Daddybang wrote:It was probably much nicer in the 70's these days it's not the arsehole of the country. ..but ya can see it from there!!
Some amazing places around it though!!
I doubt it was very pleasant for adults back then, pretty much everybody was an alcoholic. It's where I grew up seeing neighbours and friends dealing with alcohol-fueled domestic violence. I believe it's the reason I never got involved with alcohol.
I did go through a few times when I was working in the Kimberley in the early nineties, didn't look very nice then, but a huge step up over Meeka
Just had a look on Google Earth and our house has been bulldozed, about time too. Was an old timber-framed, asbestos-lined cyclone-proofed house up on stumps. Our 500m walk to Baler was through bush, now it's all houses.
I first got into firearms as soon as we moved to Perth, when mum got us into the Police & Citizens Youth Clubs and Army Cadets. But times changed pretty quickly around the early eighties regarding firearms. We moved to country SA where hunting and shooting became everything to me. But moving back to Perth, getting a non-competition rifle licence was not easy, but much easier than trying to get an open licence, unless you knew property owners. Many people joined rifle clubs to get licenced, then went hunting with their club-licenced firearms, which was illegal. I had people advising me to do the same, but I already had a handgun licence - too much to lose in my opinion. On the other hand, handguns were very easy to get into so I got into IPSC instead of hunting. My brother sent me some of my rifles across which I swapped to my dealer for IPSC stuff.
Unless you know property owners in WA, or are interested in competition shooting, I don't see any value in owning rifles there. I don't know if having property letters from interstate is acceptable in WA, but I doubt it. ACT is similar, no hunting except on private property, which is hard for hunters that hunt in NSW. I would recommend contacting WA Firearms and ask them what is involved. I was told (by Firearms Branch) that you can't maintain a WA licence if you don't own any firearms, I expect they lied to me, but if you can keep your licence I would do so - having to get it back again would be a royal pain in the arse.
Be aware that firearm and ammunition storage is different to everywhere else. Bullets and brass are classed as "ammunition", requiring the same level of security as your firearms, and requiring a licence to possess. You can only possess ammo components for firearms you have on your licence. Borrowing other people's firearms requires adding them to your licence.