Research: What share of Western Australia's licensed firearms did the buyback account for?
Official figures published 13 February 2024 to 20 January 2026 (WA Government); Australian Bureau of Statistics, Recorded Crime - Victims, 2025 (released 3 September 2026); WA Police crime time series extracted 6 July 2026.
Western Australia's six voluntary buyback schemes, from February 2024 to 14 January 2026, recorded 83,764 firearms surrendered by dealers and owners. Individual licence holders fell from 88,132 to 70,059.
In February 2024 the Premier said there were more than 360,000 licensed firearms in the State. Taking that as 360,000, the surrenders are about 23 percent of the licensed pool; if the true total was higher, the share is lower. Licensed totals do not include illicit firearms.
Assaults have kept rising on a trend that began in 2018, before the reforms. That is not evidence that the laws caused crime to rise. Like-for-like WA Police homicide offences fell from 100 in 2024 to 77 in 2025.
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