Life is full of disappoinments and "mud holes". But I can honestly say that I have very few regrets and things I would have done differently. Sometimes you just "suck it up" and play the cards you were delt.

I am down here in Griffith NSW as my wife is on a teacher exchange. I thought it would be an interesting adventure and I was looking forward to doing some hunting here. Before we left Canada I started trying to get info and see if I could begin the prosess of getting a firearms permit and such. I was aware it would be a bit of a chore.

If I could go back to the day we disgussed going to Griffith for a year I would definatly say NO FREEKIN WAY! I got the forms, I passed the Fire arms Safety test and payed the $70.00. I looked into getting a gun club membership so I could spend some time at a range just shooting. (costly and restrictive) I only wanted a one year permit and now I see I have to get a two year permit and they put a 5 year permit on my application form. It is just the biggest "pile of...frustration".

One day I went to buy a slingshot and was told by the store clerk that slingshots were now not legal in NS freekin W. Is this true ?

Sorry for the rant but I had to get it off my chest.

Robin (counting the days till we fly back to Canada)

Welcome to Australia Land of the free.

Sling shots have been declared illegal in the NT as of about a year ago as well. We still have cracker night but

Na, tell me your kidding about the slingshot? You need a permit for a slingshot in Australia.?
What happened, did the farmers/hunters lose total control of your guvment like we are about to?
That's what is happening in America, the huge numbers of liberal do gooders in the cities outnumber the farmers/hunters. We will lose.
I don't like the way our world is headed.

What about the jumping up and down about banning knives?

Duffy, you got charged $70-00 for Firearms safety Course? I've been running them for years and have never charged. 1,300 applicants so far. If I can multiply, I would cry. What i could buy with that money!!

But seriously, its an extra 1300 shooters around here to support the right to hunt and shoot.

Do they all charge in NSW for the course?

Duffy4-

You better come to New Zealand for a vacation - we have much more civilised gunlaws here , and still have a variety of interesting critturs to hunt . Hell , I'd even lend you a rifle to hunt with !

Greybeardbushman, the law in NSW insists that you pass a Firearm saftey awareness test (which anybody with 1/2 a brain can do). It cost $70 plus gst. $ 57 of this goes to the firearms saftey awareness council and the other $20 goes to a Shooting club that has nominated the Testing officer.
so at least it goes back into the shooting sports. i believe the system is about to change, but i am unsure if its better or worse??

duffy4,
But just think. If you've made some hunting contacts it may just be worth it in the end, and the experience will be unique . Once that firearm license is granted, ring DPI in Victoria, buy a license over the phone and pop over the border into Victoria and hunt our Sambar deer on public land. It'll be something you'll never forget. By the way, are you teaching as well??
Cheers...
Con

I think Duffy4 prefers Canadian beaurocratic idiots to Aussie ones.

Wish I lived in NSW(not really),get a cat "R" licence and hunt in National Park,land now being opened up.

You still can't hunt in National Parks in NSW, not even with an R license, but they have opened up 31 State Forests with lots more State Forests to come. Some of these forests are huge and with good populations of pigs, goats and deer, so this has been a huge leap forward for hunting in NSW.

I think that hunting in NSW National Parks is a possibility, for the future, but only after the anti-hunters have run out of excuses for opposing such a move.

I lived in OZ for 6 months and would have stayed,but there was a 28 day cool off period before i could apply for a firearms licence,couldn't buy a semi anything