Submission to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee

Inquiry into the ability of Australian law enforcement authorities to eliminate gun-related violence in the community

Submission from:

August, 2014 2

CONTENTS

Summary ...... 3

Statistics...... 5

Australian Crime Commission ...... 6

New South Wales Police ...... 7

Australian Institute of Criminology ...... 8

Firearm registries ...... 9

Community benefits ...... 9

Invasive animals ...... 9

Economic benefits ...... 10

Social impact ...... 11

Sources of firearms used in crime ...... 11

Anomalies in legislation and weaknesses in registration regimes ...... 11

New South Wales ...... 11

Queensland ...... 12

Registration of firearms ...... 12

Imported illegal firearms ...... 13

Theft ...... 16

Federal/state differences ...... 22 3

Summary of submission o The Committee should broaden its inquiry to include the economic, environmental and social contribution recreational shooters make to the community and the possible adverse effect that changes to laws and regulations that reduce legal firearm ownership might have on the community. o Responsibility for the registration and licensing of firearms and of shooters should be removed from the police and given to an independent state government body such as the bodies which register motor vehicles, a similar function for which the involvement of police is not necessary.  Police unions assert that firearm ownership, legal or illegal, is a health and safety issue and prosecute that policy with great energy, including through their involvement with government advisory committees.  Thus, it is reasonable to believe that police forces have a conflict of interest in being responsible for the registration and licensing of firearms and of shooters and it certainly appears that they have.  Further the notorious unreliability of statistics compiled by firearms‘ registries demonstrates their inability to discharge this responsibility competently. o However the security risks associated with contracting out responsibility for the registering and licensing of firearms and firearm owners to third parties such as post offices are too high. o Most of the firearms in the illegal market have emanated or emanate from either loopholes in state regimes before 2000 which subsequently have been addressed or guns imported illegally. o Hand guns are the most popular firearm of choice in the commission of crimes.  The Glock pistol is a status symbol in major drug cartels.  Few firearms stolen from registered shooters are suitable for use in criminal activity. o According to the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC):  handgun thefts make up less than 10 per cent of firearm thefts a year,  restricted Category C and D firearms (such as pump action shotguns and semi-automatic rifles) have rarely featured in firearm theft reports, and  very few stolen firearms are known to have been used to commit a subsequent criminal event (or found in the possession of persons charged with other serious offences e.g. supply of a prohibited drug). o The most effective way to reduce the number of firearms used for violent purposes is reduce the level of crime, and in particular drug-related crime. 4

 Most crimes involving firearms are drug related, whether they are motivated by protecting a business, collecting payments or stealing to get money to buy drugs.  However, the bulk of police resources and customs resources relating to firearms are devoted to managing air-rifles, .22 rimfire rifles, shotguns and bolt action centrefire rifles for licensed shooters.  The present priorities need to be reversed so that most of the available law enforcement resources are devoted to:  devising comprehensive systems to identify and collect accurate, relevant data and to enable those systems to be administered effectively;  frontline operations to —  confiscate drugs and illegal firearms, and  disrupt and eliminate the networks for acquiring firearms illegally and acquiring and distributing drugs; and  intelligence gathering to support these operations. o According to the AIC:  in 2006–07 there were around 2.6 million known registered firearms, and between 2004–05 and 2008–09, an average of 1,545 firearms were reported as stolen, of which 12 per cent were recorded as recovered (leaving about 1360 guns which probably is still an over-estimate of the numbers).  This number is statistically insignificant. The number of handguns stolen (less than 100 a year) is even more so. o It is easy to focus on registered shooters because they are a soft target, but banning semi-automatic handguns or putting further impositions on —  recreational shooters by making storage requirements more onerous and expensive, or  on dealers by making the transport or storage of guns, ammunition powder or components more onerous and expensive, will not reduce the level of gun-related violence. o The validity and accuracy of data cited to support policies related to registration, theft and use of firearms for criminal purposes cannot be assumed; nor can it be assumed that relevant, verifiable data exists. o Resources need to be allocated to the identification and collection of data which would enable an informed discussion and informed decision-making about issues related to firearms and which is publicly available. o Differences in various states and territories between laws and regulations and their interpretation do not necessarily constitute anomalies. They may simply 5

reflect the intention of our Federation which assumes that states order their affairs and activities to reflect the needs and circumstances of that state. o An assumption that differences constitute an anomaly also would appear to be counter to the views of the Federal government which has made clear its desire to strengthen and restore the role of the states. o Nevertheless there is a significant level of national cohesion with respect to the management and administration of firearm and shooter registration and licensing. o Anomalies, such as states and territories not recognizing licences issued in another state or territory, need to be examined on a case-by-case basis.

