Mike,
Two years ago, 1977, each State and Territory in Australia implemented the Nationwide Agreement on Firearms. This was in response to the massacre at Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996. In 1997, Australia recorded 85 fewer firearm-related deaths than in 1996 (50 fewer if one excludes the victims of Port Arthur from the 1996 total). The Australian Institute of Criminology has been monitoring the effects. In May 1999, it published its findings in a paper which is available to be read at
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi116.html
Generally, it has concluded that, nationally, there was a decline in firearm-related deaths in 1997, mostly due to a decline in the rate of suicides and accidents. The Australian experience does not support the notion that serious crime increases when guns are removed from the community.
Vin