When reading the Nov. 2 letters, I came across a statement so ludicrously incorrect I laughed out loud. Jeff Brinkman wrote: “Australia and Great Britain both outlawed private gun ownership, and crime has skyrocketed.”

Huh?

This is absolutely incorrect. I cannot speak for Great Britain, but as an Australian citizen, I am here to tell you that in every respect the above statement is WRONG! I’ve heard this bugaboo of an argument before, and it contains not a single grain of truth.

Firstly, there has been no increase in gun-related crime at all in Australia since the firearm laws were changed in 1996/1997. Violent crime in Australia has always been very low (at least since the days of convict settlement, 200 years ago!), even in major population centers such as Sydney and Melbourne.

I do not know where Mr. Brinkman got his “figures” from, but it was not from the records of any of the police departments in any of the six states of Australia.

In fact, a quick perusal of the figures from Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, shows that in recent years there has been either no significant change in violent crimes or in some cases an actual decrease.

For example, in the period 1998-99, robbery with a firearm decreased by 24.3 percent and break-and-entering into a household has decreased by 10 percent.

Assault and murder both showed no significant change compared to previous years. In fact, with a population of over 6 million, N.S.W. had a total of 4209 armed robberies and 552 murders between 1995 and 1999.

These figures are reflected across the rest of Australia. To anybody who is interested, the stats are readily accessible at www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au.

Secondly, Mr Brinkman is incorrect in asserting that firearms are “outlawed” in Australia.

They are not. Under laws in effect across Australia, only certain firearms are banned. Restrictions exist on high-capacity self-loading rimfire rifles, self-loading centerfire rifles and shotguns and pump-action shotguns. Non-self-loading guns are still readily available across Australia.

I have no problem with Mr. Brinkman bringing in examples from outside the United States in support of the Second Amendment.

But for future reference, it would be wise to check the figures before brandishing such wild assertions about “skyrocketing” crime rates in other nations.

Since firearms laws were tightened in 1996/97, the already low violent crime rate across Australia has seen no increase whatsoever.

Tim Williams

Postdoctoral researcher

Agronomy