Statistics

1. A frustration in discussions about gun-related issues is the lack of publicly available, verifiable, primary data which form the basis of statistics produced and theories formulated. 2. To quote Dr. Don Weatherburn, Director of the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, ‗there's been a long tradition in police services of not releasing information, or releasing it when it suited police‘.1 3. Perhaps one reason for this culture is self-serving. To quote ABC presenter Ian Townsend, ‗In Australia, the research is also restricted, but it's not so much a lack of funding but a lack of access to reliable statistics‘; and ‗the country's gun statistics are in a mess.‘2 4. That the lack of publicly available, comprehensive and verifiable data has serious ramifications, ought to be a serious concern and should be a matter for inquiry by this Committee is demonstrated by: o the fact that Western Australia did not submit its 2008-09 data for the Australian Institute of Criminology‘s firearm theft report, and o the following qualification in AIC‘s last report: ‗Without access to data regarding changes in the number of firearms registered in Australia it is not possible to discern whether this increase in stolen firearms is influenced by a general increase in legally-owned firearms or rather, that it is a genuine indication that theft numbers are on the rise‘.3 5. This deficiency leads to the conclusion that the data necessary to develop informed and effective policies does not exist and that what purports to be data is at best estimates, a conclusion reinforced by contradictory statements made from time to time either publicly or at advisory meetings.

1. ‗Guns are back‘, Ian Townsend, Radio National, 13th November, 2011 2. ‗Guns are back‘ 3. Firearm Theft in Australia 2008-09, Samantha Bricknell, Australian AIC of Criminology, p. 2 6

6. Following are some examples.

Australian Crime Commission (ACC)

 In 2012 the then Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Justice wrote to the then Member for Deakin4 saying the final report of the ACC on the illegal firearms market revealed that: . 44 per cent of firearms were not surrendered or registered after the Port Arthur massacre, . 12 per cent were stolen or the subject of staged theft, . deactivation accounted for 3.3 per cent, . interstate transfers accounted for 1.5 per cent, . backyard manufacturing accounted for 1.3 per cent, and . illegal importing accounted for less than 0.5 per cent of the firearms traced.  This report was presented to a meeting of the Standing Council on Police and Emergency Management which relied upon it to make policy decisions.  When asked to verify this data and explain how the weaknesses and deficiencies in the current systems of data collection were taken into account in preparing the report, the ACC said that the sample size was small and the statistics really were only estimates and invited the people it had failed to consult earlier to help them address the flaws in the report.  In fact the sample size was even smaller than the ACC indicated. The ACC‘s analysis was based on the 2,119 firearms the origins of which were traceable and not the 3,186 firearms examined. This method raises questions of its own. For example, if it were thought that the sources of the 1,067 untraceable firearms were more likely to be illegal imports or pre-2,000 firearms, the proportion of firearms stolen from licensed shooters would be lower, and possibly significantly lower, than the 12 per cent claimed by the Minister in his letter.  One deficiency in data is multiple entries for the same firearm. An example of the consequences of this weakness is that it was suggested at the time of the national firearm buy back that there were 1 million firearms in Victoria. In fact the number that could be identified and registered was closer to 400,000.  Another is that, with the exception of South Australia and Western Australia, deactivated firearms are not removed from firearms registers.  The Attorney General‘s Department was aware of the weaknesses and deficiencies before the Minister received the Commission‘s report and presented it to the Council.

4. Letter from the Hon. Mr. Jason Clare to Mr. Mike Symon dated 6th September, 2012 7

 Despite the ACC‘s back down when confronted with the challenge of proving its claims, the following subsequently appeared in the federal parliament‘s internal magazine: ‗Tracing analysis done on 3,146 guns seized by law enforcement agencies also confirms the legal domestic arsenal is the main source of illegal firearms, with most of those firearms either stolen or not handed in after the Port Arthur massacre. Only 1 per cent of the weapons were found to have been illegally imported from overseas. ‗―The work they have done to date confirms systemic weaknesses in the current system that results in thousands of firearms moving from legitimate hands into a ‗grey market‘ each year‖, Mr. Clare said.‘5  Examples such as this reinforce the view that firearms policies are not driven by verifiable, accurate, publicly available data, but are as likely to be driven by pre-conceived assumptions.  Another example is the following statement made in August 2012 by the then Acting Assistant Secretary of the Border Management and Crime Prevention Branch of the Attorney General‘s Department: ‗(R)esearch by the Australian Institute of Criminology indicates that an average of 1,545 firearms was stolen each year between 2004 and 2009. A substantial proportion of these stolen firearms were never recovered and these constitute a major source of firearms that enter the illicit market‘.6  Not only is what the author presents as a fact an assumption, supposition or speculation, but it also is contrary to the view expressed by the Minister.  It is unfortunate that the Federal Government has abolished the Commonwealth Firearms‘ Advisory Council which provided the only federal forum at which government and industry and the sport could discuss these issues.

