Earliest gun laws or lack thereof

[duncan61]

Drove from Townsville to Perth April 1983 and called in to a hardware store at Mt Isa and bought a Boito shotgun and a box of OO/SG off the shelf for personal protection no questions asked and then gave it to a buddy who had a licence when I arrived.Too easy.Rimfires and 12 bores were no issue back then

[Sergeant Hartman]

Hmm I don't have such awesome stories seeing I was a wee twinkle in my parents eyes during the mid 70s.

But growing up I too knew where the old double barrel and its ammo was. He also had a revolver and later a pistol for personal protection, when put and about it was nearly always on his person. I was given a diana air rifle that was gutless to say, thus sorta lost any interest, but fud spend a plenty of time hunting sparrows.

But times have changed, now people are different this some types if rules are deliberately required..... not that many (dills) obey them.

[Roo farmer]

How good was it eh...none of those blokes were shooters, they just had a rifle because it was what we were founded on, & mostly from our great grandfathers having to feed the mouths with bunny meat to ride the depression they had to endure...!!...

Could you imagine the average 27 y/o fella now having to go out & feed his family from hunted meat--because of necessity -- --yea right...!!
...what...shoot a gun...no way... guns are dangerous...:

Everyone is complaining about how bad the drought is. But I don't know anyone eating rabbits. Very few willing to eat kangaroo even. Makes you wonder.

[mickb]

I forgot where I put this. Great posts guys, it feels like breathing fresh air recalling those eras. Good to hear about times earlier than my own era too. Also goes to show laws do not always equal lawfulness, and a lack of laws do not mean chaos. As important are resources and culture. You have enough of these, people manage themselves which much less laws. And adding laws doesn't fix a sliding culture.

[Madang185]

The Australian Government(s) can pass all the so called Gun Laws that they like but it will have zero impact on criminal misuse. The Police have admitted to me that they know Licensed Firearm owners are not the problem. The media are unwilling to admit that there is a difference because it will not provide them with the headlines that they want.

To the uneducated who claim that the problem can be resolved by total banning look at what has occurred overseas. Following Huddersfield in 1997 the UK banned all handguns. In the first year after the bans handgun related crime rose by 46%, a figure never published or mentioned by any media. Police in the UK continue to discover such firearms from eastern Europe still in the manufacturers grease!

Australia's real problem is that just 3% of the containers that come into the country are x-rayed. The author would suggest that the odds are in the criminals favour. Politician and the various Government departments do not know how to combat this fact and continue to blame licensed shooters to divert attention.

Pathetic!