Return Program for Illegal Weapons Demanded Following International Model

The Greens' proposal envisions that under an amnesty program, unreported firearms or similar items can be handed in without penalty to weapons authorities, the police, or licensed gun dealers. Financial incentives should be provided for this, preferably in the form of vouchers instead of cash. The return program for illegal weapons should run for several months and be repeated to build trust.

Serbia and New Zealand as International Role Models for Illegal Weapons Return Program

The Greens look to programs in other countries as role models. In Serbia, for example, about 100,000 illegal weapons were collected in 2023, and in New Zealand, 56,000 weapons were collected within six months. Reference is also made to amnesty programs in recent years in Germany and France, where tens of thousands of weapons were also taken out of circulation. The effect is evident in Australia, where, according to a study, the number of homicides and suicides with firearms significantly decreased after a buyback of 650,000 firearms following a tightening of gun laws after a massacre in 1996.

"International examples show us that many people are willing to give up their illegal weapons if given the chance. So let's give them the chance," said Green security spokeswoman Agnes Sirkka Prammer in a statement. Because the fewer weapons in circulation, the safer everyone is. "In situations of passion, there should be no weapon present that makes a dangerous decision deadly and final."

From the Greens' perspective, data on unregistered weapons in the country is a prerequisite for an efficient buyback program in Austria. If the Ministry of the Interior does not have this information, it must immediately commission a survey, they demand. Pump-action shotguns that were not registered or handed in after the 1995 ban, as well as inherited firearms that were not registered, are still likely to be in circulation, the opposition party suspects. If, as announced, the minimum age for acquiring particularly dangerous firearms is raised from 21 to 25 years, such firearms in the possession of persons under 25 years must also be confiscated.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.