New South Wales Police

 In 2007 the then Commander of the NSW Police Firearm Squad, Detective Supt. John Kerlatec said: ‗The major source of the [illegal gun] problem has been the theft from homes of licensed firearm holders, where these people have their guns kept in a safe at home. The house is broken into and the safe is entered and their contents are stolen.‘7  However, four years later the NSW Firearms and Organised Crime Squad commander Ken Finch said that ‗(t)he majority of firearms that end up with

5. ‗Gun trafficking targeted‘, About the House, May 2013, p.28 6. Letter written in response to email in May 2012 to the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Justice concerning the sources of illegal firearms 7. ‗Melbourne Shooting Prompts Calls for Illegal Gun Crackdown‘, Heather Ewart, 7.30 Report, 4th July, 2007 8

criminals and criminal gangs are stolen from arms dealers or from places like security organisations during cash-in-transit robberies.‘8 Mr. Finch was commenting on a story which reported that in the year to July 2010 only 3.6 per cent of shipping containers had been inspected and that there had been almost 4,000 seizures of firearms and ammunition since 2006.  By January, 2012 the NSW Police apparently got a unified position — it ran out both lines. Commissioner Nick Kaldas said: ‗Most of those weapons seized are actually stolen from legitimate sources. So they may be legitimately owned by someone and stored at home or stored in a weapons store of some sort or some company that has legitimate uses for them and then they're diverted into criminal activity.‘9

AIC

 In a similar vein Samantha Bricknell, Deputy Research Manager and Principal Research Analyst at the AIC said in 2011: ‗Some preliminary analysis of data of seized firearms, we are finding at least with handguns that at least a third, possibly up to half, of handguns have been sourced via theft... So theft does seem to be possibly a fairly important conduit, at least at the present time, for handguns.‘10  However, in the same year in an introduction to a report on firearms theft produced by Ms. Bricknell, the AIC Director wrote: ‗Handgun theft has made up less than 10 percent of all reported firearms in any given year and restricted Category C and D firearms (such as pump action shotguns and semi-automatic rifles) have rarely featured in firearm theft reports. Very few stolen firearms are known to have been used to commit a subsequent criminal event (or found in the possession of persons charged with other serious offences e.g. supply of a prohibited drug.‘11 Then a few months later Ms. Bricknell said: ‗Many, if not the majority of, firearms in both the grey and illicit markets were most likely legally imported into Australia prior to the firearm and related reforms‘.12 7. Lack of data creates the possibility of vacuums which can be filled. For example, prominent anti-gun campaigner Rebecca Peters has observed that on both sides of the debate ‗(t)here's also an incentive to exaggerate the

8. ‗Crims Gun-Running the Gauntlet on Ports‘, Henry Budd and Bruce McDougall, Daily Telegraph, 14th September, 2011 9. ‗Nick Kaldas Discusses Recent Shootings‘, Tracy Bowden, ABC 7.30 Report, 12th January, 2012 10. Guns are back, Ian Townsend, Radio National, 13th November, 2011 11 Firearm Theft in Australia 2008-09, Samantha Bricknell. Australian AIC of Criminology, 2011 12. Firearm Trafficking and Serious and Organised Crime Gangs. Samantha Bricknell, Australian AIC of Criminology, June 2012 9

number of guns in circulation, illegal guns, in order to push a particular ideological point of view.‘13

Firearm registries

8. The inconsistency, inaccuracy and lack of reliability of statistics emanating from firearm registries are well known. 9. Further the lack of comprehensive, verifiable, publicly available data makes likely analysis and the formation of policy driven by preconceived assumptions. 10. Given the vehemence with which police unions prosecute their policy that the private ownership of firearms is a health and safety issue, police have a conflict, or appear to have a conflict, of interest with respect to the management of the licensing and registration of shooters and firearms. 11. For example, the Queensland Police Union thinks that only a ‗primary producer or someone with a very, very good reason — such as those who may have to carry firearms through their occupation — should have a gun‘ and that there should be more firearm regulation.14 12. For both reasons police should not be responsible for the management of firearm registries. Rather that responsibility should be transferred to an independent authority in the same way that motor vehicle and driver‘s licence registrations are managed and administered.

Community benefits

13. The firearms industry and recreational shooting are among the most regulated industries and sports in Australia. 14. Consequently it is essential that the impact and consequences of existing regimes and the potential impact and consequences of proposed changes to those regimes be considered thoroughly and carefully. 15. Much of the discussion around the ownership and use of firearms appears to be underpinned by the assumption that recreational shooters do not make a positive contribution to the community. The reality is very different.

Invasive animals 16. A report commissioned by the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre in 2009 revealed that the negative, direct, annual, economic impact of foxes,

13. ‗Guns are back‘ 14. ‗Police union warns against relaxing gun laws‘, ABC Queensland, 28th August, 2012 10

rabbits, wild dogs and feral pigs on agriculture, including horticulture, is more than $745 million annually (including $123 million spent on management, administration and research).15 17. Invasive animals also are causing environmental havoc. Of the 21 completely extinct marsupials and rodents in Australia, the red fox and wild cat have most probably contributed to the extinction of all but two. Foxes and cats are also blamed for the loss from the mainland of another nine species that survive on islands, sometimes precariously. Rabbits have been ranked with foxes and cats as among Australia‘s worst pests, wild pigs have become major agricultural and environmental problems, cattle in the Kimberley region damage scarce rainforest tracts, and deer escaping from poorly-managed or failed deer farms are out of control in Queensland, Victoria and NSW.16 18. Farmers and recreational hunters, through their involvement in game management and pest control programmes play an important role in responding to this challenge. 19. Changes to laws and regulations which had the effect of reducing the number of licensed shooters either generally or in particular areas could either reduce the effectiveness of current efforts to deal with these animals (e.g. if fewer farmers have firearms) or current programmes become more expensive (e.g. professional shooters or baiting programmes replace recreational hunters). 20. Increasing the use of baits either by farmers or by government authorities raises humanitarian issues, not only because baits tend to be more indiscriminate but also because poisoning may be a slower, more painful way to die.

