Hello all, I was just wondering what the current laws are surrounding handgun ownership in Australia and New Zealand. Also what direction do you see the current gun laws headed?
I am from Canada and we had a fairly close call this last election regarding a ban on handgun ownership. Luckly the Liberals did not win and handgun owners can relax for a few years at least. We also have a gun registy for both long gun and handgun. If things go well we may see the long gun registry removed.
I have heard that there are simalar moves being made by the Australian gov. Is there any truth to this? How is New Zealand teating gun owners?

Just a quick note about our personal situation.

We have been to our local pistol club to shoot a few times. Very enjoyable.

But I gather we would have to attend one "competition" every month (12 a year) to retain a pistol licence, with our other shooting, its too big of a commitment.

There are a few very keen guys from our small town (700) who go very regularly but most don't tend to go out hunting. A couple shoot Field and Game as well as pistol though.

Horsham has good facilities too.

Its just a bit too much of a commitment as we hunt every Saturday, most Sundays and during most holidays.

The storage requirements of a safe bolted to the floor (so I have been told) is a bit of a pain too.

Anyway, son wants to join, now he is 18. So we will see.

You only live once.

I only know a little bit about handguns in New Zealand one of the other guys should know more. We can own handguns,but only shoot them at a pistol range so no hunting with them you have to shoot at least 12 times a year,gun laws are not too bad here yet,we can still own and use semi auto rifles/shotguns.

Luckly the Liberals did not win and handgun owners can relax for a few years at least. We also have a gun registy for both long gun and handgun. If things go well we may see the long gun registry removed

You'd do well to give up this attitude, forget about relaxing on this isue. The misguided idiots amongst your Liberals are not even going to forget about gun regristration or banning handguns. And they have little else to do but to build a power base to enact this end.

BobK this is not the US, there is not to much stopping the ban of handguns. Imagine if 80% of your population hated guns and as result voted in goverments to get rid of guns. It is hard to stop that. Most of our population lives in the east, and it is the east with thier f'ed up veiw points that hold all the political power. You have many states with the power to enact law based on the wishes of the local population. Here we have one law and it comes from a place that is on the other side of a huge country, a place I have never been and will problably never see.
We fight hard but due to the way the political system works, and the location of the majority of population it is difficult to change peoples view points.
This county is so f'd up that people actualy WANT to feel defenceless against crime. The common idea is that no one should own guns as they are bad for everybody (including people defending them self against criminals). If I were to shoot someone breaking into my house there would be a lot of people that feel bad for the crimanal and without doubt I would go to jail longer than he would. Most people in the east would consider me the one that should go to jail.
With the majority of public opinion like that you can see what we are up against.

Well I am glad to here that you can own handguns but too bad about the requirements.

For us we need to get a hand gun licence, be a member of a shooting club and follow the storage requrements (trigger lock and in a safe or locked room) We have to get a permit to transport to a gun range and the hand gun may only be shot at the range. Some people in remote areas doing trapping, geologist, or other such work can apply for a permit to carry a revolver for bears. There is very very few permits issued to carry I heard about 500 people have these carry permits in the county.

I can see that there are problably a lot of things that we have in common when it comes to gun controll. Do you have to register your guns?

I would like one of the commonweath countrys to find a way to beat gun controll and sway public oppinion. If one of us ever start beating it others could follow suit.

We don't have to register our guns here yet.

In NZ you can own handguns for pistol shooting if you are a member of an approved shooting club , and meet the 12 shoots a year requirement , as well as meeting the Police endorsed Licence criteria , and paying the fee.

You can also own handguns on a collectors licence , but these must not be fired , although they can be intact and in fireable condition.......You have to meet the security and background checks for this class of licence too , and naturally pay the appropriate fee - but your licence is good for ten years so it probably isnt that expensive really....

We wont see legal handgun hunting in this country - there isnt enough rural based voters and urbanites dont have a need for a handgun so why would anyone else need one ? Sound familiar ?

Firearms use in NZ is immensely easier than in Australia - at least we have one set of rules for the whole country as opposed to state and national laws. And we havent ( yet ) follwed Australia and Britain down the knee-jerk reaction road . Quite the opposite , actually , our Police have studied the gunlaws of both those countries and decided that is not the way for us to go , so for once they may have got it right . Unsure about Canadian gunlaws , although they dont seem to have been as dumb as the Aussies or Brits , except for trying to implement registration. To date registration isnt on the horizon for us , but no doubt it will happen sometime in the future. We used to have it , then went to the licence holder being the registered item , not the firearm . But then we had a "lifetime" licence too , but that only lasted ten years before it was change d.

But all in all , gun ownership in NZ is not difficult , not restrictive , and not discouraged . maybe thats the best anyone can hope for these days .

On the other hand the Western Canadians can always revolt and form an independent nation or petition to become a part of the U.S.

A distant government is part of what caused the American revolution. Would make good guerilla theater and likely raise some money from TV appearances. Try it. Lotsa fun.

Australia`s handgun laws mirror what our Canadian friends have said, Licence, club membership, approved storage. In my state I need to do 6 competitions per year, or 4 per year per style of gun, ie: 4 comps revolver, 4 comps semi auto, we also have calibre restrictions, no bigger than 9 mm or .38, however you can apply for exemption for silouette competition and have up to .45. I am on the home straight of handgun ownership, it`ll be a bout 10 months from start to finish give or take once I get my first revolver home. 10 months of ; 6 months club probation, an 8 hour safety course, 3 compulsory cometitions and the rest is government mandated running on the spot.

Yep, sucks, doesn't it?

Knee jerk?
What kneejerk?

Sarcasm switch set to 'standby'

Yes the rules suck but it could have been worse, we could have gone the way of the UK, and ended up with no private handgun ownership.

And, I suspect that it will get worse before too long. Why else did they make everyone who left the sport at round two of the 'Little Johnnies great compulsory gun accquistion program' sign a form saying that they would not rejoin a pistol club for 5 years?

Hidden agenda?

Do you gentlemen happen to remember what happened to he Brits at the start of WW2. They had done similar things to firearms then as they have done now and when war broke out here were virtually no weapons to defend the homeland with. Slow learners them Brits! derf

Dear Derf,

Some gossip. When WW2 started Britain didn't need any guns because Hitler was on their side. During the Blitzkreig the German army trapped the entire British army on the beaches of France. The German general who did this was Irwin Rommel.

When I was growing up as a boy in Canada we were taught that brave Britons in sailing boats, teacups, and bathtubs rowed across the channel and rescued their troops.

Here in Germany I hear that Hitler himself gave Rommel the order to let the British army go not quite knowing whose side they would be on in the war that was coming.


VBR,


Ted Gorsline