The Greens in Australia want to ban semi-automatic firearms and buy them from their legal owners at a cost of $A350 million.
"We need strong action to reduce the number of handguns falling into the wrong hands,'' said party leader Christine Milne.
''They have become the firearm of choice for criminals in Australia, especially in the drug trade and in gangs," she said in a statement.
Under the plan, which is costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office at $351.5 million, semi-automatic handguns would be banned, with a 12-month amnesty and buyback.
But AAP reports the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia said that would not affect the guns used by drug gangs for drive-by shootings in western Sydney.
Chief executive Tim Bannister said drive-by shootings were predominantly a drug and gang problem, not a gun problem.
"This would be a buyback of legal firearms, not illegal firearms, so it still won't actually stop the firearms in the hands of criminals being utilised," he said.