Economic benefits

21. The Victorian Government recently released a study the Department of Environment and Primary Industries commissioned on the economic impact of hunting in Victoria in 2013.17

21.1. The study reveals an economic contribution of $440 million annually in Victoria, 60 per cent of which is generated in regional areas.

21.2. It is reasonable to assume that the economic contribution of hunting Australia-wide is more than $1 billion annually.

15. The economic impacts of vertebrate pests in Australia, Wendy Gong, Jack Sinden, Mike Braysher and Randall Jones (IACRC, 2009) 16. The action plan for Australian mammals 2012, John Woinarski, Andrew Burbidge and Peter Harrison (eds.) (CSIRO Publishing, 2014) 17. Estimating the economic impact of hunting in Victoria in 2013, RMCG, March 2014 11

22. Changes in laws or regulations which had the effect of reducing the number of hunters would affect regional Australia in particular.

Social impact

23. Even with current programmes in place, foxes are making their way into metropolitan areas. 24. In regional and rural communities other invasive animals, as well as foxes, are intruding themselves into daily life. 25. A reduction in the effectiveness of current control programmes would exacerbate this situation. 26. Shooting and hunting provides a highly regulated environment in which young people may engage in challenging, outdoor activity. 27. If changes to laws and regulations have the effect of making it more difficult for young people to engage in this sport or for them to receive the level of support necessary for them to do so, they could engage in other activity which is less healthy or socially desirable. Sources of firearms used in crime

28. There are three possible sources for firearms used in criminal activity — anomalies and deficiencies in state laws and registration systems; illegal imports and theft.

Anomalies in legislation and weaknesses in registration regimes

New South Wales 29. Prior to the enactment of the Firearms Amendment (Trafficking) Act 2001 No 24 only the barrel of a firearm had to be registered. 29.1. Since it is easy to replace barrels of firearms, it was easy — o to acquire firearms from outside New South Wales with barrels removed, o to sell the firearms without barrels to unlicensed shooters, and o for the new owners to buy new barrels for the firearms, thereby acquiring unregistered firearms. 29.2. Those unregistered firearms found their way to the ‗grey market‘ (unregistered firearms not used for unlawful purposes) and the illegal market. 12

Queensland 28. Prior to August 2000 when the then Minister for Customs and Justice amended import laws requiring evidence of the identity of end users of hand guns, there were minimal requirements to deactivate firearms in Queensland and minimal evidence of that deactivation required by the Queensland legislation. 28.1. The result was that it was very easy to re-activate firearms which were unidentified because, until then, de-activated firearms had been de-registered. 29.1. The loopholes in Queensland and New South Wales resulted in the creation of a pool of illegal handguns in particular. 29.2. In April 2002 the then Minister for Justice said that these loopholes ‗had allowed an influx of Chinese guns into the criminal system. He said 60,000 guns were legally imported between 1996 and 2001.‘18 29.3. It is thought that about 28,000 handguns are not registered and a portion of these have found their way to the illegal market. Registration of firearms 30. Prior to the national gun laws, while shooters in all states had to be licensed, in three states longarm firearms (i.e. not pistols) did not have to be registered. 30.1. Thus authorities in those states were unable to track the ownership of longarms. 31. Given — o the number of firearms thought to have been imported into Australia prior to the national gun laws (about 5 million between the mid 1930s and 1997), and o that, unlike washing machines, firearms are not subject to programmed obsolescence, a substantial portion of guns in the illegal market have and will continue to emanate from these sources. 32. Targeting licensed shooters will not retrieve these firearms. 33. What will retrieve firearms from these sources is to reduce the crimes in which gun-related violence occurs and that requires equipping the relevant authorities with sufficient intelligence-gathering and operational resources to do so.

