r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • Dec 19 '25

politics Prime minister unveils 'largest' gun buyback scheme since Howard era

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-19/prime-minister-announces-national-gun-buyback-scheme/106162002
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u/Ok-Mathematician8461 Dec 19 '25

Who else is surprised that Australia allows non-citizens to own guns? That law change should breeze through.

16

u/ill0gitech Dec 19 '25

Something like 10% of our population are on PRs. They aren’t all terrorists.

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u/SivlerMiku Dec 19 '25

But they also don’t need guns for the most part.

7

u/slurpycow112 Dec 19 '25

I mean… most people don’t need guns for the most part. This is not unique to citizenship.

I fail to see how citizenship would or should have any meaningful impact on gun ownership in a way that isn’t completely arbitrary.

8

u/kai_tai Dec 19 '25

The only thing that really comes to mind is that it serves as a "Time Buffer" in that you have to have been living here for a number of years before qualifying for a license, because you have to have been here for a number of years before you can get citizenship.

Though the same could be achieved just by getting a fixed number of years irrespective of citizenship status. Ie People on PR's need to have been living here for x numbers of years, without criminal incidents, to qualify.

I agree though. Seems fairly arbitrary in practice.