RE:   GUN CONTROL IN AUSTRALIA -- ED CHENEL'S STATISTICS

If gun control is the answer, why didn't the statistics at least stay the same, or decrease.  Nelson Warner's answers appear to do everything to cover up the numbers.  Are 12 homi- cides, or whatever the number was, significant in a city with a population of 4.5 million?  I don't know.  I guess, if you're one of the 12, it's significant.  I also noted that Warner questioned Chenel's use of the word "dramatic" when referring to the increase in as- saults on victims over 65 years, even though his own piece shows over a 20% increase from 1997 to 1999.   Warner might say that that isn't dramatic, but I wouldn't.

Warner says that percentages and statistics can be misleadiing and certain facts have to be known.   He gives great examples dealing with home runs in baseball by showing an increase in home runs was due to added expansion teams and an increase in the number of games played.  Were any other laws significantly changed in Australia's case?    And, if percentages, population samples, and the time since the gun ban is too short to tell the real effects of the gun control ban, how can he so flatly call Chenel's claims false?  I would say the crimes per capita, or the crime rate, as I belive he would say, are the real statistics.   Without observing them, I doubt that they have hit rock bottom.

No offense, but I didn't observe any hunting or shooting sports interests on his bio, but I see that he is an editor.   Time and again I have observed the American media create the story they want, whether that is what is happening or not.   No, I smell a rat here, espe- cially when the gun control advocates aren't circulating their victory statistics and claim- ing that they have saved Australia.   It's kind of like the gun control crowd here in Michi- gan that has been forced to remain silent and bitter because of the lack of bloodshed since the state became a "shall issue" state for persons to carry concealed pistols.   Any resident who passes a criminal background check and passes the appropriate course, is licensed.   Our newly elected governor, and former attorney general gun-control zealot, backstroked on this issue before the election.   She was 100% against the concealed carry law which was passed almost two years ago, but, in the coming months before the election, she decided she was "pleasantly surprised" by the fact that the law appears to be working.   The statistics favor the pro-gun people, and the gun-control people aren't talking.   Is the Aussie government declaring victory?   Has crime gone down signifi- cantly??

Mark Garnsey