Could coilguns be perceived as legal?

[CommunistPigeon]

This morning a friend alerted me to the fact that coilguns are supposedly legal. I asked him to provide proof and he actually came up with some rather compelling arguments. (In each list I will underline the definitions that could cause a problem.)
A firearm is described as:
a) a gun or other weapon that is capable of propelling anything wholly or partly by means of an explosive; and
b) a blankfire firearm; and
c) an air rifle; and
d) an air pistol; and
e) an imitation firearm, other than a toy; and
f) any other prescribed thing; and
g) any thing that would be a firearm under paragraph a, b, c, or d if it did not have missing from it or a defect or obstruction in it

Any prescribed object is described as:
a) a grenade launcher;
b) a mortar that is capable of being carried manually by a single person.

As mentioned in a previous post, an imitation firearm is described as:
a) is a copy or reproduction of a firearm or has the appearance of a firearm; and
b) could reasonably be mistaken for a firearm;

What concerned us a lot more was the definition of ordnance:
a) a bazooka, rocket launcher or prescribed weapon that, although not a firearm within the meaning of this Act, is designed to be capable of-
i) being carried and used manually
ii) firing a projectile by non-explosive means such as a propellent.

At this point we thought it best to abandon our search, since we'd clearly lost.
Later on, however, I came across this:

noun: propellant; plural noun: propellants
a substance that propels something.

an inert fluid, liquefied under pressure, in which the active contents of an aerosol are dispersed.
"the main uses of CFCs are in aerosols as propellants"

an explosive that fires bullets from a firearm.
"the common gun propellants are either nitrocellulose or a mixture of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine"

a substance used as a reagent in a rocket engine to provide thrust.
"rocket propellants"

And thus hope is restored. An electromagnetic pull is not a propellant per se... Could we get a second opinion though? While we might be able to get a semi-solid defence if we made a coilgun and then it turns out we're wrong, we'd rather avoid that altogether, for obvious reasons.

[No1Mk3]

G'day CommunistPigeon,
Your next step in retaining your freedom is to discover what your State defines as "any other prescribed thing" ( f in your list) which is commonly found not in the Act but in Regulations. After that, study your States definitions of "weapon" in regard to any Dangerous Weapons legislation and your Crimes Act. Cheers.

[CommunistPigeon]

G'day CommunistPigeon,
Your next step in retaining your freedom is to discover what your State defines as "any other prescribed thing" ( f in your list) which is commonly found not in the Act but in Regulations. After that, study your States definitions of "weapon" in regard to any Dangerous Weapons legislation and your Crimes Act. Cheers.

I found the definition for "any other prescribed thing," and will edit my original post to incorporate this information. Thank you.

[Farmerpete]

So essentially what your saying is i could mount a giant rail gun (like the us navy has) on my roof and shoot pigs with it but couldn't have a hand held one?

[CommunistPigeon]

So essentially what your saying is i could mount a giant rail gun (like the us navy has) on my roof and shoot pigs with it but couldn't have a hand held one?

Actually I think you could. Since "ordnance" requires it to fit both of those descriptions. Thankfully none of these laws seem to apply to electric firearms. Just don't let those brainless twats in the government find this post and we'll all be fine.

[cz515]

Hmm so a few questions, are you or your friend a firearms lawyer, or a barrister? Have you taken your argument to a firearms lawyer or a barrister to ask their opinionwhat a court might say if it was brought to their attention? Can you afford one if you or someone you know uses your logic to acquire a said item and is given the tap ta tap by their state eqv of LRD?

If the answer to those questions is NO. Then the argument is settled but not in your favour.

[CommunistPigeon]

Hmm so a few questions, are you or your friend a firearms lawyer, or a barrister?

No, we're college students who are interested in guns. (notice I said guns since a coilgun isn't technically a firearm ;p)

Have you taken your argument to a firearms lawyer or a barrister to ask their opinion what a court might say if it was brought to their attention? Can you afford one if you or someone you know uses your logic to acquire a said item and is given the tap ta tap by their state eqv of LRD?

Again, no, we're college students. And no one we know knows about us researching this.

[Larry]

Why dont you use the term Mag Lev that is what their true term is. I think it would not be a problem the size and weight of these things is more like a cannon needing a horse to move it. What sort of projectile would be on the rail? Again the shape of it would not fit into any firearm paradigm. Go ahead do your best.

[boingk]

Interesting, but why not just obtain a run-of-the-mill licence and go and get a cheap centrefire rifle?

223, 243, 308, 300 WinMag, 45-70, take your pick.

All are more than enough for most purposes and very easy to obtain once said paperwork is done.

- boingk

[Ziege]

from what I have seen over the years, they use tonnes of energy, burn out quick and dont produce that much velocity (on single phase power source) or accuracy and are complicated as heck to time electronically.basically the amount of electronic and mechanical engineering required makes it prohibitively expensive to make one well.

[CommunistPigeon]

from what I have seen over the years, they use tonnes of energy, burn out quick and dont produce that much velocity (on single phase power source) or accuracy and are complicated as heck to time electronically.basically the amount of electronic and mechanical engineering required makes it prohibitively expensive to make one well.

Well I'm doing an electronics course this year so I might learn something...