We’ve reported multiple times over the past few years how worthless and ineffective so-called gun “buybacks” are at making any difference in violent crime rates. Of course, that doesn’t stop anti-gun city governments from continuing to perpetuate the fraud.

Now, however, Western Australia has managed to outdo all of the ridiculous American cities that hold such “buybacks.” In a hold-my-beer type of development, officials in Western Australia are holding a two-month-long gun “buyback” for dealers wanting to get rid of some of their stock.  

According to a report at wa.gov.au, the Cook Government has announced that between now and January 17, 2025, Western Australian gun dealers will be allowed to surrender their firearms in return for cash. Once the guns are surrendered to Western Australian police, dealers will receive up to $1,000 per gun, depending on the kind and condition of each firearm.

Of course, as we’ve explained before, the word “buyback” is a complete misnomer since the government never owned the firearms, so, thereby, it can’t “buy” them back. “Compensated confiscation” is a more appropriate term for such firearm hand-in programs.

The move comes as Western Australia’s new, restrictive gun-control law, which places a limit on the number of guns an individual can own and significantly hardens the rules around ownership, is set to take effect on March 15. Government officials are acting like they’re doing dealers a favor by helping them dispose of firearms when actually they’re further tightening the noose on Australia’s besieged gun owners.

Police Minister Paul Papalia bragged that the new gun laws are “the strictest in the nation.”

“The licensed dealer gun buyback provides an opportunity for the industry to hand in their weapons before our tough new firearm laws come into effect,” Papilia said. “Almost 40,000 guns were handed back to police as part of our voluntary gun buyback program, and we anticipate thousands of additional guns to be offloaded by licensed dealers in the coming months.”

Papilia also tried to make it sound like the new restrictive gun laws were a benefit to gun owners, shooters and hunters, even though they are not.

“I encourage anyone who didn’t take part in the previous buyback to consider selling their unneeded firearms to a dealer prior to the January deadline,” he said. “The modernization of a new digital licensing system will see hunters and competition shooters benefit from considerable cost savings when applying for, or renewing, a firearms license.”

25 COMMENTS

  1. if dealers sell at a profit, they can restock. with no idea what the parameters are it’s a nothing article.

  2. In America, politicians like V.P. Harris can only dream of this kind of totalitarian B.S. The government, on all levels, do not have the man power willing and able to do this kind of confiscation. We have a Constitution and Bill of Rights suitable for free citizens. The Aussies are still serfs, subjects of their King.

    • WA has always been a “special case” downunder. They make the most extreme Kalifornia laws look mild.

  3. Gun Control is insane like this Trump protester…connect the h…

    h ttps://youtube.com/watch?v=m2H0Fs8G3I4&feature=shared

  4. Try that in the US and it would only cost the US tax payers up to $600 Billion dollars. Where does that money come from again?

    Let’s be honest here, they are being forced to buy back their own firearms with their own money.

    • In the US the money would come from gun ownership license and registration fees. That way we would pay to have our own guns and rights taken away.

    • The money would come from the same place the trillions of COVID money came from, the government printing press. The leftists have always considered the government’s checkbook to be bottomless. Why would this be any different.

    • I came to post a similar sentiment: I think very few people are voluntarily “selling” their firearms to the government.

      • But all states downunder have had firearms registration since the 1990s. Although I hear rumours of lots of off-books firearms being available in the rural areas. WA often regards themselves as almost a separate country if it wasn’t for disproportionately high federal allocations. They didn’t join the federation until a year later than the other states.

        WA is big. Really big. Imagine the west coast states and all the states to the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains as one state. That big. But has a population less than the Sydney urban area.

        • Southern,

          Yeah, it comes down to the inevitable “what’s YOUR definition of ‘democracy???”

          If a “majority” opinion controlled, and if we were a “democracy”, then the southern DIMOCRATS would have voted to preserve slavery. If a million idiots vote that you are a slave, does that require you to accept enslavement (after all, it’s “Majority rules!!”). The Leftist/fascists (like MajorLiar) don’t want you to ask these questions, because they inevitably lead to questioning WTAF your supposed authority is to do any of this in the first place.

          I’ve been to OZ (2 X), and I LOVE the average Aussie. The government is more toxic than is ours, and ours is heinous. You have my sympathy, my friend, but . . . . July 4, 2045 is a ways away; don’t wait.

  5. Australia is still a nanny state (to a decaying society) as evidenced by recent visit by the British Crown, and the reception both good and bad.

  6. Western Australia is a vast area of nearly 1000000 square miles with a population under 3 million(similar to Chiraq). Anyone dumb(or desperate)enough to give(“sell”)their gats to the communist gulag gubmint deserves scorn & derision🙄SEE:ILLANNOY with a near microscopic gat “registration”.

    • WA is considered a crazy mix of Progressivism with a police state that would make apartheid South Africa look halfhearted.

  7. I did not realize gun involved crime was high enough in Australia to warrant gun confiscation.
    Dictatorships, or future dictatorships, do not want armed citizens.

  8. The thought arises that if Australia should need firearms as England did in WW2 should we assist or not. Since it was stupid politicians that took them and left the country vulnerable.

    • Well, China and Russia are still expansionist. I would think they would LOVE to conquer Australia. If that’s even a little bit believable, then all we have to do is get Australia to believe it.

      Then we’ll see a remake of Ukraine’s handing out of firearms to its people who were… not… allowed… to have weapons.

  9. I believe, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe most of the rifles that were given to the Brits wound up in the french resistance fighters hands.

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