Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Questions about Tasmanian fun and ammunition laws. Tasmanian Firearms Act 1996.

Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Post by kohan22lr » 21 Oct 2017, 11:00 pm

So I'm in Tassie. I have a gun safe at home, havent got a pta sorted or got the Police inspection done but far from the point.

Once I get my firearm(s) they will be stored in my shed at home, but I stay up the coast from that address frequently and would like to shoot up this way or go for trips up the other end of the state.

Questions.
-am I allowed to store my firearm in my car if; i have it secured in the boot of my sedan, it is fitted with a trigger lock, the bolt it removed and stored in a locked receptacle with the ammunition which will be inside a secure house or accommodation that I stay at?

-can the firearm be inside instead? Following the same guidelines as mentioned about but rather be stored under the bed and not in the boot?

I couldnt find answers on wether or not I'm allowed to bring them away from my safe overnight or how I could do it. As it makes it hard for me. Any insight would be much appreciated. -Kohan
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Re: Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Post by bigfellascott » 22 Oct 2017, 5:53 am

I never leave my firearms in the car, I'd rather have them inside with me where I can keep an eye on them.
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Re: Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Post by on_one_wheel » 22 Oct 2017, 7:20 am

Find yourself a coppy of the Tas Firearms Regulations and the Tas Firearms Act and have a good read.
It's likely to be only around 200 pages in total and and you will have the correct answers.


Typically its "take all reasonable precautions to ensure against loss or theft"

You should be able to find it all online.
Print it out and index all the relevant information as you find it. :thumbsup:
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Re: Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Post by kohan22lr » 22 Oct 2017, 9:12 am

on_one_wheel wrote:Find yourself a coppy of the Tas Firearms Regulations and the Tas Firearms Act and have a good read.
It's likely to be only around 200 pages in total and and you will have the correct answers.


Typically its "take all reasonable precautions to ensure against loss or theft"

You should be able to find it all online.
Print it out and index all the relevant information as you find it. :thumbsup:


Hi, thanks for that, I've been looking online quite a bit and just can't seem to find the info I'm looking for. As why I came here as my last resort.
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Re: Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Post by marksman » 22 Oct 2017, 9:44 am

I don't know about Tassie but I was informed in Vic a few years ago by the local DFO that in transit, say you stop at a motel you should take your firearms into the room with you and do as much as you can to stop them being stolen eg.. chaining a locked gun box to a fixture in the room even the bed
he also told me if the firearms were locked in the car and the car were stolen with them in you would be in trouble
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Re: Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Post by bladeracer » 22 Oct 2017, 5:29 pm

kohan22lr wrote:So I'm in Tassie. I have a gun safe at home, havent got a pta sorted or got the Police inspection done but far from the point.

Once I get my firearm(s) they will be stored in my shed at home, but I stay up the coast from that address frequently and would like to shoot up this way or go for trips up the other end of the state.

Questions.
-am I allowed to store my firearm in my car if; i have it secured in the boot of my sedan, it is fitted with a trigger lock, the bolt it removed and stored in a locked receptacle with the ammunition which will be inside a secure house or accommodation that I stay at?

-can the firearm be inside instead? Following the same guidelines as mentioned about but rather be stored under the bed and not in the boot?

I couldnt find answers on wether or not I'm allowed to bring them away from my safe overnight or how I could do it. As it makes it hard for me. Any insight would be much appreciated. -Kohan


You can't "store" firearms in a vehicle, but you can of course keep them in your vehicle while travelling with them. Storage requirements only apply to the normal place they are stored, not while your are travelling with them.
If you are camping with a vehicle it's likely that locking them in the vehicle would be the most secure place for them. If you are staying in a house then it's likely taking them into the house would be more secure, but that will depend on the specific circumstances. I would buy a cheap gun safe and secure that in your vehicle or take it inside any house you stay at.

