Fire-related
homicides fall
into two main
categories:
those where fire
is used to kill
the victim, and
those where it
is used to
destroy the
evidence. Using
data from the
National
Homicide
Monitoring
Program
database, this
report
identifies key
characteristics
of offenders and
victims of
fire-related
homicides.
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi2/tandi340.html
Fire-related
homicides fall into two main categories:
those where fire is used to kill the
victim, and those where it is used to
destroy the evidence.
A new paper by Drs. Samara McPhedran and
Jeanine Baker, Australian Firearms
Legislation and Unintentional Firearm Deaths,
suggests that the Australian Bureau of
Statistics has undercounted injury deaths,
including suicides and may 'over-count'
unintentional deaths, and that this may lead
to skewed statistics.
read more...
"Would banning firearms reduce murder and
suicide?" by Don B Kates and Gary Mauser.
download paper...
“Human Rights and Gun Confiscation,” by
David B. Kopel, Paul Gallant & Joanne D.
Eisen,
addresses
a human rights problem which has been
generally ignored by the advocates of
firearms confiscation: the human rights
abuses stemming from the enforcement of
confiscation or similar laws.
download paper...
Australian Institute of Criminology - Fact
Sheet: Weapons types and serious crime
Crime facts info, No. 158
Firearms in Australia
—
Background Note:
a guide to electronic resources.
Issued 9 August 2007.
read more...
UN Firearms Protocol.
download paper...

Victorian
Firearms Act
Amendment
Bill passed.
Hansard PDF,
see page 16
Firearms theft in Australia
2005–06, Samantha Bricknell and
Jenny Mouzos. Research and public
policy series no.82
This report
describes firearms thefts reported to
police between 1 July 2005 and 30 June
2006. Its findings - 634 incidents of
theft, with a total of 1,445
firearms stolen - mark another decline
in the number of firearms stolen yearly
in Australia, down from the 1,470
firearms reported stolen in 2004–05.
Firearms theft in Australia
Trends & issues in crime
and criminal justice series no. 346:
An examination of serial murder in
Australia, Jenny Mouzos
and David West.
This report explores the serial murder
phenomenon in Australia using data
collected as part of the Australian
Institute of Criminology's National
Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) and
earlier research undertaken at the AIC
(Pinto & Wilson 1990). It reports on the
characteristics of offenders and
victims, including the offenders' modus
operandi, and finds that the profile of
serial murder in Australia is similar to
that found in international research.
The report suggests that further
research on the profile of long term
missing persons and serial murder
victims should be undertaken as well as
exploring offenders who commit multiple
murders on separate occasions, to
identify what prevented them (apart from
law enforcement intervention) from
committing additional murders.
Trends & Issues No. 346
AIC Fact
Sheet:
Serial
Murder in
Australia
PDF

UK Home
Office Report
on crime, September 2007.
PDF

The Human
Right of
Self
Defence
PDF

Gun Laws, Culture, Justice & Crime In Foreign Countries Do other countries all have more restrictive gun laws and lower violent crime rates than the U.S.? How do U.S. and other countries` crime trends compare? What societal factors affect crime rates?
read more...
Human
Rights and
Gun
Confiscation.
PDF

Australian
Firearms
Legislation
and
Unintentional
Firearm
Deaths.
read more...
AIC Fact
Sheet:
Storage
arrangements
for firearms
at time of
theft.
PDF
Stolen
Firearms
Facts
PDF
UK Home
Office
Report on
crime,
September
2007.
PDF
AIC -
An examination of serial murder in
Australia. Trends & Issues in crime and
criminal justice series no. 346.
read more...
AIC
-
Firearms
theft
in
Australia
2005–06.
Research and public policy series
no.82.
read more...
AIC Fact
Sheet:
Serial
Murder in
Australia.
PDF
Fact Sheet:
United
Nations Arms
Embargoes.
PDF
Howard
Nemerov and
David B
Kopel:
Is
there a
Relationship
between Guns
and Freedom?
Comparative
Results from
59 Nations.
PDF
NOTE: You
must
subscribe to
download
this paper.
Subscription
is free.
AIC Fact
Sheet:
cfi165
-
Storage
arrangements
for firearms
at time of
theft,
2005-06.
PDF
AIC:
Australian
Crime: facts
& figures
2007.
PDF
AIC:
Armed
robbery in
Australia:
2005.
Research and
Public
Policy
Series No.
84.
read more...
New
study:
1996 bans 'missed the
mark'.
Executive summary
ACT: Firearms Act amendments.
PDF
UN:
Report on Small Arms and Light
Weapons 2008.
PDF
AIC Fact
Sheet: cfi165 – Storage
arrangements for firearms at time of
theft, 2006-07.
PDF

