[fortheDeclaration]

Sounds like you need a license to own a gun.

Wasn't the buy back program really a form of confiscation since it wasn't voluntary?

[naturalman1975]

Sounds like you need a license to own a gun.

Yes. And different licences for different classes of guns that get harder to get as the gun is deemed to be more powerful (whether it really is or not - the categories are pretty crude.)

Wasn't the buy back program really a form of confiscation since it wasn't voluntary?

For the most part it was voluntary. Most of the firearms handed in were ones people could have continued to own (although in some cases, they would have had to upgrade their licence - but they tended to grandfather most people in that situation unless a check turned up an old criminal record). The buyback didn't make any distinction between weapons handed in voluntarily or that were required to be - it was no questions asked - so we don't know the exact breakdown, but most weapons handed in were basic hunting rifles and shotguns.

Because of the laws concerning selling firearms secondhand (that already existed) and their requirements for background checks, private sales between individuals had been difficult for years, and dealers tended to give very poor prices. The buyback was a once off opportunity to get fair market price for old firearms. I took in a bunch for an elderly neighbour - a bunch of 22s he had just never got around to getting rid of even though he hadn't shot them for years. Quite a lot of people used the money they got to buy more up to date guns.

[Oztrich Boy]

1.Indeed you do. But it's only $80 a year. (It used to be $50, but our poor State Premier/Treasurer was forced reluctantly to increase all fees after mean Tony Abbott took back the millions in free Federal dollars given by Federal Labor before the last election)

2. Naturalman man disagree with me, because you might have avoided confiscation if you jumped through a lot of extra hoops. but I say, yes basically non-voluntary