I bought something similar to this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Fort-Knox-3-Gun-Safe-Firearm-Rifle-Storage-Lock-Box-Steel-Cabinet-18-Months-WTY-/322756056399 but without the latch. Laying horizontally, I use it to store ammo here, but if I travel I can throw it in the car. Without that latch, it is flat on all sides so stuff doesn't get caught on it.
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Re: Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Post by Archie » 22 Oct 2017, 7:26 pm

marksman wrote:I don't know about Tassie but I was informed in Vic a few years ago by the local DFO that in transit, say you stop at a motel you should take your firearms into the room with you and do as much as you can to stop them being stolen eg.. chaining a locked gun box to a fixture in the room even the bed
he also told me if the firearms were locked in the car and the car were stolen with them in you would be in trouble


I asked a NSW firearms officer the exact same question last time my safe was inspected, and he gave me the exact opposite answer - i.e. leave them in the car is safer. Anyway that's not actually advice that I follow, partially because I think it's not safer and also because the NSW transport factsheet says, "Leaving the firearms unattended overnight or for extended periods of time without added security or locking the vehicle in a secure compound would not be considered to be reasonable precautions to prevent loss or theft". I do what marksman suggested, and chain a locked pelican case to a fixture in the motel room. But I don't do that until I'm not going to leave the room again for the evening, because what you don't want is a cleaner etc to find the box when you are out. Till then the case is inside the vehicle.

It would really help if there was some consistent, published information on best practice from the state registries. I still don't like the idea that I can take what I think are the best precautions to safeguard my rifles, but I'm legally in trouble if some thief nicks the things and the court doesn't agree with me.
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Re: Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Post by doc » 23 Oct 2017, 3:05 pm

marksman wrote:he also told me if the firearms were locked in the car and the car were stolen with them in you would be in trouble


I think it will basically come down to - if they get stolen - regardless of where you had them - I suspect you will be in trouble in most cases as they weren't secure if they were stolen. :roll:

As for temporary storage at motels - my advise is leave them in the car until you're ready to stay in the room for the night - and then take them inside with you.

Unattended motel rooms are anything but secure. Cleaning staff, motel staff, etc - all have keys and can access your room far more easily than someone can access your vehicle - so while going to the bar / restaurant / sauna / gym / etc - I'd keep them in the car, and once finished, I'd then grab them and bring them inside.
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Re: Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Post by on_one_wheel » 24 Oct 2017, 2:08 pm

Allow me to Google that for you ....


Here's the Tasmanian Firearms Act and the Regulations
http://www.police.tas.gov.au/services-online/firearms/

Tasmanian Safe Storage and Transport
http://www.police.tas.gov.au/services-o ... transport/

Never ask a Policman about firearms rules or regulations, you'll only get someones opinion. They aren't experts on these matters.
We have to rely on out own research.
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Re: Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Post by holden4th » 24 Oct 2017, 7:33 pm

on_one_wheel wrote:Allow me to Google that for you ....


Here's the Tasmanian Firearms Act and the Regulations
http://www.police.tas.gov.au/services-online/firearms/

Tasmanian Safe Storage and Transport
http://www.police.tas.gov.au/services-o ... transport/

Never ask a Policman about firearms rules or regulations, you'll only get someones opinion. They aren't experts on these matters.
We have to rely on out own research.


Agree 100%. Unfortunately, most police officers are not that aware of firearm regulations unless they are part of their licensing branch. That said, I called the WAPOL licensing branch with a question recently and the person I talked to was not very sure of their facts.
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Re: Staying overnight or travelling with a firearm?

Post by on_one_wheel » 24 Oct 2017, 7:45 pm

holden4th wrote:
on_one_wheel wrote:Allow me to Google that for you ....


Here's the Tasmanian Firearms Act and the Regulations
http://www.police.tas.gov.au/services-online/firearms/

Tasmanian Safe Storage and Transport
http://www.police.tas.gov.au/services-o ... transport/

Never ask a Policman about firearms rules or regulations, you'll only get someones opinion. They aren't experts on these matters.
We have to rely on out own research.


Agree 100%. Unfortunately, most police officers are not that aware of firearm regulations unless they are part of their licensing branch. That said, I called the WAPOL licensing branch with a question recently and the person I talked to was not very sure of their facts.


And that's exactly why there are firearms specific Lawyers. Even the firearms branch don't fully understand the laws.

I have spent about 3 hours so far reading the regs and act to find everything that is valid to me.
Once I find something I highlight it, find the matching title on the index page, write the page number next to it and highlight the title.

It's amazingly hard to find stuff in the regs and act by using the index, believe it or not, theres no page numbers in the index. It's almost af if it's set out and written to make it hard on purpose.
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