Britain, Australia top U.S. in violent crime

Rates Down Under increase despite strict gun-control measures

By Jon Dougherty

Law enforcement and anti-crime activists regularly claim that the United States tops the charts in most crime-rate categories, but a new international study says that America's former master -- Great Britain -- has much higher levels of crime.

The International Crime Victims Survey, conducted by Leiden University in Holland, found that England and Wales ranked second overall in violent crime among industrialized nations.

Twenty-six percent of English citizens -- roughly one-quarter of the population -- have been victimized by violent crime. Australia led the list with more than 30 percent of its population victimized.

The United States didn't even make the "top 10" list of industrialized nations whose citizens were victimized by crime.

Jack Straw, the British home secretary, admitted that "levels of victimization are higher than in most comparable countries for most categories of crime."

Highlights of the study indicated that:

* The percentage of the population that suffered "contact crime" in England and Wales was 3.6 percent, compared with 1.9 percent in the United States and 0.4 percent in Japan.

* Burglary rates in England and Wales were also among the highest recorded. Australia (3.9 percent) and Denmark (3.1 per cent) had higher rates of burglary with entry than England and Wales (2.8 percent). In the U.S., the rate was 2.6 percent, according to 1995 figures;

* "After Australia and England and Wales, the highest prevalence of crime was in Holland (25 percent), Sweden (25 percent) and Canada (24 percent). The United States, despite its high murder rate, was among the middle ranking countries with a 21 percent victimization rate," the London Telegraph said.

* England and Wales also led in automobile thefts. More than 2.5 percent of the population had been victimized by car theft, followed by 2.1 percent in Australia and 1.9 percent in France. Again, the U.S. was not listed among the "top 10" nations.

* The study found that Australia led in burglary rates, with nearly 4 percent of the population having been victimized by a burglary. Denmark was second with 3.1 percent; the U.S. was listed eighth at about 1.8 percent.

Interestingly, the study found that one of the lowest victimization rates -- just 15 percent overall -- occurred in Northern Ireland, home of the Irish Republican Army and scene of years of terrorist violence.

Analysts in the U.S. were quick to point out that all of the other industrialized nations included in the survey had stringent gun-control laws, but were overall much more violent than the U.S.

Indeed, information on Handgun Control's Center to Prevent Handgun Violence website actually praises Australia and attempts to portray Australia as a much safer country following strict gun-control measures passed by lawmakers in 1996.

"The next time a credulous friend or acquaintance tells you that Australia actually suffered more crime when they got tougher on guns ... offer him a Foster's, and tell him the facts," the CPHV site says.

"In 1998, the rate at which firearms were used in murder, attempted murder, assault, sexual assault and armed robbery went down. In that year, the last for which statistics are available, the number of murders involving a firearm declined to its lowest point in four years," says CPHV.

However, the International Crime Victims Survey notes that overall crime victimization Down Under rose from 27.8 percent of the population in 1988, to 28.6 percent in 1991 to over 30 percent in 1999.

Advocates of less gun control in the U.S. say the drop in gun murder rates was more than offset by the overall victimization increase. Also, they note that Australia leads the ICVS report in three of four categories -- burglary (3.9 percent of the population), violent crime (4.1 percent) and overall victimization (about 31 percent).

Australia is second to England in auto theft (2.1 percent).

In March 2000, WorldNetDaily reported that since Australia's widespread gun ban, violent crime had increased in the country.

WND reported that, although lawmakers responsible for passing the ban promised a safer country, the nation's crime statistics tell a different story:

* Countrywide, homicides are up 3.2 percent.
* Assaults are up 8.6 percent.
* Amazingly, armed robberies have climbed nearly 45 percent.
* In the Australian state of Victoria, gun homicides have climbed 300 percent.
* In the 25 years before the gun bans, crime in Australia had been dropping steadily.
* There has been a reported "dramatic increase" in home burglaries and assaults on the elderly.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=21902

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

Handgun crime 'up' in England despite ban

A new study suggests the use of handguns in crime rose by 40% in the two years after the weapons were banned.

The research, commissioned by the Countryside Alliance's Campaign for Shooting, has concluded that existing laws are targeting legitimate users of firearms rather than criminals.