18. ‗Howard acts on handguns‘ Phillip Hudson, The Age, 18th April, 2002 13

Imported illegal firearms

34. Federal authorities argue that available data does not support the proposition that a significant number of firearms used in crime are imported illegally. 35. However the inadequacy, unreliability and unavailability of statistics diminish the strength of this argument and the commander of the NSW Firearms and Organized Crime Squad, Detective Superintendent Ken Finch, says that the NSW ‗experience would suggest that completely the opposite is true, and illegal imports are a big challenge for us.‘19 36. The fact that statistics do not suggest that a substantial number of firearms are being imported illegally does not mean that it is not happening. As ABC presenter Ian Townsend put to AIC analyst Samantha Bricknell, ‗there may be a pool of illegal firearms coming in — we just don't know‘. To which she replied: ‗We don't know, and that's true.‘20 37. However the then Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Justice (presumably acting on advice) thought that he did know. In December 2012 the following exchange took place between him and 7.30 Report presenter Chris Uhlmann:21 CHRIS UHLMANN: Can you rule out that there are guns on the streets of Sydney and around Australia today because of the incompetence or the corruption of Customs officials? JASON CLARE: All of the evidence is that the individuals that have been arrested to date have been involved in importing drugs. There's no evidence to date in terms of the importation of guns…. CHRIS UHLMANN: I'm asking about what might emerge. JASON CLARE: Sure. The point that I would make here is that we've got about a quarter of a million illegal guns on the streets of Sydney now. I asked the ACC to do an analysis of this earlier this year. Their tracing analysis of over 3,000 guns seized by police indicates that most of those guns are guns that weren't handed in after the Port Arthur massacre or are guns that are stolen from legitimate owners. 38. The following day the following story was published in The Age: ‗Up to two dozen illegal handguns - including some bought by Sydney crime gangs - passed through Port Botany after customs officers falsified paperwork to wrongly claim they had X-rayed the container in which the weapons were hidden…. ‗The smuggled handguns….were smuggled in engine parts that a small number of customs officers had claimed they had scanned. Further investigations have found the officers falsified paperwork to give the engine parts the all-clear.

19. ‗Illegal guns are not a problem, says study author - but police disagree‘, Lisa Davies, Sydney Morning Herald, 15th January, 2013 20. ‗Guns are back‘ 21. Corrupt Customs officers exposed at Sydney Airport, Chris Uhlmann, 7.30 Report, 20th December, 2012 14

‗While they were caught lying about their failure to scan the container, there is no evidence they knew it contained guns.‘22 39. A month later the following story appeared in The Age: ‗Customs officers stopped almost 250,000 weapons, including more than 1100 guns and gun parts, and more than three tonnes of drugs and precursor chemicals from entering Australia last year.‘23 40. In October last year the Herald Sun24 reported that police suspected that 25 major shipments of firearms had been imported into Australia illegally over the previous two years and not been detected by Customs. The firearms included 220 Glock and Taurus handguns, imported on forged papers in up to 20 shipments of parts from Germany. 41. The Herald Sun also reported that a parcel containing 140 Glock brand magazines and a quantity of speedloaders was discovered by customs officers acting on a police tip off, but that about 20 similar packages had previously been successfully imported and delivered. 42. In 2012 the then New South Wales premier highlighted ‗how porous (Australia‘s) borders have been, just how easily criminals have been able to import guns from overseas into this state and into this country and it's about time the federal government acted.‘25 42.1. The Premier was commenting on the arrest of a post office licensee for importing and illegally selling 150 Glock pistols, an employee at an import business that received some of the illegal pistols and two other people. 42.2. Police believed that the syndicate had imported from Germany, in the previous few months, up to 300 Glock pistols which had been disassembled. One had been used in a shooting in January 2012. 42.3. At about the time of the shooting ABC journalist Leigh Sales asked the then NSW Police Minister if it was ‗a fair assumption that illegal weapons landing on the street is more of a problem than stolen weapons?‘ to which he responded: ‗‘(T)he numbers … speak for themselves. About 88 per cent of the shooting incidents that we have seen over the last 12 months in New South Wales have been by hand guns, yet, hand guns only make up a very small proportion, about 10 per cent, of the total number of guns that are stolen at any given time during the course of a year.‘26

22. ‗Rogue customs officers allowed guns through‘, Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker, The Age, 21st December, 2012, p.1 23. ‗Customs prevents entry of 250,000 weapons‘, Nino Bucci, The Age, January 17, 2013 24. ‗Illegal firearms destined for outlaw bikie gangs and Middle Eastern crime groups slip past customs checks‘, Peter Mickleburough, Herald Sun, 26th October 26, 2013 25. ‗Post office worker accused of importing 150 Glock pistols‘, Sydney Morning Herald, 14th March, 2012 26. ‗NSW Police Minister responds to spike in gun crime‘ Leigh Sales, 7.30 Report, 23rd January, 2013 15

42.4. Customs officials subsequently told a Senate estimates hearing that about 122 pistols, triggers and magazines were sent by airmail and were not detected by their X-ray machines. 43. It is argued that incidents such as this are sensational, one-off incidents which do not demonstrate that there is a significant level of illegal imports of firearms. 43.1. However, Customs chief executive Michael Carmody told a Senate hearing that the sheer volume of international mail make it difficult to detect illegal imports without solid intelligence. He said that the ‗X-rays are important but nothing beats the intelligence and targeting‘.27 43.2. Further, the Auditor General has concluded: ‗(Customs) targeting decisions were often not documented, did not align with risk analysis, were inconsistent between gateways and incompatible with analysis provided in the national intelligence reports, providing little assurance that Customs is adequately and consistently targeting high risk mail cohorts. Further, Customs does not assess the effectiveness of its targeting strategy. Rather, it considers that an increase in seizures from 23 009 in 2006‐07 to 67 123 in 2012–13 reflects improved targeting processes. The ANAO‘s analysis of data from the agency‘s sampling program indicated that around only 13 per cent of prohibited imports arriving in international mail were seized in 2012–13. Customs advised that it now considers the implementation of its sampling program was flawed, raising questions about the integrity of its sampling data.‘28 43.3. So much for relying on Customs‘ statistics and assessments when assessing the number of firearms imported illegally. 44. Given — o the small proportion of shipping containers29 which are inspected and the extent to which Customs relies upon profiling and intelligence to intercept illegal imports, o the Auditor General‘s report, and o that handguns are the weapon of choice for firearm-related crime, o and ownership of a Glock pistol is a status symbol among a number of organised crime groups, it is probable that illegal imports constitute a higher proportion of firearms used in crime that federal authorities and agencies believe. 45. Recovering these firearms and preventing their delivery to organised gangs is the way in which a reduction in gun-related violence will be achieved.

