Australia's First Response to Bondi Beach? Another 'Buyback'

Before we get into it, yes, I know the term "buyback" is stupid since you can't buy back something you never owned. The term implies that all firearms were government property to some extent or another, which they weren't.

I'm still going to use it because you know what I mean when I say it, and that's the term that describes this nonsense that people will recognize.

And since Australia is stupid enough to announce a massive buyback, we're definitely going to talk about it.

The federal government will launch a new gun buyback scheme in response to the Bondi beach terror attack in what Anthony Albanese says will be the biggest collection of weapons since the Port Arthur massacre nearly three decades ago.

It comes as New South Wales announced a suite of gun control measures including capping the number of firearms most recreational shooters can hold at four.

Costs for the buyback, which is expected to see hundreds of thousands of weapons destroyed, will be split between the federal government and the states, the prime minister said on Friday.

States and territories will collect weapons being surrendered, while the Australian federal police will oversee their destruction.

Announcing Sunday as a national day of reflection for the 15 victims of the Bondi attack, Albanese confirmed information from the Office of National Intelligence that showed the shooters had used a regular online video game feed from terror group Islamic State.

Albanese faced questions over whether intelligence failures had contributed to the killings. He said there was no information to suggest sharing of data could have prevented the carnage.

The buyback comes as state governments prepare to tighten gun laws through national cabinet, expected to see gun licences issued only to Australian citizens as well as better background checks, limits on the timeframe licenses can be issued for and limits on the number of weapons individuals can own.

A long-awaited national firearms register – first recommended after the Port Arthur massacre – is being accelerated but will not be ready until 2027 at the earliest.

“We know that one of these terrorists held a firearm licence and had six guns in spite of living in the middle of Sydney’s suburbs. There’s no reason why someone in that situation needed that many guns,” Albanese said.

So they don't have a register, but they think they can just announce a buyback, and would-be terrorists will just comply with the law?

That's...special.

It's special enough that I suspect everyone who came up with it rode a bus to school that didn't require as much steel as everyone else's, if you catch my meaning.

The people who represent a problem aren't people who are going to hand over their guns. We know this because, despite the claims of how well their gun control efforts following the Port Arthur massacre work, they still have to roll out some kind of buyback every few years. If it worked then, they wouldn't have needed more.

The fact that they're now trying it all over again, all while limiting how many firearms someone can own, isn't going to change the fact that the guys who think ISIS has a point aren't likely to give up their guns.

And if Australia thinks people living in suburbs having six guns is excessive, they'd hate to see what some of our readers have in their gun safes while living in suburbia.

I'm of the mind that if you don't have enough guns to overthrow a small country, it should be because of choice or finances. The government should get zero say in the matter. 

I get that they don't have a Second Amendment, which is a damn shame, because maybe that would somehow put the kibosh on this stupidity, and it is stupidity.

Gun ownership, even if you don't view it as a right, isn't something that you can keep from bad people, no matter what you do. The fact that one of these two terrorist jackwagons was a licensed owner doesn't change the fact that there have been plenty of other killers in Australia who weren't.

If they really think they'll play nice and take part in a buyback, then they're probably too stupid to breathe without a reminder.

Editor's Note: Christmas is coming a little early here at Bearing Arms! 

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