> *Here's a thought to warm some of your hearts...*
> * *
> *From: Ed Chenel, A police officer in Australia *
>
> *Hi Yanks, I thought you all would like to see the
> real figures from
> Down Under. It has now been 12 months since gun
> owners in
> **Australia**
> were forced by a new law to surrender **/_640,381_/**
> personal firearms
> to be destroyed by our own government, a program
> costing **Australia**
> taxpayers more than **/_$500 million dollars.
> _/**
> The first year results are now in: Australia-wide,
> homicides are up
> */_3.2 percent_/*, Australia-wide, **/_assaults are up
> 8.6 percent_/**;
> Australia-wide, armed robberies are up **/_44 percent
> (yes, 44
> percent)!_/** In the state of **Victoria** alone,**
> **/_ homicides
> with
> firearms are now up 300 percent_/**. (Note that while
> the law-abiding
> citizens turned them in, **/_the criminals did
> not!_/** and criminals
> still possess their guns!)
> *
> *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, since the criminals now are guaranteed
> that their prey
> is unarmed. There has also been a dramatic increase
> in break-ins and
> assaults of the elderly.
> **
> Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how
> public safety has
> decreased, after such monumental effort and expense
> was expended in
> "successfully ridding Australian society of guns." *
>
> *You won't see this on the American evening news or
> hear your governor
> or members of the State Assembly disseminating this
> information.
> **
> **_The Australian experience proves it. Guns in the
> hands of honest
> citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control
> laws affect only
> the law-abiding citizens.
> _**
> **/_Take note Americans, before it's too late!
> _/**
> FORWARD TO EVERYONE ON YOUR EMAIL LIST. [ I DID ]*
>
> *DON'T BE A MEMBER OF THE SILENT MAJORITY*