27. ‗Customs admits illegal gun import X-ray blunder‘, ABC News, 24th May, 2012 28. Screening of International Mail, Auditor General, Audit Report No.42 2013–14, p.17-18 29. ‗Crims Gun-Running the Gauntlet on Ports‘ 16

45.1 That requires disrupting and preventing the manufacture, importing and distribution of drugs since there is a strong link between firearm-related violence and drugs. 45.2 This will not be achieved by targeting licensed firearm owners or managing air-rifles, .22 rimfire rifles, shotguns and bolt action centrefire rifles for licensed firearm owners. 45.3 Rather it requires maximizing intelligence gathering and targeting, as Mr. Carmody said, and maximizing the resources of agencies at the frontline in identifying, disrupting and destroying the manufacturing and distribution networks of drug cartels.

Theft

46. According to the AIC,30 the number of firearms reported stolen ranged from 1,445 firearms in 2005–6 to 1,712 firearms in 2007–08. Between 2004–05 and 2008–09, an average of 1,545 firearms was reported as stolen. 12 per cent of reported incidents were eventually recovered. 47. Samantha Bricknell estimates that the number in 2008-09 was about 1,800.31 She had to estimate because the Western Australian statistics were not submitted. 48. The unavailability or unreliability of Western Australia‘s 2008–09 data highlights a fundamental weakness with the data. 49. The accuracy and therefore reliability of the AIC‘s analysis depends on the accuracy and reliability of the information provided to it by state authorities which cannot be taken for granted. 50. For example, in one state the number of firearms one advisory committee was told had been stolen in 2012–2013 was more than double the number another committee was given. 51. The industry and the sport find it impossible to ascertain what distinctions are made between lost, missing, stolen or surrendered firearms and whether, when the initial record of an incident is made, the loss was recorded in a general category of lost, stolen or missing. 52. The question of definition is not academic as the statement by the Victorian police union secretary that ‗(i)t is extremely alarming that firearms are being lost and stolen at these extraordinary rates‘ 32 demonstrates.

30. Firearm Theft in Australia 2008-09 31. ‗Guns are back‘ 32. ‗Victoria Police Association concerned at high number of firearms reported lost or missing‘, Jon Kaila, Sunday Herald Sun, 12th August, 2012 17

53. It is also impossible to know whether a claim is made that a firearm has been stolen is questioned to ensure that the firearm is not missing or lost since there are reasons to claim a firearm is stolen in the course of a burglary, one being insurance. 54. There is reason to suspect, therefore, the number of firearms recorded as stolen is higher than the actual number stolen.

55. The AIC says that between 2004–05 and 2008–09, ‗• The number of firearms reported stolen in Australia (excluding Western Australia) (rose) by six percent each year… ‗• Fifty-five percent of all reported incidents involved the theft of multiple firearms. The number of firearms stolen in multiple-firearm thefts ranged from two to 19. The modal (most common) theft involved two firearms. ‗• Rifles accounted for the majority (60%) of all reported stolen firearms, with bolt- action rifles the most often recorded as stolen. One-quarter (24%) of stolen firearms were shotguns, mostly single barrel or double barrel. Handguns constituted six percent of firearms that were reported stolen; just over half (53%) of these were revolvers and 46 percent were semiautomatic pistols. ‗• Firearms were recovered from 14 percent of thefts and were returned to owners in 45 percent of these cases….. ‗Firearms stolen in three percent of theft incidents were later involved in the commission of an offence or found in the possession of an individual charged with a serious criminal offence.‘33 55.1. So far as the increase of firearms is concerned, the AIC says: ‗Without access to data regarding changes in the number of firearms registered in Australia it is not possible to discern whether this increase in stolen firearms is influenced by a general increase in legally-owned firearms or rather, that it is a genuine indication that theft numbers are on the rise. The pattern observed across the states and territories is not uniform and in most jurisdictions the number of reported stolen firearms has tended to fluctuate rather than present a clear upward or downward trend.‘34 55.2. However we know that there has been an increase in the number of registered firearms because the AIC said that there were around 2.6 million known registered firearms in 2006–0735 and that the number had increased to at least 2.7 million registered firearms by the end of 2011.36 55.3. Again these apparently contradictory statements cast doubt on the validity and reliability of the statistics relied upon to formulate views and policies about firearms issues.