UN:
Small
Arms Conference Report, 30 April
2008.
read more...
Firearms Act Amendments
- Speech by Family
First MP
Firearms Act Amendments - Prohibition orders,
Hansard Report.
PDF
The
impact of Australia's 1996 firearms legislation.
email
author
Melbourne Institute paper:
1996
gun laws had no effect on firearm
deaths.
Download
PDF
AIC: Trends & Issues 361
The criminal use of handguns in
Australia.
Download PDF
FBI:
2007 Uniform crime report.
Download PDF
US Centers for Disease
Control: Report on
health risks of lead
ammunition.
Download PDF
Federal Hansard:
Question on gun control by
Senator Brown, Australian
Greens.
See pages 136-137
Download PDF
AIC: Homicide in
Australia 2006-07:
mr01
–
This report presents
findings from and an
overview of key
characteristics of the 18th
annual collection of
homicide data (2006-07), the
most comprehensive
collection on homicide in
Australia, including details
on victims, offenders, and
incident circumstances.
Australia wide, 260
incidents of homicide
occurred in the year, taking
266 victims and involving
296 offenders. This was a
decrease of 23 incidents and
45 victims from the previous
year and is consistent with
a significant long-range
trend toward fewer incidents
both per capita and
absolutely since inception
of the
NHMP. read more......
AIC: Court outcomes for
firearms offences in
Australia: tbp031 –
The term 'firearm
offence' captures a broad
spectrum of offending
behaviour, from insecure
storage of firearms to use
in the commission of a
violent crime, and hence a
similarly broad spectrum of
criminal conduct. The
primary legislative
framework for sentencing of
firearm offences is based on
enacted legislation in each
jurisdiction that defines
specific firearm-related
offences, alongside minimum
and maximum penalties. While
offences largely relate to
use, possession, ownership,
registration, purchase, sale
and storage of firearms,
jurisdictional variation
occurs in the range and
classification of these
offences....
read more...
Enhancing Evidence-based Policy: Principles
and Practice from a Case Study of Australian
Firearms Legislation.
Executive Summary
South Australia
abandons due process in face
of imaginary bikie threat.
PDF
AIC: Criminal use of handguns in Australia
─
Trends & Issues 361.
PDF
AIC:
Firearms theft in Australia:
PDF
─
The National Firearms Theft Monitoring Program (NFTMP)
was established at the Australian Institute of
Criminology following a recommendation by the (then)
Australasian Police Ministers' Council Firearms
Policy Working Group for the long-term monitoring of
firearm theft. The program is funded by the
Australian Government under the Proceeds of Crime
Act 2002 for a period of four years, starting 1 July
2006. This report represents the second in the NFTMP-funded
series and the third examining annual firearm theft
data. From 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007, 626
incidents of firearm theft were reported to police,
with a total of 1,526 firearms stolen. Around half
of these incidents resulted in the theft of a single
firearm; in the majority of these, the firearm was
registered, and the owner was in possession of an
appropriate firearm licence. Rifles comprised 57
percent of stolen firearms; shotguns, a quarter; and
handguns, seven percent. The majority of thefts
targeted private residential premises, and one in
ten thefts were from vehicles or business premises.
Is the NSW assault rate higher now than it was during the 1990s? ─ CJB127
PDF
Executive Summary: The rate of police-recorded assault more than doubled in NSW between 1990 and 2007. This bulletin investigates whether the increase was due to a genuine increase in violence or an increase in the amount and/or type of violent behaviour coming to police attention. Trends and patterns in police-recorded assault from 1995 to 2007 are supplemented with crime victim survey data, hospitalisations data and a selection of narratives for assault incidents. Over the period, rates of assault increased for both males and females and for all age groups. Increases occurred in both aggravated
and common assault, assault with a weapon and without, in all statistical divisions and premise types.
ABS: 4510.0 Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2008 ─ PDF
AIC: Unlawful entry with intent (UEWI) chart. - read more......
AIC: Knives used most in service station robberies
─ Trends and Issues 373. PDF
UN: Small Arms Survey 2009. The Small Arms Survey is located at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. Established in 1999, the project is supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and by sustained contributions from the Governments of Belgium, Canada, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The Survey is also grateful for past and current project support received from the Governments of Australia, Denmark, France, New Zealand, and the United States, as well as from different United Nations agencies, programmes, and institutes. read more......
