by burnthelies » 23 Aug 2013, 8:43 pm
Well here you go guys, here is a lesson in the police state that is Australia's gun laws. Long story short i'm from NSW but now live in Melbourne - never had a gun licence up there because i was in the military.
Now i jump through all the hoops to get a licence in Victoria; this included submitting my safety course form twice, and still never hearing anything, eventually got the firearms officer on the phone after no s**t - 20 phone calls - and was able to get booked in over the phone (i submitted my first form in November and didn't get to do my safety course until May the following year).
All went to plan, i submitted all my paperwork, paid my feeds, had my photo taken and after submitting my Permit To Acquire and waiting the predetermined length of time bought my first rifle (an air rifle for practice) followed closely by a .308 for use at the range and hunting. A couple of years go by and i decide i want to buy a dedicated range rifle so at the SHOT Expo held in Melbourne this year i go and have a chat to all the manufacturers reps and having always wanted a Remington 700 i settle on a model with a tactical stock.
Thanks to the fact that Victoria Police had a stand at the show i am able to fill in a PTA application and give it to them for processing - i expect it to be a few days before it comes back but nonetheless i go and stick a deposit on my desired rifle at my local gun store. A week goes by and nothing happens, i give it a few more days and then call up Licensing & Regulation Division to find out the problem.
The woman can't wait to get me off the phone and her response is 'it's being processed' with no additional info.
A few more weeks go by and still nothing so after 28 days i call them again (knowing even if somebody was getting their first firearm then they should receive the PTA by then) and once again am told its being reviewed. I ask whether being reviewed is different to being processed? Again, they can't tell me anything else.
More time elapses and i figure what the hell, i'll get the gun store to do it via their online dealer system, which they do. After a few days, knowing it should have taken 24 hours, i call the gun store and they don't understand why it hasn't come back. We leave it alone and a week later i call them up and ask them to check if it has been approved; they can't even find it in their dealer account.
I call the police back again and explain the situation, they tell me yes they can see both the applications in the system and they are both being processed but can't give me anymore information. I ask whether they can cancel the paper application i did as it is a double up which they do.
More time goes by and still no response, i call them again and explain it has now been a number of months and i have not heard anything. They say they have no information other than it has 'been passed up the line and will be reviewed by a member'. But they can't tell me how long it will take.
I say 'Can you just cancel it then?' and am asked 'Why do you want to cancel it?' I explain that my layby is only valid for 3 months and at this rate will be void by the time you guys get your act together. I explain i already have a rifle so stuff it i'll just keep using the one i have. The woman explains that no sorry she can't cancel it - then how did you cancel the double up i had i ask? No real answer.
I ask if there is a manager or someone higher up the chain that i can talk to. She puts me on hold for a period of time then comes back and says 'No'.
Eventually i go back into the gun store and talk to them, explain all this stuff and they then start going through old business cards calling direct phone numbers. I explain to them that i work for a Defence contractor (requires me to have Defence clearance) and that my employer is also a firearms dealer (requires me to have my fingerprints on file with Victoria Police among other things). Apparently that doesn't matter....
According to the gun store you can be all those things and still not be a 'fit and proper person' to own your own firearms (so you're saying i can work in a gun store around hundreds of guns and ammunition but i can't have my own? Makes sense)
Eventually after a number of phone calls we get a hold of somebody who can actually give me some information and i am astonished at what i hear;
1. Your licence is suspended
2. It has been suspended since October, 2012 (this is July, 2013)
3. It has been suspended because Victoria Police received information that you may be a threat to yourself or others
Huh? I have assault rifles at work in our gun safe, i have firearms at home, i'm ex-special forces military and you think i'm a risk? Ok.....
The cop tells me to expect a letter in the mail - which never comes. Eventually i get a phone call from the local firearms officer asking to talk to me so as a precaution i put my rifle in storage so he can't confiscate it. After 5 attempts to call him back i eventually get a hold of him, he says i need to come and surrender my rifles and my licence, which i promptly do. I explain my 308 is in storage already and give him the receipt from the gun store as proof. He then give me a letter, takes my other rifle and licence off me and explains what i have to do;
1. Get a letter from your GP stating you are not a threat
2. Provide a statement of your own as to why you're not a threat
They give me 28 days from the date of the letter to get back to them otherwise my licence is cancelled.
So i do all that, my GP is as confused as me ("How can i make a statement that you are not a threat to yourself or others? You could have a psychotic break tomorrow and go and hurt somebody") - i completely agree with her but she reluctantly puts together a paragraph totaling about 20 words. In my letter i detail my military service, my lack of psychological problems, my stable life etc as i have no idea what they expect me to write.
It is now past the cut off date for my time to respond and haven't heard anything (that's a surprise) however will be giving them a call next week to find out what's going on and i'm sure i'll receive a response similar to "It's being processed" or "It's currently under review" but what can you do?
Apparently if i don't like somebody i could ring up the police and say 'Bob's threatening to kill himself and he has firearms' and that's enough to justify suspending his licence (without telling him). Lucky for me they only took roughly 10 months to take my guns off me... otherwise i might have hurt myself or others.
But just think of the ramifications if i had been found out in a state forest hunting with friends as i frequently am - does anybody seriously believe that if a police officer, ranger or whoever has access to check a licence who checks mine is going to believe that i didn't know my licence was suspended? So he takes my rifle, ammo, gear, whatever else he can lay claim too and maybe even my buddies gear if he feels like it.
There is a lot more to ponder here however i think i have chewed everyone's ears enough... questions, feel free to ask, and i'll update this as things go along.