33. Firearm Theft in Australia 2008-09 34. Firearm Theft in Australia 2008-09 35. Firearm Theft in Australia 2007-08 36. Characteristics and dynamics of firearm trafficking, Australian Institute of Criminology, 29th June 2012 18

55.4. Nevertheless, accepting the statistics quoted by the AIC, of the 2.7 million registered firearms only about 1,800 are stolen annually. As a percentage this number is statistically insignificant. 55.5. If the focus is on handguns, the firearm of choice for use in crimes, the number is even more insignificant given that they constitute 6 per cent of thefts and the number of semi-automatic pistols even more insignificant again. 56. These numbers suggest that firearms stolen from domestic residences make a marginal contribution, at best, to the illegal firearm market, a conclusion consistent with the AIC‘s statement that the data indicates only three per cent of firearms stolen in theft incidents were later involved in criminal activity. This statistic include thefts such as the 55 guns stolen from Queensland Shooters Supplies in Ipswich in 2010, all of which are likely to have found their way to the illegal market. 57. The increase in the number of stolen firearms has to be considered also in the light of the increase in the number of licensed shooters. For example, in Queensland the number of firearm licence applications increased by 30 per cent last year.37 58.1. The conclusion that domestic firearm thefts make a marginal contribution to the illegal market is reinforced by the AIC‘s statement that the most common theft involves two firearms, a statistic which calls into question police claims about criminals targeting recreational and competitive shooters and farmers. 58.2. A common theft of two firearms suggests opportunistic theft (e.g. looking for cash or the equivalent to pay for drugs) rather than a premeditated grab for firearms. Is it seriously suggested that a criminal would raid a property for two firearms, and how does a criminal know where the firearms are located if firearm registries are secure? 58.3. The idea that it is common knowledge within a community who owns firearms needs to be proven and why would criminals target domestic residences which is the last place they would find their firearm of choice — handguns? 59. What the suggestion that the knowledge of who owns firearms is widespread in some communities does do is highlight the strategic value of the information contained in shooter licence and firearm registration applications and the risk of contracting out licensing and registration to third parties such as post offices. 60.1. Statistics about the level of gun-related crimes are as relevant as statistics about firearm thefts are to gun-related violence.

37. ‗More Queenslanders buying guns, joining shooting clubs‘, ABC TV News Queensland, 6th August, 2014 19

60.2. In New South Wales the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research says that: ‗Overall, all incidents involving firearms have shown a downward trend across the 17 years analyzed, a decline of 48.0 per cent between 1995 and 2011. The downward trend was maintained for all firearms across the five most recent years of the period examined. The overall number of criminal incidents involving firearms declined by 22.2 per cent between 2007 and 2011. The trend for criminal incidents involving any firearm was stable from 2010 to 2011. ‗Criminal incidents involving handguns showed a similar downward trend to all criminal incidents involving a firearm.‘ 38 60.3. The Bureau‘s research also revealed that in 2011 that more than 50 per cent of shoot with intent incidents occurred in four Sydney Statistical Subdivisions — Outer South Western Sydney, Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield- Liverpool and Central Western Sydney, with more than 35 per cent occurring in the last two. 60.4. These statistics indicate that there is not a general gun violence challenge, but a geographic challenge which reinforces the link between guns and drugs. 60.5. An effective response to this challenge is not to target licensed shooters through tougher storage requirements or dealers through more onerous transport and storage regimes, but to target the drug business by devoting more resources to identifying, disrupting and destroying drug networks and drug distribution chains. 61. The statistics do not provide support for a former Minister for Home Affairs‘ and Minister for Justice‘s claim that ‗the work (law enforcement agencies) have done to date confirms systemic weaknesses in the current system that results in thousands of firearms moving from legitimate hands into a ‗grey market‘ each year.‘39 62. Nor do they support the ACC‘s assertion that ‗theft remains one of the primary methods of diverting firearms from the licit to the illicit market.‘40 63. Thus the statistics do not provide a basis for concluding that gun-related violence would be reduced with stricter storage requirements and the use of electronic alarm systems for guns stored in homes. 64. What the statistics do indicate, given that the typical number of firearms stolen is two and that thefts as a percentage of registered of firearms is infinitesimal, is that any increasing of storage requirements would be not only ineffective but also a disproportionate response.

38. Criminal offences involving firearms in New South Wales, 1995-2011, Emma M. Birdsey, Issue paper no. 82, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, October, 2012 39. ‗Gun trafficking targeted‘ 40. Organised Crime in Australia 2013, Australian Crime Commission, p.46 20

