Australian Gun Culture Part 24: Illicit Manufacture of Handguns

Ammoland ^ | 13 September, 2017 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Australia has one of the strictest firearms regulatory schemes in Western Civilization. It has not appreciably changed their overall murder or suicide or accidental death rates, which were already low and falling when the scheme was implemented.

As Australia is a continent considerably separated from the rest of the industrialized world, it is a near ideal test case for the efficacy of gun control schemes. A figure from an Australian government report on sources of illegal guns shows that when guns are tightly regulated, criminals find ways around the regulation.

Guns are basically 14th-century technology. A first world country, with access to the normal run of the mill hardware store power tools, can make guns easily. Most crime is committed with handguns. In Australia 13.7% of the handguns traced were of domestic manufacture. All of those were illicit. Australia does not have any known legal manufacture of handguns. That is twice as many illegally manufactured handguns as of handguns smuggled in.Method of Diversion of Handguns Where Trace Was Completed, 2004 to 30 June 2016

Some correspondents doubt that the 30.8% theft number is accurate. They say that the storage requirements are so tight that theft of handguns is to difficult to make the 30% figure. The chart does not tell us how many “30.8%” is. It might be hundreds. It might be dozens. One authority says that remote residences are targeted because they are likely to have several guns. Without more detail, it is impossible to verify the official report, or to discredit it. My experience with Australian authorities is that they are careful to perform their functions as required by law.

[marktwain]

Guns are easily made in the black or grey market, all over the world.

[OttawaFreeper]

I remember reading a number of years back (after the handgun ban there) in a British newspaper an illegal handgun manufacturing ring centered in a tire shop somewhere in the U.K. was busted by police. The criminals certainly do not need expensive Olympic style target shooting pistols or rare collectibles or precious family heirlooms to carry out their mayhem.