Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

[Mega]

Was reading this old post and just thought i would bump this to see if there is any new Aussies about!!!

What do you mean by "new Aussies" .... I've been here for over 62 years .....

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Central tablelands, NSW near Bathurst. Small farm plus lease area around 300 acres. Rabbit, Fox, Feral Cat's is about it. Sako 85 .204R Varmint.

Toys are from 17HMR to 6.5x47 Lapua Custom Benchrest, oh and a 30-30 Win94 in case I find a "Yowie" at the front door...

The Fox Pelts are very good at the moment.... The couple I shot at 500 metres with the 6.5mm don't look that flash....

[Johnnu]

Aussie guys......forgive the intrusion, but a US guy has a question for you all. We constantly hear that the Australia govn't has taken "all the guns" from the citizenry of your country. We see video of a horendous "gun grab' by the authorities over the past several years, and hear complaints about the spike in violent crime. Can you tell us what is really going on with gun control in Australia since it's obvious at least three or four of you still have guns ........And pls include any info on handgun regulations too if you don't mind. Thanks..... John

[Bill K]

Aussie guys......forgive the intrusion, but a US guy has a question for you all. We constantly hear that the Australia govn't has taken "all the guns" from the citizenry of your country. We see video of a horendous "gun grab' by the authorities over the past several years, and hear complaints about the spike in violent crime. Can you tell us what is really going on with gun control in Australia since it's obvious at least three or four of you still have guns ........And pls include any info on handgun regulations too if you don't mind. Thanks..... John

Another US guy, In California. They way Ca is going with the gun control and now the magazine ban, semi-auto ban, etc. I sure would like to see what and how you guys Down Under, had to do, etc. Thank you for your input/info. Bill K

[bazz]

hi boomer from east gippsland been here a while i do more reading than posting i use a tikka varmit with bushnell tatical 6-24 by 50 with a bushnell arc 1200 range finder just range what you want to shoot adjust turret and shoot , my pet load is 28 grains of 2206h fed brass 39 bks cheers bazz

[bazz]

Aussie guys......forgive the intrusion, but a US guy has a question for you all. We constantly hear that the Australia govn't has taken "all the guns" from the citizenry of your country. We see video of a horendous "gun grab' by the authorities over the past several years, and hear complaints about the spike in violent crime. Can you tell us what is really going on with gun control in Australia since it's obvious at least three or four of you still have guns ........And pls include any info on handgun regulations too if you don't mind. Thanks..... John

Another US guy, In California. They way Ca is going with the gun control and now the magazine ban, semi-auto ban, etc. I sure would like to see what and how you guys Down Under, had to do, etc. Thank you for your input/info. Bill K

hi bill it was knee jerk reaction from the government after port Arthur massacre and vote grabbing and too try and get the green party on side but too boil it down and depending on which state u live in . semis are banned any thing over ten shot is banned , in some states 50 bmgs are now banned so are 416 barret and there trying to take 338 lapua as well some state have limits on how many u have and u must do a safety coarse and have a genuine reason to get a fire arm, there is a cooling off period when buying a fire arm of 28 days for your first gun in vic once you got one you can now get one the same day like i said i can only speak for two states where i have lived as for pistolers it will take about 6 month to obtain a licence with very strict guides , a fire arm can only be carried in a vehicle if going to the range or to private land but we have finely got our selves organised and now have people in goverment on our side so we are slowly getting some things back nsw might have a duck season and quail season next year in other words bill it tight to what it used to be but not impossible the only thing that grips me is its turned out to be a money grab by the goverments charging nealy three hundred buck every five years and you dont renew your licence u have too apply for a new one others from other states will chim in and i hope will tell , when i was growing up i could walk around farms and the town with my rifle and no one one would would bother you only to tell you they had a rabbit problem , now i had on 2 occasion where the police swat team telling me to put our guns on the ground im in a club in the field and game and we do fox drives for the local farmer , we were doing a drive next to the highway and we had shooters lined up a couple of hundred yards in from the road to stop the foxes apparently people were phoning the police telling them there were crazed people with guns standing in a paddock so shooting in the cities is still a dirty word but we are slowly winning be cause the gun licence application have never been higher cheers bazz

[Johnnu]

Thanks bazz, this gives us a bit of reality to the Australia gun grab in relation to what is depicted on the Net. We are heading pretty much in the same direction (again depending upon which state you live in). If things get much worse in NY state (which is a LOT bigger than NYC alone), I'm preparing my wife for a move out of state eventually. Hope some more of your fellow Aussies will chime in. Tks again, John

[Bill K]

Yes Thank you Bazz. I am a old retired police officer, back in my day, we had shoots/drives/etc. and some of us officers, off duty, were in the groups shooting. Now days most officers are paranoid of guns, so I know what you mean by Swat team call out.. A example of the mentality of the police, around my area now. A while back, a correctional officer at the county jail called in shots fire, so all the plugs were pulled and officers rolled in from everywhere. None had the presense of mind to know that it was the color guard at the Cemetary, next door, on Memorial day and at the same time a burial for a soldier.. Shows their lack of thinking and like I say, paranoia anymore. To bad they did not grow up hunting, fishing,shooting and what ever, outdooors with their parents, as we did. But that is our times and it just shows why all of the countries, USA included are going downhill. And then add Obama and his bunch and you can see it. Bill K

[Sth Oz Dan]

As Bazz mentioned, the Port Arthur massacre was a big turning point in Australian's attitudes toward guns. This was around 15-20 years ago. There has been a lot of knee jerk reactions from law makers since. Unfortunately legal firearms owners seemed to have taken a lot of hits from these events in the form of harsher restrictions. Not saying they've all been unnecessary, but initially the laws often focused around ownership restrictions rather than punishments for doing wrong. But recently there have been a few harsher punishments imposed for those not abiding by existing laws, which is good to see.

