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Hello, My Name Is John Ogilvie. I'm 17 Years Old, and I'm an Avid Shooter. I Have Been Shooting Rifles Here in Australia

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Hello, My Name Is John Ogilvie. I'm 17 Years Old, and I'm an Avid Shooter. I Have Been Shooting Rifles Here in Australia Hello, my name is John Ogilvie. I’m 17 years old, and I’m an avid shooter. I have been shooting rifles here in Australia for over a year now, and before that I was shooting BB guns in my garage, with the rest of my family, while I lived in Texas. I am writing this submission because I’m worried that politicians in the federal government will seek to further restrict the freedoms of law-abiding shooters in Australia. Nearly all of the existing gun control laws here have done nothing to reduce crime, and they only serve to punish the law-abiding. There are several key points that I will address in this submission, and I will be using evidence to back up my claims. c. the adequacy of current laws and resourcing to enable law enforcement authorities to respond to technological advances in gun technology, including firearms made from parts which have been imported separately or covertly to avoid detection, and firearms made with the use of 3D printers: Criminals will always find ways to get their hands on guns, and one of the ways that they do this is by making them. A firearm is not a very difficult machine to make, and it is already illegal to manufacture firearms without a license. Improvised firearms, also known as ‘garage guns’, are something that can’t really be regulated, unless the government decides to ban things you can pick up at the hardware store. The same thing applies to 3D printed guns. There are many examples of firearms being made at home with components that anyone can buy.(1) (2)(3)(4) Also, don’t think that firearms can only be made in developed countries with easy access to the required components. There are several examples of firearms being made in poor countries like Cambodia.(5)(6) The best way for police to deal with homemade firearms, and firearms that are imported illegally, is to increase the penalties for gun crimes. Introducing mandatory sentencing for gun crimes would be a good first step. d. the extent to which the number and types of guns stolen each year in Australia increase the risk posed to the safety of police and the community, including the proportion of gun-related crime involving legal firearms which are illegally held: Firearms stolen from law-abiding gun owners represent a tiny percentage of guns used in crime. According to an AIC report from 2008-09, the majority of firearms that were stolen, were long guns (91%), and only 6% were handguns. Since handguns are the preferred weapon of choice for criminals, this represents a tiny percentage of illegal guns out there that are used in crime.(7) In that same year, just one illegal importation operation, saw hundreds of handguns imported into the country, compared to just 88 stolen pistols.(8) In addition to the previous points, as stated before, a lot of criminals just make their guns at home, and these can’t be regulated. Handguns that are stolen from honest gun owners represent a tiny percentage of total gun thefts each year, and there are many other ways for criminals to get their hands on guns. Handgun thefts are insignificant. e. the effect banning semi-automatic handguns would have on the number of illegally held firearms in Australia: This is the point that inspired me to write this submission. It is very alarming, and I have no doubt that it is of interest to The Greens. Banning semi-auto handguns would have no impact on crime, destroy pistol shooting as a sport, and would cause crime to increase. I am going to thoroughly debunk the myth that a ban on pistols would reduce crime. Firstly, I want to look at some statistics from overseas, to see how a handgun ban affected crime in those countries. First I want to look at the United Kingdom. In 1997, the UK banned ownership of handguns. Immediately after the law was put into place, the murder rate went up. UK murder rate per 1 million people(9) The murder rate did start to decline in 2003, but at the same time, there was a big increase in the police force, which could be attributed to the decrease in murder rates.(9) Even with this big increase in the size of the police force, the murder rate still remained higher than it was before the ban, expect for 2010. That was just one example, now I want to look at Washington D.C. From 1976 to 2008, the District of Columbia had a ban on handguns. It is made quite clear from the data, that this caused a massive increase in murder rates.(10) The law was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2008 as unconstitutional, but in addition to that, it was also a major threat to public safety. Now that I have established that a handgun ban would cause crime to go up, I want to discuss the financial burden this would place on the taxpayer. If a buyback were to happen, and there were 192,000 legal handguns in Australia, it would be fair to assume that at least 150,000 of those would be semi-autos. If a buyback were to happen, and each pistol was $800, a buyback would cost $120,000,000. In the current political climate, it would be suicide for a government to propose something that would cost so much, and chances are it would only stop 80-95 handguns a year from being stolen. That kind of money would be better spent on stopping illegal firearms importation.(11) The final thing I want to say about this is that a ban on semi-auto handguns would kill pistol shooting as a sport. There are competitions all over the country that involve pistols, and there is even a rapid fire pistol event at the Olympics.(12) The Greens probably wouldn’t care if banning pistols killed pistol shooting as a sport, and the reason for that is because they have no respect for freedom. In conclusion, a ban on pistols would not reduce crime, it would cost huge amounts of money, and it would kill pistol shooting as a sport. h. any related matters: These are a few points I want to make before I end this submission. -Gun Control is a speed bump for law abiding citizens. It does nothing to solve crime. -Gun registration does nothing to reduce crime, is a huge waste of tax dollars, and it should be abolished. -It is a proven fact that where more people have legal firearms, there is a reduction in crime.(13) If the government wants to take steps to reduce crime, this is what it should do: -Pass a ‘Castle Doctrine’ law, similar to the one in many US states. -Allow license holders to carry a handgun concealed on their person. -Abolish license categories. -Increase penalties for gun crimes. -Several studies show that the 1996 gun laws did not reduce crime in Australia.(14) (15) Some say that the laws have worked because we have not had ant mass shootings, but New Zealand has much more relaxed gun laws, and they have not had a massacre of any kind since 1997. I urge all the members of Parliament to vote against any new gun laws, and I also want the government to start repealing some of our existing gun laws, which only serve to punish honest citizens. I’m tired of seeing the honest gun owners of Australia being treated like criminals. We are not the bad guys. Trying to stop crime by passing gun control, is like putting a band-aid on a bullet hole. References: 1. http://www.themercury.com.au/news/breaking-news/drugs-guns-seized-during- sydney-raid/story-fnj6ehgr-1226994340692 2. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-gunsmith-leon-james- baird-admits-supplying-homemade-9mm-submachine-guns-found-in-bikie- clubrooms-and-homes/story-fni6uo1m-1226981694129 3. http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/sub-machine-gun-seized- from-gang-raid/story-fnhocxo3-1226659401117? nk=b41af40fe355f9cc4cb31c4babc1f4fe 4. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/jeweller-angelos-koots-admits-to- making-submachine-guns-at-his-seven-hills-home-and-supplying-them-to-bikie- groups/story-fni0cx12-1226760983916?nk=b41af40fe355f9cc4cb31c4babc1f4fe 5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbZ-e0dGafM 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukl4J52FzTM 7. http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/mr/ 1-20/16/04_characteristics.html 8. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/raids-smash-sydney-gun-running-ring/story- e6freuy9-1226298625034?nk=c9822cd94eee82171d0aee18fa826194 9. http://crimepreventionresearchcenter.org/2013/12/murder-and-homicide-rates- before-and-after-gun-bans/ 10. http://www.justfacts.com/images/guncontrol/dc-full.png 11. http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/ Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/0708/FirearmsAustralia 12. http://www.olympic.org/shooting-25m-rapid-fire-pistol-60-shots-men 13. http://www.amazon.com/More-Guns-Less-Crime-Understanding/dp/0226493660 14. http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/downloads/working_paper_series/ wp2008n17.pdf 15. http://moveleft.org/dog_ban/br_j_criminology_2006_.pdf.
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