Firearm Theft in Australia, 2007-2008 by Samantha Bricknell is the fourth in a series of AIC reports as part of the National Firearm Theft Monitoring Program (NFTMP).
That program was established to monitor the number of firearms reported stolen in Australian states/territories and to examine the nature and characteristics of those thefts. The program is meant to assist law enforcement and policymakers in development of initiatives to reduce the incidence of firearm theft and to provide data underpinning minimum standards for storage of firearms.
It reflects the National Firearms Agreement, National Handgun Control Agreement 2002 and National Firearms Trafficking Policy Agreement 2002 which some readers of this blog will recall as generating angst among recreational shooters. It also peeved reactionaries, for example one correspondent who delightfully claims that the Australian Constitution features an explicit right to bear arms - strangely enough that provision is always AWOL whenever I've looked - and that guns, lots of guns, are needed for when 'they' come to take him away. Indeed.
The agreements sought to prohibit and/or restrict certain types of firearms (eg semiautomatic rifles); establish new firearm licensing, registration, storage and training requirements; and introduce new penalties for trafficking firearms.
The new report "illustrates a consistency in the pattern of firearm thefts across Australia between 2004-05 and 2007-08". The AIC indicates that the overall number of firearms reported stolen during each year remained below 2,000. Some 1,700 firearms (via 708 individual theft incidents) were reported to police as stolen during 2007-08. Most of those thefts involved one or two firearms apiece. They were primarily taken from private resideces (including sheds or garages). Most thefts involved rifles and shotguns.
Most of the firearms were registered at the time of theft. The AIC comments that -
many owners continued to demonstrate carelessness or negligence in securing unattended firearms, leaving them in unlocked or easily penetrated storage arrangements or making no perceived effort to conceal or safeguard the firearm at all.It goes on to comment that -
The fate of stolen firearms remains largely unclear, although some are certainly diverted into the illegal market. Data collated for the NFTMP described a steady 12 to 13 percent recovery rate for stolen firearms in each of the years considered. This means that by the end of each reporting period, upwards of 1,200 firearms remained unaccounted for. Some of these firearms are undoubtedly retrieved at a later stage, but others are known to have been used to commit subsequent criminal offences such as murder, attempted murder and armed robbery, or are used in suicide attempts. Overall, an average three percent of reported firearm thefts involved firearms subsequently known to have been used in crime (or sudden death) or were found in possession of known offenders. The real proportion, however, is likely to be somewhat higher.
