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In 1996 Australia passed the National Firearms Agreement (NFA) which greatly restricted the option to legally own some types of guns by private citizens.

The activist site, World Public Union claims that crime is on the rise in Australia since then1.

Since Australia banned semiautomatic rifles, shotguns and pump action shotguns the gun crime rates have skyrocketed throughout the country.

Murders committed with guns increased by 19%.

Home invasions increased by 21%.

Assaults committed with guns increased by 28%.

Armed robberies skyrocketed with an increase of 69%.

pic

[Image Source]

It cites no sources.

Have crime rates been on the rise in Australia since 1996?

1 - The video was hosted on the WPU site, but can no longer be found there, it can still be found on military.com.

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SIMEL
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    Related: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/a/14104/82 The numbers are a total fabrication. – Konrad Rudolph Dec 23 '13 at 10:34
  • It's interesting to note that the numbers in the image are all close to multiples of 10. This is very anecdotal, but it's certainly one of the first things I noticed as a fraud analyst. – rhrgrt Jul 08 '16 at 01:25
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    It should be noted that Australia doesn't have a "gun ban". Ownership of certain types of firearms has been restricted. You can still legally own pistols, bolt-action rifles and shotguns. – Coomie Jul 11 '16 at 07:29

1 Answers1

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No they haven't.

Searching Google for the picture brings up this fallowing blog post which address this picture particularly. It cites the 2011 Australian Crime Report (alternative link) published by the Australian Institute of Criminology.

from the post:

Below is a chart from the annual Australian crime stats report for murders — the short version: murders have fallen 10% just since 2006 and that is raw numbers. Overall murders on annual basis have dropped almost 25% since the late 1990s gun ban. From page 16 of the 2011 Australian Crimes Statistics Report

From page 16 of the 2011 Australian Crimes Statistics Report.

Australia did see an increase in violent crime during the 1990s which leveled off after 2001, with exception to a slight rise from 2005-2007.

This chart is from page 6 of the 2011 Australian Crime Statistics Report.

This chart is from page 6 of the 2011 Australian Crime Statistics Report.

There is also a page on Snopes addressing a slightly diffrent rumor regarding rise in crime in Australia, a supposed letter from an Australian police officer. From the Snopes page:

In the latter case, it should be noted that the Australia-wide percentage of homicides committed with firearms is now lower than it was before the gun buy-back program, and lower than it has been at any point during the past ten years. (In the former case, the absolute number of firearm homicides in Australia in 1998-99 was the lowest in the past ten years.)

Other claims offered here, such as the statement that "While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months" and "There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the elderly" are even more difficult to evaluate, because they don't offer any figures or standards of measurement at all. Do they deal with absolute numbers, or percentages? Do they reflect all incidents of crime, or only those committed with firearms? How much of an increase constitutes a "dramatic" increase? According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the proportion of armed robberies involving firearms has actually declined over the last several years:

1995 - 27.8%

1996 - 25.3%

1997 - 24.1%

1998 - 17.6%

1999 - 15.2%

2000 - 14.0%

Grimm The Opiner
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SIMEL
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  • Can you track down the missing images and upload them to the stack imgur instead, please? –  Jul 06 '16 at 23:05
  • @fredsbend, done. – SIMEL Jul 07 '16 at 08:22
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    Your data isn't relevant--none of it matches the 4 allegations in the claims. It says "Armed Robberies", you have "armed robberies with firearms" etc. – Loren Pechtel Jul 09 '16 at 03:56
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    This is late, but I have to agree with Loren. Not a single number you provide actually addresses a single claim in the question graphic 1 to 1. For example in your last number robberies involving guns may have gone down 13% but since the gun ban it's possible armed robberies with knives have gone up 300%. I'm not saying that's the case but as it could be, it makes all of your data invalid for answering the question as asked. – Ryan Jan 04 '17 at 20:27
  • @Ryan and Loren, the second part of the answer answers a slightly different claim, and I say so. Look at the first part, It talks about all violent crimes, all assaults, all murders and all robbery. – SIMEL Jan 05 '17 at 10:44
  • The only broad claim you have is your own words *"claims that crime is on the rise"*. All the other claims in the OP quote and graphic are very specific. Mainly they are: First -> Murders with guns, Second -> Home invasions, Third -> Armed Robberies, and Forth -> Assault with a Gun. All the data you provide covers, General murder, (not with a gun) General assault (again without a gun), Robbery not home invasion and ironically Armed Robberies with a gun but not the general category of just Armed Robberies. No where in the Claim does it ask about all assaults, all murders and all robbery. – Ryan Jan 05 '17 at 18:54
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    @LorenPechtel are you arguing that "armed robberies" is radically distinct from "armed robberies with guns"? Sounds to me like they are similar but just reflect subtle terminology differences between countries. even if they are not, all armed robberies would include all gun-based robberies so the point is still true despite the terminology difference. – matt_black Feb 19 '18 at 13:58
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    @matt_black I mean they are very different categories. In the US an armed robbery is probably with a gun. Fewer guns = more armed robberies are with things like knives. – Loren Pechtel Feb 20 '18 at 15:53