaping/abduction
562
662
+17.8%
Armed Robbery
9,054
10,850
+19.8%
Unarmed Robbery
12,251
12,928
+5.5%
TOTAL
161,398
172,690
+7.0%
http://www.nra.org/frame.cfm?title=NRA%20Institute%20for%20Legislativ e%20Action&url=http://www.nraila.org
Sad to see that without a way to defend themselves, every catagory except one was over and above the past years. The criminals forgot to turn in their weapons and the law abiding citizens were instantly turned into victims. Carrying a knife to a gunfight just does not work, no matter where in the world you are located.
Joe