Coyotezapper wrote:Ok, the boss lady has decided that she wants to move back to Australia. Currently we are in the U.S and I’m wanting to get a head start on how I get my guns into Australia. I know that the AR’s, AK’s, pistols and semiautomatic shotguns will have to be sold here. Will I need to apply for a firearms license from here or do I do the application when we get there?
I haven’t done ANY leg work about this topic yet, so calibers are going to be an issue too I imagine.
Unless you have some really nice firearms you want to hang onto I would think it'd be easier, quicker and cheaper to sell them there and buy new ones here.
The laws may be different if you're importing firearms you already own, but I looked at importing rifles from the US this year - it adds about $2000 to the cost of the firearm. If you already own them you can probably side-step some of the fees, but it's still likely to be expensive.
As already stated, I think you will need to be resident in the state before you can make the application.
Caliber isn't a major problem, I think anything up to .50BMG is still legal here. The actions, and potentially the "appearance" are likely a bigger problem. Anything qualifying as CatA/B is very easy - bolts, levers, pump rifles (not shotguns) and some assisted-release "semi-auto clones". Even semi-auto rimfires are CatC, so basically you need to be earning your living shooting animals.
Handguns are hampered by the very long probationary period - generally around nine-months - but once you have CatH it's easy. We still have ten-round semi-auto limits, and barrel length minumums (120mm?), and some competitions, like IPSC, are restricted to .357". If you're shooting Metallic Silhouette or Cowboy Action you can own up to .45-caliber. And of course, handguns can _only_ be used on approved handgun ranges, nowhere else.
Also, Qld is private property hunting only, so you will need somewhere to use them unless you're happy to only shoot on approved ranges. I'd expect a lot of Qlder's travel down to NSW to hunt public lands on an R-Licence, so you may want to consider that. NSW laws are ludicrous, so many firearms that are legal in Qld or Victoria cannot be transported through NSW.