Dodgy stats: When a glue gun is counted as a ‘firearm’
This week’s Weekly Times carried a great story and even greater editorial on the accuracy of stats relating to firearm thefts.
This is an important issue for shooters because firearm thefts are continually used as a basis to tighten our firearm laws.
You might recall that a couple of years ago, Victoria Police were running a campaign through the Herald Sun on firearm thefts, and their view that the safes we use are not strong enough.
One Superintendent even reportedly told the media “On a good day, I can rip that open with my teeth“
Except that the data they, and anti-gun groups, is flawed. As the Weekly Times reports in this article (click here), the data on firearm thefts includes things which really aren’t guns at all – flares, nail guns and glue guns.
Gun Control Australia used the data – which shows a mysterious doubling of thefts at the beginning of this decade – to say “it’s time for a wholesale tightening of regulations. Electronic monitoring is best practice and we
must introduce this for all firearms.”
Crime Statistics Agency took over responsibility of data reporting from Victoria Police in 2015. As the article notes, the CSA is pointing to Victoria Police who say they are struggling to find anyone who can explain why or how the definition of a firearm changed.
This issue leads to serious consequences.
Decisions based on incorrect information leads to bad laws. In our case, wrong decisions can ruin livelihoods, continue to cause conflict with the government and regulators and mislead the public about how our laws work.