An Examination of Firearms-Related Crime in Australia: Focus on New South Wales
摘要
This chapter will focus mainly on firearms-related crime in Australia and specifically the largest state in the country: New South Wales. The definition of a firearm is: ‘a machine or a device designed to discharge a projectile or projectiles of any kind by the action of any explosion or other form of the energy such as an expansion of compressed air’ (Pandey et al., 2023). Firearms can be divided into the two main categories of handguns (pistols) or long guns (rifles and shotguns). There are also so-called ‘zip guns’ that are illegally made firearms, either home-made or in an illegal factory, of substandard mixed material components and the recent addition of ‘3D printer’ guns substantially made from extruded plastic using a special computer-operated printer. The chapter will commence with the brief history of possession and control of firearms and legislation that have been enacted through gun law reforms, followed by a discussion on illegally held firearms through theft and the recent phenomena of 3D printed firearms. The control and management of firearms through firearms prohibition orders will be described in New South Wales, including data on the number of firearms injuries and deaths because of crime and misfortune. The chapter will then turn to measures of crime prevention and detection, describing recent case studies in Australia and then utilizing research mainly from the United States, summarizing and examining recent efforts on crime prevention. As a measure of crime prevention, detection, and criminal intelligence, the major aspects of the Australian program for national firearms registration will be examined. The chapter will conclude suggestions related to the future ramifications of firearms-related crime in Australia.