Private security in Australia: trends and key characteristics – Trends and Issues 374. PDF
The use of private security in crime
prevention and law enforcement activities has grown to a point where security personnel outnumber police by more than two-to-one. This paper examines the size and scope of the security industry both locally and internationally. Using ABS census data, it provides a detailed and up-to-date picture of the security industry and makes key comparisons with police. Findings show that in Australia in 2006, there were 52,768 personnel employed full-time in the security industry, compared with 44,898 police.
A review of suicide statistics in Australia - Injury research and statistics series #49: PDF
A review of suicide statistics in Australia is a detailed report on the statistical processes used to track national suicide rates. Suicide is a matter of considerable public interest and policy significance so reliable statistical information on suicide occurrence is important. This report examines in detail the current methodologies used to track suicide rates, identifying issues with the process of suicide reporting and the extent of, and reason for, any
under-enumeration of suicide. Revised estimates are provided and the report provides advice for the future statistical monitoring of suicide and self harm in Australia. This report provides a unique insight into the limitations of current data on suicide rates.
AIC: Firearms theft in Australia 2007-08
- Monitoring Reports No. 8:
PDF
The National Firearm Theft Monitoring
Program (NFTMP) was established at the
Australian Institute of Criminology to
monitor the number of firearms reported
stolen in Australian states and
territories and to examine the nature
and characteristics of these thefts.
This report represents the fourth in the
NFTMP series and illustrates a
consistency in the pattern of firearm
thefts across Australia between 2004-05
and 2007-08. The total number of
firearms reported stolen has remained
below 2,000 during this period, with a
noticeable increase occurring only in
the most recent year. A total of 1,712
firearms, from 708 individual theft
incidents, were reported stolen to
police during 2007-08.
Reasons to Question the 740,000 Factoid
being used to Promote the Arms Trade
Treaty. ABSTRACT: Currently,
the United Nations is drafting an Arms
Trade Treaty to impose strict controls
on firearms and other weapons. In
support of hasty adoption of the Treaty,
a UN-related organization of Treaty
supporters is has produced a report
claiming that armed violence is
responsible for 740,000 deaths annually.
This Article carefully examines the
claim. We find that the claim is based
on dubious assumptions, cherry-picking
data, and mathematical legerdemain which
is inexplicably being withheld from the
public. The refusal to disclose the
mathematical calculations used to create
the 740,000 factoid is itself cause for
serious suspicion; our own calculations
indicate that the 740,000 figure is far
too high. Further, while the report
claims that 60% of homicides are
perpetrated with firearms, our review of
the data on which report claimed to rely
yields a 22% rate. The persons
responsible for the report have refused
to release their homicide calculations,
or any other calculations. This Article
also shows how a narrow focus on
restricting firearms ownership continues
to distract international attention from
life-saving, viable solutions. We
propose some practical alternatives
which have already saved lives in
war-ravaged areas.
read more...
The Arms Trade Treaty: Zimbabwe, The
Democratic Republic of the Comgo, and
the Prospects for Arms Embatgoes on
Human Rights Violators.
David B. Kopel, Paul Gallant and
Joanne D. Eisen
ABSTRACT: Advocates of the
proposed United Nations Arms Trade
Treaty (ATT) promise that it will
prevent the flow of arms to human rights
violators. This Article first examines
the ATT and observes that the ATT, if
implemented as promised, would require
dozens of additional arms embargoes,
including embargoes on much of Africa.
The Article then provides case studies
of the current supply of arms to the
dictatorship in Zimbabwe and to the
warlords in the eastern Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Article
argues that the ATT would do nothing to
remediate the conditions that have
allowed so many arms to be acquired by
human rights violators. The ATT would
have no more effective force than the
embargoes that are already imposed by
the U.N. Security Council; therefore
U.N. member states, including China,
which violate current Security Council
embargoes, could just as well violate
ATT embargoes. Accordingly, the ATT is a
distraction, and human rights activists
should instead examine alternative
methods of addressing the problem of
arms in the hands of human rights
violators.
Download PDF