Too bad mate! Hope all turns out well with the coppers and you get a new hornet, damn good cartridge.
On the topic of theiving, I saw a guy stealing an old geezer's bag in a parking lot last night. My dad caught up with him though and he'll need some new glasses and some ice for his face before he rips off the elderly again
Do you think they knew you were a gun owner, or was it just a lucky strike?

Bad Ass: You are a funny guy.



Glad my spouse lived in OZ for a while. At least I know what a ute is.

The real stinger here is that getting my gun returned is highly unlikely and catching he who is responsible just as unlikely, but for doing the right thing(registering my firearms and notifying the police of its being stolen), I am the one who is already being charged.(I have been charged with "failure to secure a firearm")This will weigh heavily on any future liscensing of firearms for me and ruins my clean slate!
I could gurantee nearly that the idiot who stole my gun wont be securing it or obeying the laws of this country!
Out of this whole mess the end result I think will be that I am down 1 gun, and me , the victim, will have ended up with a charge and fine for my being honest!
It was wrong of me though to have fallen asleep before unloading my ute when I got home after a big day!

I would make sure I had a good lawyer with me and not rely on a police sargeants "estimate" of what the penalty will be. Once your licence is gone it will be too late.

I once had an SKK stolen (in the old days) along with the car. It was it the boot of the car. Went to a cinema and was paged to the ticket counter. Was told my car (which was my father's as I had borrowed it, not having one on returning from some time OS) had been stolen AND recovered!

The neighbours of the thieves had noticed it outside their neighbours house and rang the police. These juveniles, one whom was regularly represented by aboriginal legal aid service, regularly turned up with strange cars parked outside. This night they had broken into 5 shops and houses and then stole a car to drive home and to sleep off the booze and drugs.

The neighbours noticed a rifle sitting on the back seat and took charge of it, handing it over to me when I turned up to collect the car. The cops never even bothered to turn up and just wanted to dust the car for fingerprints the next day and arrest the dickheads when they woke up that morning. They weren't too happy and one was chasing the other around with a knife for loosing a car, a rifle AND their key collection when the cops turned up.

Luckily the rifle was never mentioned as it wasn't registered but took this as a "sign from God" and registered it under an amnesty only to have the government bastards steal it a second time (ie the 'Gun Steal-back').

Moral of the story - the government is worse thief than petty idiotic criminals.



***


Good luck, I hope you keep your licence.

Got my summons to go to court today.4 days after the crime. The only news I've had about the theft of my rifle is " its not terribly valuable , I'll just go see if its been filed yet." when she ( counter girl) come back, " apparently the report isn't even finished"

That's probably the worst bullshit I have ever heard. Sorry, but I have to say that you guys have THE MOST f'd up gun laws!! Any government that punishes someone for having their property stolen from their locked vehicle (where it is covered and out of sight) has its head so far up its ass it has to open it's mouth to see daylight. It's not like you left the damn thing on the porch!! I agree - it had to be someone who knows you to know that you didn't remove the gun from the car. Most likely, they were watching you unpack the whole time... You have any unruly neighbors?

I wonder what would have happened if they were to rob you in person, while you were carrying the gun into the house? You know - the classic stickup? Would you be charged with failure to secure then? I truly feel sorry for the abuse you guys have to endure there. maxman

And then if the coppers ever catch the thief he will probably only be charged with theft, not firearms offences, and then get off with a slap on the wrist because of his 'disadvantaged youth' or some such bullshit. Guess who is #1 suspect if the gun turns up in a crime and will have to prove he is innocent (did the gun really get stolen?).

There just has to be something wrong with legislation that makes the victim of a crime a criminal.

That's nothing, as a range officer if the shooters are forward checking targets, then if a firearm is stolen off the line the RO would be charged with "failure to secure"
I've personally lost one in this manner prior to these new laws.

I have already enlisted the help of Ross Williamson.He specialises in firearms law and so far seems like a decent bloke to deal with.This sort of thing is a well known area for him.
Thanks for all your concern, its good to feel as though someone else gives a s@#t!

I've had a little time to reflect on the day I reported the "incident".The police officers that took my statement and done the groundwork at the scene were less intrested in the theft than they were about booking me.(surprised??)
Want more surprises?? The insurance company will cover any items stolen from the car/ute to their replacement value except firearms.Court date for my hearing has already been set for the 31st august and I still cant get an answer about what action has been taken in regards to my firearm.
Thanks to all for your thoughts and support.

Better get yourself some serious help before court day.
Morgage the house if you have to.Better to carry enough caliber than to be outgunned in the courtroom.
Might save your licence or a bigger fine.Good luck!

Karl

What you say is good common sense, so you must be ignored as common sense is not politically correct. TrevofKal I know your lawyer and he is as good as they get. If someone can get you off he can. Not that you should need to get off anything, being a victim and all. If these peanuts are caught you can bet your arse that the LAW will punish them severely by supplying them with the best of legal advice and a goodly amount of money to rehabilitate the thieving arseholes







Steve H

Hi Guys
It just pisses me off - when someone does something with a gun,The wankers punish the ones that didn't do it!!!

Steve H

When you have a public who truly believes it should have a government punishing people for not putting on a seatbelt, how do you expect to apply any common sense to firearms related situations?

"Charge me with an offence for not putting a fence around my own personal backyard swimming pool because I need some fat lying politician to tell me how to look after my family"

"But don't take my firearms off me that can blow things to pieces and kill other humans-just because I like them".

Nice try guys.

Safety enforcement is the new religion- no exceptions.
No point whining about it if you have already signed your soul over to it in other ways.

Karl.

Trev
I feel for you. It should't matter where you leave any property, if some bastard steals it THEY ARE THE CRIMINALS NOT YOU.If you had another firearm with you and caught these thieving mongrels and shot one in the arse you would be up on charges again, but the crims would get some kind of restitution and a large payout, you would go to jail and have that shit on your record for life. The law here in NZ is just as draconian. We don't even have self defence laws in NZ we are responsible and the crims. are not
Hope it goes well for you.

Steve H

Most of the coppers that I know would be on your side mate, but they would still have to book you. It's not the guys doing the job, it's the mongrel politicians you can blame for it.
Its got me stuffed why we vote for any of them - it would be great if no-one voted at the next election. Maybe we would end up with no Parliament and half a Senate - the country would be a lot better off.