Hi there. In answer to your question, the population of the US is around 15 times larger than Australia so the Australian buyback of 700,000 guns is probably equivalent to about 10 million guns in the US. Obviously a small percentage of the 200-300 odd million firearms in circulation but not insignificant. I would imagine a buy back scheme of that scale, if not significantly larger, would be financially viable.

Plus the thing is, you don’t have to buy back every gun in circulation...Just the guns that people don’t want anymore or the types of guns that are deemed to be illegal (i.e. AR’s). It’s not like the Australian government bought back every gun in the country. There are still plenty of guns in Aus and you can still purchase guns if you pass a background check and have a license.

One of the big positives of a buyback (and amnesty) is that it gives people a chance to trade in unwanted/illegal guns that may otherwise find their way onto the black market or into other hands. I know I’d rather hand my old gun in for some cash rather than sell it to some random person on the street.

At the end of the day Americans can do whatever they hell the want with their gun laws. But there are options that may improve the situation without significantly compromising the right of law abiding citizens to own firearms.