There is currently (in S.A. at least - not sure about the rest of Oz) an amnesty in place until the end of August. Anyone who owns an unregistered firearm, or one without a serial number, can hand it to police without copping a fine or jail time. The idea being to reduce numbers of illegal guns in circulation. So this may be the gun grab you're hearing of at the moment.

Before you can get a firearms license, you need a police clearance. This involves a personal background check so they can rule out anyone with a violent history or tendency to ignore authorities. Guns don't kill people unless they're in the wrong hands.

I wasn't around in the good ole days, but have been told that once upon a time, a young Australian lad could take his gun to school or a friends property, and get a free bus ride there. The public opinion then was that he was capable of defending his country, and so deserved a free ride
Nowadays public opinion is heavily swayed by media. And in movies, only police and criminals have guns. So if you're not an officer of the law but own a gun, you must be a bad guy who wants to kill everything

[Johnnu]

So it seems that when the gun grab went into place, EVERY long-gun and pistol had to be licensed (and fees paid) or, given to the authorities to be destoyed (?) And now, you have to register every new long-gun and hand gun and undoubtedly endure many denials from the authorities. The reason for my particular curiosity is that I'm being continually told by liberals that the guns in Australia were NOT taken away and destoyed (it seems like they are "half" correct). Further, no one speaks of the significant escalation in crime that I personally believe Australians are going through now that they are unarmed Can you please comment on the rise in all types of crime (that our media doesn't ever mention) which have occurred as a result of the guns being taken away?. Thanks again, John

[Sth Oz Dan]

Yes - every firearm must be registered. This is a one off fee in S.A. But if the gun changes hands (even in cases of another licensed person borrowing it for a short time) the fee must be payed again.
A basic license covers single/double barrel shotguns without magazines, air rifles, bolt/lever/single shot rim and centre fire rifles.
To own a pistol you will need to be a regular visitor at a pistol club and gain another license.
Semi-auto requires another license again, and these are usually held back from the general public. Broad-acre farmers (ranchers) can get approval for self loading rifles and pump action shotguns for pest control, but regulations on this category of firearms are very strict.
As far as I'm aware, full auto is banned to all but the military.

I guess it comes down to need vs want.
Need a solution to a rabbit plague - you're allowed a self loader.
Want to spray some lead into water bottles with some friends on the weekend - you can do it with a bolt action but forget about the auto

[boomer84]

G'Day to MEGA and BAZZ.

Southy I too have been a fisherman for the last few weeks!! Had a Ball but man talk about rabbit plague them Big Toothies are every where! Man did they give us some greif! Ha ha ha

To the us guys the other guys have sumed it up! F*&%#!^ B*$$@&*? if you ask me!

Boomer out.

[Sth Oz Dan]

Big toothies everywhere here at the moment. Tuna harvest in full swing at the farms. When they can smell one drop of blood, imagine what a few stray litres does to them. Not uncommon to see a couple every day at the harvest cage. 5 a few days ago. Feels safe enough on a 50 ft steel boat, but the guys in the water have gotta have nerves (and dangle berries) of steel.

[Sth Oz Dan]

Back on rules and regs for a second:
http://www.sapolice.sa.gov.au/sapol/ser ... rearms.jsp
Link to the definitions and restrictions to different firearms categories in South Australia if anyone is interested.

There's a few minor differences from what I posted earlier.

[AnthonyC]

Hi All,

Im from Newcastle NSW, I have been reading this forum for a while however only signed up. I am 28 and a keen hunter. i have been hunting pretty much my whole life. My present for entering the world when I was born was a Ruger 77/22 with a Leupold 4 rimfire scope. (Thanks Dad!)

I have been hunting thoughout NSW, Vic and have done three trips to New Zealands Sounthern Alps for Tahr.

My working rifle is a Winchester Model 70 in classic feather weight in .270 with a Mcmillan fiberglass stock, Williams 1 piece floor plate and Leupold 2-7 Vari-x 2 scope.

Also have a Ruger 77/17hmr, Ruger M77 MKII VT in 204 with a nightforce 3.5-15 varminter (recently aquired) also have access to (Dad) Winchester supergrade .300Win mag, and a .375h&h custom rifle built on a whichester pre 64 action.

And yes the laws are making it harder and harder for us keen firearm owners, we just need to keep fighting for our rights. And stop the extreme greens who wont allow ethical hunting but will allow the use of 1080 poison but that is another topic that mostly ends in argumnets!

Cheers
Anthony

[Sth Oz Dan]

Welcome Anthony. A rifle for your 0th b'day!! Thanks Dad indeed. What a welcome to the world.
My Dad got me into it too in a non direct way. He used to take me out occasionally in the school holidays when he was a pro roo shooter. And to the range most weekends when I was <6 where the bigger kids would chase my brother and I, hold us down, and give us the typewritter treatment
Dad doesn't shoot anymore, but my brother and I go out spotlighting/day walking regularly together and we've set up a range out my back yard.

Remember Anthony - we love pictures here. Don't forget to keep us up to date with what you're shooting/reloading and post lots of pics.