Chappo wrote:I had to justify why I wanted more than fifteen Cat B firearms, but I haven't had to justify anything else.
Just out of interest and feel free not to disclose but what was your justification?
I'm in nsw but i'd like to have a good reason ready if i ever reach a quantity that they need justification for here.
I haven't heard of anybody being knocked back, and neither has the Firearm Trader's Association, so I'm not sure the actual "reasons" matter, as long as they're not too silly. I think it's more that they have a record of having asked the question, and received something of a response. I get the impression there are actually only a very few firearm owners in Victoria that are affected by this. Even the fifteen firearm limit before requiring a security system seems to apply to little more than a handful of shooters. It seems not many shooters enjoy as much variety as I do, so there's probably very little to be "gained" politically by shutting us down.
Because of that, I'm not sure there is any "correct" response.
Essentially, they require justification based entirely on the terminal result of the bullet - accuracy, performance and such. For me, the owning and shooting of the specific firearm is the justification, no other firearm can give me the same experience as the one I'm shooting. With milsurps particularly, I just love seeing how the designs of the firearms and the ammunition change, often rapidly during wartime, to try to find an edge (invariably short-lived) over the competition. I have five of the 6.5mm military chamberings so far, all will have essentially the same terminal results with similar bullets. But it is interesting to see how each used different bullets, or different rifle designs to try to find an advantage over the others. It is also interesting to see how they perform with modern bullets and powders. I have essentially, a "dynamic" interest in the history of the firearms, which does not comply with their restrictions forced onto "collectors" which is geared to "static" display only.
It is easy to justify any firearm that is used to shoot a particular competition, but eventually you run out of competitions, and leave yourself open to requiring corroborating evidence of attendances and such - a burden on yourself and your club officials. I stressed that all of my firearms are also used for hunting. It is left to us to determine what we feel we need to ensure clean ethical kills, not for the authorities to force us to comply with why they feel something less potent or different is a better choice.
I definitely consider Victoria to still be the least onerous state to own firearms in.