65. However, the AIC has concluded that: 66. ‗Non-compliance rates (with firearm safekeeping laws were particularly high among owners who had firearms stolen from vehicles (58%). Further, around 25 percent of owners who had firearms stolen from a private dwelling (where the safekeeping of firearms should, in theory, be easier to comply with) were also found not to have taken all reasonable precautions to safeguard the unattended firearm. Overall, firearms not stored appropriately at the time of theft made up 18 percent.‘41 66.1. Further claims are made frequently that farmers are less conscious of the need to secure both their firearms and their safes than they ought to be. A recent example is the statement by Victoria Police livestock and farm crime Superintendent Craig Gillard who: ‗warned farmers to take greater precautions with their firearms beyond merely placing them in a gun safe and assuming they would not be stolen. ‗"There are precautions they should take, such as not having an angle grinder near their gun safe, and don't hid the keys behind a welding mask. Simple things," he said. "Gun owners just have to be more careful."‘42 66.2. Superintendant Gillard also demonstrated the tendency to confuse facts and theories. Having said that criminals were hitting rural properties for guns which then found their way into the hands of drug dealers, he said that ‗There is a strong link between ice and gun theft. They are selling them or exchanging them for drugs.‘ 66.3. In other words, burglaries in rural areas are driven by the same motivation for residential burglaries in cities and towns — people need cash to buy drugs. They hardly constitute criminals hitting rural properties for guns. 66.4. Superintendant Gillard, having acknowledged that there had not been an increase in armed robberies, persisted with being melodramatic by saying ‗It's hard to say categorically if it is organised crime, but we know they are being stolen to order.‘ 66.5. People stealing firearms, along with whatever else they can lay their hands on, to feed a drug habit would be hardly stealing ‗to order‘ and drug lords would hardly entrust such people with such a task. 66.6.1. The statistics suggest it would be easier to say that it is not organized crime. 66.6.2. Even taking AIC data at value there are at most 900 incidents annually in Australia involving the theft of firearms.

41. Firearm Theft in Australia 2008-09 42.‘ Stolen guns ending up with drug dealers in Ballarat‘, Gav McGrath, Ballarat Courier, 29th June, 2014 21

66.6.3. In Victoria alone in 2012–13 there were 28,915 burglaries of residences, 15,082 other burglaries (e.g. offices) and 42,965 burglaries of cars.43 66.6.4. These statistics suggest that most firearm thefts are opportunistic rather than being premeditated. 66.7. Perhaps Superintendant Gillard‘s primary concern was revealed in his statement that he did not ‗need to remind people how dangerous that situation is to police and the community at large.‘ 67.1. What Superintendant Gillard‘s claims and the AIC‘s reports do suggest is that an education programme might be effective in reducing domestic thefts (though not gun-related violence). 67.2. Thus it is ironic that while governments are conscious of the need to educate parents about safety with respect to swimming pools, only one government contributes money to firearm safety education (a $100,000 annual grant to a pilot programme), and that the federal government recently decided not to continue matching its contribution to this project. 68.1. Equally the available statistics and information do not indicate that banning semi-automatic handguns would have a meaningful effect on the number of illegally held firearms. 68.2. In fact, overseas experience indicates that banning guns is at best ineffective and at worst counter-productive to reducing violent crime rates. For example, in 1999 a Canberra-based economist and researcher wrote the following: o the vast majority of both US murder victims and perpetrators have serious criminal records. In other words criminals are killing other criminals, particularly if they are involved in the crack cocaine trade; o those US states with the highest crime rates have the most stringent gun registration rules; o the violent crime rate in Florida has decreased faster than the national average since qualified residents and interstate visitors were allowed to carry handguns; and o those states that have allowed the carrying of handguns by qualified civilians have shown a faster reduction in violent-crime rate than those that have not.44 69. These observations are consistent with overall trends in the USA: ‗According to DOJ‘s Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. gun-related homicides dropped 39 percent over the course of 18 years, from 18,253 during 1993, to 11,101 in 2011.

43. Victoria Police Crime Statistics 2012–13 44. ‗Statistics for all seasons‘ John Coochey, Canberra Times, 18 January 1999 22

During the same period, non-fatal firearm crimes decreased even more, a whopping 69 percent. The majority of those declines in both categories occurred during the first 10 years of that time frame. Firearm homicides declined from 1993 to 1999, rose through 2006, and then declined again through 2011. Non-fatal firearm violence declined from 1993 through 2004, then fluctuated in the mid-to-late 2000s.’45 70. They also are consistent with the experience in the United Kingdom since it banned private ownership of cartridge ammunition handguns in 1997. Federal/state differences

71. Australia is a federation and, unlike countries such as New Zealand, is not a union. 72. It is to be expected that states and territories, from time to time, will adopt different approaches to discharging their responsibilities, taking into account different circumstances, different needs and different perspectives. 73. Indeed the federal government has signaled its desire for the states to accept their roles and discharge them. 74. That there are legislative and regulatory differences between states and territories is not, of itself, evidence of anomalies. 75. The determination of whether an anomaly exists must be made on a case-by- case basis. The fact that drivers‘ licences issued in one state or territory are recognized by the other states and territories but shooters‘ licences are not treated in a similar manner is one case which does constitute an anomaly. 76. Nevertheless, with respect to the management and administration of firearms and shooters, there is a substantial level of national cohesion. Their regimes are based on similar principles such as, for example, that applicants for a firearms licence must meet a character test.

45. Disarming Realities: As Gun Sales Soar, Gun Crimes Plummet, Larry Bell, forbes.com, 14th May, 2013