Does Australia Need to Liberalise its Gun and Self Defence Laws? By John Steele

     Of course it does, for many reasons, including the problem of gangs and home invasions:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-02/street-gangs-are-a-problem-in-melbourne-police-admit/9297984

“Victorian police have conceded Melbourne has a problem with African street gangs, after earlier insisting there were no gangs in the city, as the State Government rejects criticism it has dropped the ball on the problem.
Police Minister Lisa Neville on Tuesday defended the Government’s handling of youth crime after the Federal Government on Monday said “African gang crime” was out of control in Melbourne because of lenient state policies.
The issue has become a priority for both major parties after a series of recent headline-grabbing crimes blamed on groups of young African men, including the trashing of an Airbnb property in Werribee, vandalism in Tarneit and a night of violence at St Kilda Beach involving dozens of youths.”

     With home invasions and other crimes on the rise, it is time for Australians to conduct a fundamental rethink of personal security issues:

Data from Victoria’s Crime Statistics Agency, below, shows an over-representation of Sudanese-born and Kenyan-born offenders in some crime categories, proportional to their Victorian populations.
They also show a sharp rise in Sudanese-born offenders involved in armed robberies, from 20 in the 2014-15 financial year to 98 two years later.

     However, the statistics also show that a Victorian is more than 25 times more likely to be seriously assaulted by someone born in Australia or New Zealand than someone born in Sudan or Kenya.
They are almost five times more likely to be the victim of an aggravated burglary committed by an Australian or New Zealand-born offender, than one born in Sudan or Kenya.
According to Census figures, people born in Sudan make up about 0.1 per cent of Victoria’s population. The Kenyan-born population in Victoria is about the half the size of the Sudanese-born population.

Serious assault
Alleged offender’s country of birth    2014-15    2015-16    2016-17
Australia    1,699    1,576    1,462
New Zealand    87    75    91
Sudan    29    50    45
Kenya    4    10    15

Aggravated burglary
Alleged offender’s country of birth    2014-15    2015-16    2016-17
Australia    182    504    540
New Zealand    ≤ 3    6    28
Sudan    20    53    98
Kenya    ≤ 3    17    20

Non-aggravated burglary
Alleged offender’s country of birth    2014-15    2015-16    2016-17
Australia    2,166    1,670    1,773
New Zealand    32    33    69
Sudan    57    29    54
Kenya    10    ≤ 3    17

Motor vehicle theft
Alleged offender’s country of birth    2014-15    2015-16    2016-17
Australia    2,021    2,211    2,078
New Zealand    63    141    151
Sudan    81    80    81
Kenya    5    35    21

Sexual offences
Alleged offender’s country of birth    2014-15    2015-16    2016-17
Australia    317    379    361
New Zealand    ≤ 3    8    ≤ 3
Sudan    5    9    6
All other countries    31    27    21

Source: Crime Statistics Agency (Victoria)

    Food for thought indeed, if we are still allowed to think in this country.