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The Sniper's Paradise website is dedicated to and designed for professional snipers. The articles, links, and information found in this section of our site is designed to keep our readers informed about who wants to take our pistols and rifles and how they plan on doing it. The best way to stop the Gun Grabbers in their steps is to research the enemy and know their tactics. As they say, "knowledge is power!"
A call to armsFailure of gun control abroad should discourage similar domestic legislationThe Battalion www.thebatt.com
To better understand the effects of gun legislation, a person can look at other countries with strict gun laws similar to those being proposed in the United States. Unfortunately, the crime statistics after the laws' enforcement are atrocious. The American public should realize this and not support similar legislation being proposed here. In 1996, Australia enacted strict gun-control legislation, banning weapons, including .22s, assault rifles, hunting rifles and shotguns. Before these laws were enacted, crime in Australia was declining. From 1980 to 1995, the firearm-related death rate decreased 46 percent to its lowest level in the 16-year period. In addition, the firearm-related homicide dropped 63 percent. Then -- in April 1996 -- a tragedy changed the face of gun legislation in Australia. A gunman killed 35 people and wounded 19 more in Port Arthur. Although this was a deranged act by a single individual, many politicians were quick to blame "loose gun laws" for causing this tragedy. These old gun laws required citizens who wanted to own firearms -- even air rifles -- to pass a gun-handling course. Citizens were also required to carried a gun license with photo identification that must be presented even when buying ammunition. The end result of these old laws was a gun turn-in scheme that resulted in the destruction of more than 640,000 shotguns and hunting rifles when new legislation was enacted. All gun owners were first required to register all fireams with the government. Then, a taxpayer-funded buyback was instituted in which all automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns were collected and destroyed. This buyback extended to all semi-automatic weapons and .22 caliber plinking guns. The supporters of this ban, including those here in the United States, actively promote this legislation's crime-fighting benefits. However, the crime statistics do not back up these alleged benefits. Violent crime in every category except murder went up from 1997 to 1998 in all Australian states. Some of the highlights from the Australia Bureau of Statistics Website show that attempted murder went up 20 percent, manslaughter went up 26 percent, and armed robbery went up 20 percent. Essentially, crime is going up across the board in response to the new legislation. It is increasing partly because of the loss of a deterrence factor. The police commissioner for South Australia, Mal Hyde, was even quoted as saying, "the environment is more violent and dangerous than it was some time ago." Increased gun-licensing laws, similar to those found in England, are another type of law many politicians promote in America. On Jan. 16, The London Times published an article about the current increase in gun crime. The writer discussed that there are an estimated 3 million unregistered guns in the country -- therefore, in the possession of criminals. As well as confirming the obvious fact that no criminal will bother to register his or her weapon with the police, the article stated that fatal shootings in London more than doubled, while overall armed crime rose 10 percent between 1998 and 1999. According to a study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, "For most U.S. crimes ... the latest crime rates (1996) are the lowest recorded in the 16-year period from 1981 to 1996. By comparison, English crime rates as measured in both victim surveys and police statistics have all risen since 1981." Also, the U.S. murder rate, while higher than England's, has been declining, while the rate in England has remained the same. The belief that foreign countries such as England, Japan and Italy have much less crime than other, less-strict countries is a common gun-control myth. Crime rates are actually the same in Switzerland, Israel and Norway, which all have relatively mild gun control, as in the three previously named countries. "Italy's gun law, 'the most restrictive in Europe,' had left her southern provinces alone with a thousand firearm murders a year, 30 times Switzerland's total," said author Richard A.I. Munday. In Switzerland, most citizens are members of a national defense force and are issued fully automatic rifles and ammunition that they keep at home for national emergencies. Crimes with these guns are almost unheard of. Japan also has a crime rate that is continuing to rise, despite severe gun laws. From this, the citizens of America should learn that gun control simply takes personal protection -- a freedom guaranteed by the Constitution -- away from law-abiding citizens. Criminals will not register their guns lawfully, should any type of national registration be enacted. Nor will they carry properly licensed firearms or buy their guns through legal outlets, which already require a background check. If an individual already lives outside the law, what difference does it make to him or her if stronger gun control laws are passed? The myth of other countries' legislation working here in America can be best dispelled by a quote from noted civil rights lawyer Don B. Kates: "In any society, truly violent people are only a small minority. We know that law-abiding citizens do not commit violent crimes. We know that criminals will neither obey gun bans nor refrain from turning other deadly instruments to their nefarious purposes. In sum, peaceful societies do not need general gun bans and violent societies do not benefit from them." Andrew Stephenson is a sophomore environmental design major.
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