How's that Australian Gun Ban Working Out?

It has now been over 10 years since gun owners in Australia were forced by new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own Government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars. The statistics for the years following the ban are now in:

Accidental gun deaths are 300% higher than the pre-1997 ban rate The assault rate has increased 800% since 1991, and increased 200% since the 1997 gun ban.

Robbery and armed robbery have increase 20% from the pre-97 ban rate. From immediately after the ban was instituted in 1997 through 2002, the robbery and armed robbery rate was up 200% over the pre-ban rates.

In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 171 percent.

Amazingly - when law-abiding citizens turned in their gun collections, guess who didn't? The bad guys. Now, fearing nothing, the bad guys are doing pretty much anything they want. They know their victims are unarmed. Actually, are the citizens nothing more than subjects at this point? Or the subjugated?

"The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental."~ John Steinbeck