There is a very good chance that in a year or so I will be headed to Brisbane to work our LNG project for a few years. Will it be possible for me to bring a rifle or two, a handgun, shotgun and such there when I move? Can someone please advise a link that discusses the rules on this. Appreciated.

You can import them after you are a resident and that can take several months and obviously considerable cost.

How long will you be staying?? if you have an entry and exit date you might be able to bring them with you as a visitor. Not the handgun though.... not as a visitor unless you are coming to shoot in a competition.

As a rule, with very few exceptions.... handguns in Australia are only allowed for targets at the range. Not allowed for hunting or personal protection...

Try this link mate.

http://www.police.qld.gov.au/p...ms/weaponsLicensing/

It's not really possible to bring them with you, when you first arrive here. Best to leave them in the USA until you have licensing, security etc. sorted at this end. This will take some months.

As Matt says, forget about handguns. And in longarms,forget any semiautos, and pump action shotguns. Pump rifles are OK.

Some previous threads here, on this topic:
http://forums.accuratereloadin...043/m/8021070361/p/1

http://forums.accuratereloadin...5621043/m/5541077031

Appreciate the help. Sounds like Australia is worse than Canada WRT handguns. Didn't realize that.

quote:

Originally posted by Boxhead:
Appreciate the help. Sounds like Australia is worse than Canada WRT handguns. Didn't realize that.

Maybe not worse at all. You can own them for any kind of target shooting - but it will take some time to get your full handgun licence whereas your longarm licence can be pretty quick. You might be able to import your handguns with the other guns and just have them held at a dealer till you get your handgun licence upgraded.

The REALITY is that you can move here and become a resident and legally own firearms pretty fast if you know the right strings to pull. Conversely if you I tried to do that in the USA I would have any amount of trouble....

There are also some requirements to bring firearms out of the USA in shipment... requirements from the US side that would need to be met and that might make the handgun import not so simple. Rest assured they are measures put in place by the US govt, not the Australian govt.

Interesting. I had no probems moving my firearms, long and short, to Canada from either the US or Canadian side. Nor did I have any issues importing a number of firearms into the US that I bought in Canada. Is the relationship between the US and Austrailia different?

Boxhead the problem isn't the relationship between Australia and the US..........it's the idiotic laws that Austrlai and the US have put in place.
ie
To export a rifle from the US you have to get an export permit from BATF, this is to ship a firearm out of the US. Yet if I take a rifle to the US and then bring it home I don't have to have an export permit to get it out of the US, just an import permit to get it in.

To go to Qld Australia, I have to have a valid reason to import a rifle into Aussie, ie invitation to a competition or to go hunting. You have to apply to the Qld police for a temporary licence and an import permit.
Then when you go to leave Aussie with your firearm you have to become a registred exporter and then get authorisation to export it.

I have been taking firearms into and out of Aussie and the US for several years for competition shooting and Aussie has to be the worst country for doing this.
Last tiem I flew out of Brisbane I got to the airport 4 hours before my flight and got told there was no one capable of doing the paperwork to enable me to export my firearm.......needless to say they eventually found a customs officer able to do the paperwork so I could catch my flight.
I often wonder what would've happened if they didn't........Kiwi

quote:

Originally posted by Boxhead:
Interesting. I had no probems moving my firearms, long and short, to Canada from either the US or Canadian side. Nor did I have any issues importing a number of firearms into the US that I bought in Canada. Is the relationship between the US and Austrailia different?

I am assuming you are a US citizen - in which case you can move freely into and out-of the USA with your firearms in tow.... not so easy for a non resident!!

As kiwishooter says there is a raft of paperwork that both countries have thrown up to export and import them....

Just a joke really but we have to put up with all this and do our best....

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:

quote:

Originally posted by Boxhead:
Interesting. I had no probems moving my firearms, long and short, to Canada from either the US or Canadian side. Nor did I have any issues importing a number of firearms into the US that I bought in Canada. Is the relationship between the US and Austrailia different?

I am assuming you are a US citizen - in which case you can move freely into and out-of the USA with your firearms in tow.... not so easy for a non resident!!

As kiwishooter says there is a raft of paperwork that both countries have thrown up to export and import them....

Just a joke really but we have to put up with all this and do our best....

sadly Matt its more than a joke.
Its the sickest joke and most incompetent administrative law ever introduced into Australian legislation.
its been about public perceptions & screwing around gun owners with little regard to facts or effectiveness of the stated legislative intent.
Its full of administrative anomalies, omissions & a lack of administrative mechanisms to administer its intent.

but the public has been sold on its effectiveness in preventing the formation of armed domestic militants and access to firearms for use by criminal elements and mentally deluded individuals.

Since when, has legality ever affected anyone sourcing the instruments to carry out other illegal activities.
The ways to illegally import firearms is manifest ...........if you want one you can get one.........the legislation has not done anything other than increase the price for acquisition above the previous 'over the counter' price prior to the legislation , for those elements of society who have no regard for legality.
Discussing the stupidity of the legislation in its effectiveness , giving examples publicly just makes the situation worse for legitimate gunowners , as the incompetent bureaucrats goaded by the deluded "public safety" freaks and over-reactive politicians just puts more administrative hoops & re-interpretation of existing administrative policy( which were not intended for purposes other than the policy rulings of the creation of the original legislation) will magnify the inconvenience in place for legitimate gunowners

As you say, its a (sick) joke & we do our best to live within the stupidity of the legislation & its processes , with all its inconvenience & lack of real achievement of why the legislation was introduced in the the first place.

Really hard for someone in another country to understand what & why another country is administering with guns.
that goes for an aussie looking at the arrangements required in another country & anyone in another country looking at the Oz situation & what you have to do to achieve movement back & forth across jurisdictions.

It is more complicated than that though Dennis.

Our firearms laws vary greatly between states. While we revel in the fact that some states are kinder than others ... one of the big issues with any firearm crossing the international border here is this lack of uniformity in the regulations (and we wouldnt want it any other way). Customs (a federal agency) located at an international port (or airport) in one of those states, and responsible for checking movement of firearms across the border - not only applies the federal laws but also the internal state law variations as they apply - for entry into that state. Not only does this confuse the travelers - it confuses the customs agents - some of whom have very little training, if at all, in this area.

Hence we have people carrying guns, showing-up in say Brisbane airport and being treated very, very shabbily at times.

Overall - our actual laws are 'bearable', just, in my opinion but when you throw in these state law variations and incompetant public servants it is just a complete nightmare for the international traveler. However - keeping things in context they may not be any less bearable than other countries and I do encourage people to travel with their guns... when they stop traveling with guns the authorities will take away that ability, altogether.

Clients ask me - what do I have to do to bring my guns to Australia ... while I'm sure they would like to receive the info 'in a nutshell' ... invariably my first point is - 'let's take a look at your travel itinerary before I answer your question'...

And to think I complained when they only had 3 AR-15's for sale (cash and carry) at Walmart when I was there last week.

Is it only certain states that they are allowed to sell actual guns at Walmart?? Everywhere I go they dont seem to have them??