The ban on ownership of handguns was introduced in 1997 as a result of the Dunblane massacre, when Thomas Hamilton opened fire at a primary school leaving 16 children and their teacher dead.

But the report suggests that despite the restrictions on ownership the use of handguns in crime is rising.

The Centre for Defence Studies at Kings College in London, which carried out the research, said the number of crimes in which a handgun was reported increased from 2,648 in 1997/98 to 3,685 in 1999/2000.

It also said there was no link between high levels of gun crime and areas where there were still high levels of lawful gun possession.

Of the 20 police areas with the lowest number of legally held firearms, 10 had an above average level of gun crime.

And of the 20 police areas with the highest levels of legally held guns only two had armed crime levels above the average.

Smuggling

The campaign's director, David Bredin, said: "It is crystal clear from the research that the existing gun laws do not lead to crime reduction and a safer place.

"Policy makers have targeted the legitimate sporting and farming communities with ever-tighter laws but the research clearly demonstrates that it is illegal guns which are the real threat to public safety."

He said the rise was largely down to successful smuggling of illegal guns into the country.

Weapons have even been disguised as key rings no larger than a matchbox to get them in, he said.

Other sources of guns include battlefield trophies brought back by soldiers, the illegal conversion of replica firearms including blank firing pistols and the reactivation of weapons which had been deactivated.

Ammunition

Examples of illegally manufactured guns include screwdrivers being adapted to fire off one round, he said.

The Metropolitan Police said its official figures showed a 20% drop in armed robberies of commercial premises between April and July this year, compared with the same period last year.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said that, since April 2001, the Flying Squad has arrested 39 people in connection with 34 armed incidents and seized 52 weapons.

Operation Trident, which investigates "black on black" shootings in the UK, has made more than 300 arrests, recovered 100 firearms and 1,500 rounds of ammunition since it was established a year ago.

The Home Office said measures were being taken to tackle handgun crime, including an intensified effort against illegally smuggled weapons.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1440764.stm

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

Hey, Truth-Bringer!

You should post that in the "Guns for self-defense" thread. It would drive Wildbore absolutely insane!

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Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely----Lord Acton

Jack Straw hasnt been Home Secretary for nearly 4 years.

The second story is from 2001.

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The Rockall Times
The Ditch Blair Project
Where to buy Flags!

I already did - just the links themselves though. And yes, he turned tail and ran.

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

...wasn't suppose to have any guns?

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only the bad guys can. This the exact reason the USA doesn't want and shall never allow our gun ownership laws to be changed. The stupid liberals and their idiotic ideas, unbelievable.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gun/0,,178412,00.html

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Cheney is the second executive officer to shoot someone in the face and chest. Clinton was the first.

Gun crime up 40% in UK.

Yeah we had 7 shootings instead of 5 and they all made the national news. Not one of the people who died would have been alive if they also had a gun, as their attackers all just shot them before anyone knew what was happening.
A gun crime in the UK is owning one illegally, which means we catch a hell of a lot of them, and use sting operations to target those buying them. The sentence for possession of a firearm is a min 5 years in prison.

Violent crime up in UK.

We extended licensing drinking hours to 24hrs. That means we had a few extra fights in the street (the young UK drinker seems to love getting very very drunk and then starting a fight) , if you handed out guns on a Friday night we'd all be dead by Saturday morning and gun crime would be up 20000000%. Instead we wake up a bit bruised and battered but still alive.

Burglary rates higher.
Burglars break in when your out. Owning a gun does nothing to stop them.

Handing guns out to anyone who wanted one would not help. Just like pouring petrol on a fire seldom puts it out.


Finally on statistics. £1 = $2 what conclusion do we draw? well based on the way you read statistic, we must all be twice as rich as you guys. (which we are not)

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http://www.arts-fine.co.uk

Nothing Truth-Bringer posted has driven me close to insane. Super-strict gun control will increase violent crime and victimization rates, there is no doubt about it. Australia and the UK did a very dumb thing when they banned semiautomatic rifles and shotguns. Australia and the UK did another very dumb thing when they banned/limited pump action shotguns. Another dumb thing was limiting firearms certificates to sporting only purposes.

When you take these weapons out of peoples homes, violent crime and victimization rates will go up. This is common-sense. Allow people to possess them and rates will begin to go down.

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"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives." — John Stuart Mill