Is it illegal to leave empty ammo shells laying around in your ute?
What state?
I’ve heard WA considers empty brass as live ammo.
NSW mate.
WA politicians must be retarded then!
I think that’s a legal requirement to run for public office over there mate.
I can’t speak for NSW, but I roll all over Victoria with my cup holders full of brass and there’s always a few dozen empty shotshells in the back of the ute and I plan to do the same in NSW soon so I hope its ok. 
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The important thing is that if police want to use it as an excuse to arrest you and further search you/your person/property/vehicle they will.
If you don’t mind and have nothing to hide and everything at your address is tip top then cool. But it is very easy for police to use spent cases as justifiable cause.
I can understand it being a reason for them to look if you’ve got a car full of shells and you don’t have a gun licence as it could be said to be a bit sus, but if you’re licenced how is evidence of you doing something you’re legally allowed to do even remotely justifiable cause? Especially to go back to your address, there’s just no way. And as far as arresting you…not a snowflakes in hell.
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Straight answer,…NO.
However, if you want to open yourself up to further scrutiny, however unjustified, leave empty cases lying around like you just rolled in from an engagement in Fallujah.
The odd case in the tray or on the floor won’t cause too much of a concern to your average country plod, can’t speak for metro attitudes though.
Why would you leave them anyway? If they’re centrefire, you’re just damaging / dirtying your brass.
If the reason for leaving a bunch of cases rolling around your ute is because you think it makes your testicles larger, you are sadly mistaken. 
update
Is there a requirement in NSW to present a firearm licence upon purchase of brass?
No there isn’t, now that I think about it.
So if that’s not considered a licenced item, i.e. it’s a chunk of metal for all purposes, then how can it be illegal?
Testicle size aside, it makes no sense for it to be illegal if brass can be purchased by anyone. Do you have a reference @danmac to some legal doco for this?
I don’t see how having empty shells laying around in ya ute gives you bigger testicals?? 
My reason for asking was, I cleaned my ute out today n found 5 or 6 empty 22 magnum shells that slipped through the cracks, and was curious to know if my car did happen to get searched for some reason would it become a legal issue for me?!
No, unless you are in WA.
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Its simple because once an officer reasonably believes (whether he does or does not doesnt matter at this point) he has cause he can instruct you to exit the vehicle/instruct you turn around/cuff you/arrest you on suspicion rightly or wrongly and if you dont comply will use force.
At this point t doesnt matter wether he has cause or not, he simply fills in the paperwork saying that shells were similar to those used in crime a/b/c or you did some minor thing to cause the officer to suspect something.
Assuming he/she is wrong, its not a job ending mistake but a minor miscalculation that has you in handcuffs on the way to an interview and your property being investigsted.
You can be 200% correct, it doesnt prevent an officer making a minor infraction when you give him the opportunity.
Cops are people too, and people can be $&%@s.
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Two separate conversations. Is it legal vs is it a smart thing to do on purpose.
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It’s definitely not something you’d do on perpose , we all know how ilusive 22 and 22 mag emptys can be tho!
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And a simple polite “yeah mate i was shooting last week” and flashing him your licence immediately removes his “reasonable” belief something is wrong unless of course the shells are sitting next to your crack pipe and balaclava. Also if you’ve behaved like a complete fucktard he might choose to give you a bit of “therapy” but then it’s your attitude that gets you harassed not the shells.
You’ve wandered into a little bit of fantasy land with the way you think things really happen. Let me know if it ever happens to someone you know personally and i’ll concede, until then it’s that far fetched i’ll put it in the basket with unicorns and vampires.
All this living in fear and “what if” stuff that people come up with to invent these dramatic situations out of nothing just makes me shake my head.
Yes there’s a super slim chance you could get that wanker who even tries to cause a bit of a fuss, but that’s all it’ll be, your comment of having your car searched being arrested and having them go to your home is about as likely as being abducted by aliens.
Actually i’ll go and put a hand full of shells in my cup holder today, we’re going away on tuesday for a week up the beach and are bound to be pulled over a couple of times by the local plod as they are the RBT nazis up there, i’ll let you know if i have a drama. I’ll even put my drivers licence in with them so i have to rummage through them to get it when mr plod asks for it.
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We all must remember that empty cases can injurer us as well as loaded.
Only when reloading 
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Or chewed.
Nice teeth. Probably from up my way.