FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Why make guns illegal, when murder is already illegal?

19 April 2005 --

Following the recent murders in Sydney, several points must be raised for discussion. 

The Government has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of police man-hours, collecting, collating and crushing the firearms of licenced gun owners, in the mistaken belief that they were the cause of gun crime. Of course, those $millions were a complete waste, as the real Criminals are still out there and kept their guns. 

Can anyone still believe that licenced sporting shooters, hunters, target shooters and firearms collectors are the ones committing all the gun crimes?  Do they really think licenced gun owners are in the streets practicing for the 2006 Commonwealth Games? Perhaps these people think there is to be an “Extreme Street Sports” Event.  (In that regard, Melbourne’s 25 gangland murders puts them in a very strong position for the Gold Medal!) 

If all the time and money spent in the name of “gun control” has had no effect on the real criminals, it must be accepted that banning guns, like alcohol and drug prohibition, doesn’t work! History has shown that such bans and prohibitions simply play into the hands of those with criminal intent. For that reason, wine and beer isn’t banned and needles don’t have to be registered!

Yet, anti-gun fanatics are now calling for even more gun controls, apparently unaware of the fact that Murder is already illegal; Murder was illegal hundreds of years prior to the invention of guns…

Some more facts, from Australian Institute of Criminology, show that we still have on average 350 Murders per year. Almost 30% are committed with knives and more than 20% involved brute force (hands and feet) with only 16% involving a Firearm and only a few involving  handguns.  

 Using some obscure brand of logic, Gun Control Central is trying to blame law abiding gun owners for gun crime, which is rather like blaming banks for armed hold-ups because, “the banks have money”.

 Now is the time to realise that scarce police resources, wasted since 1996 on registrations, permits, inspections, attendances etc, of licenced firearms owners, should have been utilised in tracking down and apprehending the real Criminals.

For more information, facts, figures and discussion points, please contact,

President

Coalition of Law-Abiding Shooters