Aussie State Government Set to Destroy High-Powered Guns Surrendered in Buyback

Over 17,000 firearms and weapons were surrendered in the most recent year of Australia's national gun amnesty. (Joel Carrett/AAP)

Hundreds of high-powered firearms have been removed from Western Australian (WA) citizens following a “successful” government buyback scheme.

This follows an announcement in February that saw the state government outlaw very high-powered firearms that were capable of shooting at long ranges and piercing armoured plating.

In a July 7 statement, WA’s Minister for Police, Paul Papalia, said 280 firearms were surrendered, sold interstate or overseas, or altered to become compliant by the July 1 deadline.

“All of the firearms that we sought to remove from the community have been removed,” Mr. Papalia told reporters on July 7.

The buyback is expected to cost the state government $1.5 million and be destroyed.

“It’s basically a regulation change where police determined these very high-powered firearms represented a risk to police and public safety,” he said.

“They are very high-powered, they are able to fire a round with great velocity over a long distance, and it'll arrive with incredible accuracy and a great amount of power.”

Under the amendments to the Firearms Act 1973, certain calibres of firearms were banned, with the WA government arguing that the restrictions were necessary to prevent the misuse of high-powered firearms and reduce the potential for mass shootings and crime.

“The Western Australian Police Force has informed me there is no practical need for these specific very high-powered firearms in WA,” then-Premier Mark McGowan said in February.

“While they remain in our community, these weapons are vulnerable to falling into the wrong hands, and the consequences could be devastating.”

National Firearms Registry Set to Expand Nationwide

A violent shooting in Queensland in December 2022 prompted state and territory leaders to expand the gun registry nationwide.

The shooting in Wieambilla, Queensland, claimed the lives of six people, which included two police officers, an innocent bystander, and the three shooters.

“That was part of the issue that has been identified in Queensland, and we agreed we’d report back by the middle of the year through the Attorneys-General Ministerial Council on the options to implement a National Firearms Register, and it’s agreed that that would be a necessary measure,” Prime Minister Albanese said on Jan. 3.

Queensland Police Union, Ian Leavers, said on Dec. 14 that while weapons are not an issue “in the right hands,” uniformity was needed for gun control, such as the licencing system and the national database.

Between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, a total of 17,543 firearms and 606 weapons components, including suppressors and magazines, were surrendered under the National Firearms Amnesty program.

The program was approved in 2019 by the Coalition government but was delayed until July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gun Laws May Have Little Impact on Crime Rates

According to Bevan Steale, president of the West Australian Firearm Traders Association (WAFTA) and a former police sergeant, the firearms ban unfairly targets law-abiding firearm owners.

“The banning of high-performance calibres will do nothing to prevent firearms crime—these types of firearms are not traditionally sought after by criminals as they are overly large, cumbersome, use a higher grade of ammunition that is not easily obtained, and take a skillset to operate to their capacity—which the general crook doesn’t have,” Mr. Steale previously told The Epoch Times.

Moreover, Steale argues that while the West Australian government’s concern may be well founded regarding certain calibres posing a higher risk, an outright ban may not be the most effective solution.

Steale suggests that stricter licencing procedures, enhanced background checks, and increased mental health evaluations could provide a more nuanced approach to mitigating risks associated with firearms, especially when analysing the actual statistics around crime.

Meanwhile, Mr. Papalia maintains the state’s gun ban is beneficial for the community.

“I thank the affected firearms licence holders for their cooperation and commend those who came forward and handed their powerful firearms into police,” Mr. Papalia said.

“Removing hundreds of very high-powered firearms from the community has made Western Australia safer for residents and police.”

A re-write of the state’s 50-year-old Firearms Act is expected to come before the WA Parliament by the end of the year.

Daniel Y. Teng and Victoria-Kelly Clark contributed to this report.