@ShootersUnion what’s happening, been a bit silent on this topic?
Right now we are still having issues with NSW not recognising us as a “Peak Body” in our own right (which would enable us to, among other things, be a Genuine Reason for firearms ownership and hunting licences), due to some quirk of their legislation that seems to have been designed to stop anyone ‘new’ becoming a Peak Body after the 1996 gun law changes
Our shooting club, SUNS, is a genuine reason in NSW for A, B, H and getting an R hunting licence, but it’s an extra cost on top of basic Shooters Union membership.
I gather the NSW president has another meeting scheduled with the NSW Govt about the issue soon, too 
Sorry, I meant the nsw thing due LAFOs with more than 20 firearms.
What’s this “more than 20” thing that you speak of?
There is no such restriction in NSW, not that I can find or know about. That f-wit Shoebridge tried to get restrictions in years ago and failed.
I don’t do fwitbook.
I can’t find the post again, something to do with audits, I don’t remember now.
Like I said, no restrictions here that I know about or can find.
I’ve had comments made by Mr Plod when doing inspections, but it’s easy to argue them down when I point out that there are 4 shooters here and in one discipline alone, there are 11 different categories.
FAR have reportedly been sending out “Please Explain why you need more guns” information requests to shooters in NSW with more than 20 firearms registered to their licence when they apply for additional PTAs.
We’ve had a number of members contact the NSW branch asking for help with the issue.
NSWPOL have also said they’ll be conducting safe storage audits of every licence holder in the state with more than 20 guns
We also have reports of NSW FAR sending “Prove you’re medically fit enough to use guns” notices to people applying for a gun licence and using a DVA or Disability Pension card to claim the concessional rate.
As you can imagine, the SU NSW team are very busy right now getting this mess sorted out.
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That’s how it works in Vic for a while now. So out of interest, re: below.
What does this mean? What are the options?
The state co-ordinator has requested meetings with senior FAR officials and is in the processing of getting more information about what’s actually happening so we can develop a proper strategy/approach from there.
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So, I just had a “safe storage” inspection. ( Talking NSW here ) First one in maybe 6 or 7 years, and first one since acquiring cat “H” 5 years ago.
A phone call on Saturday to ask if I was available, " No, I’m away from home at a ( boom in the background ) shooting match." “Oh, I can hear that”, replied the officer on the phone.
Arranged for Monday evening inspection. Paddy wagon ( divvy van for those in the South ), pulls up, 3 uniformed constables alight. I greet them with “looks like I’m outnumbered”, get a bit of a laugh, they identify themselves and I unlock the gunroom. It was going to get crowded so two of them stood in the doorway. I was asked if anyone else had access to the keys, “yes” was my reply. Both my wife and elder son are fully licenced but the safes are combination and my wife only knows the one that contains her rifles. My son doesn’t know any of them.
Happy with that, I was asked where I kept ammunition, I showed them the 2 safes and three locked cupboards that hold any loaded ammo, primers and the separate one for powder. Happy with that, I was then asked how many firearms I owned, " dunno, maybe ( x > 20 )? " I replied, that raised eyebrows. Anyway, I went through the process of opening the safes, reading out serial numbers while one confirmed them and the other two ticked them off their lists.
There were 4 firearms that weren’t on their list, I produced the registration papers for all of them, they took photos of the paperwork and that was fine. About the only thing that caused confusion was the fact that I have rifles with multiple barrels, registry used to issue registrations showing that but it seems to have stopped in the last few years. The police paperwork showed the same rifle listed multiple times with an “A” , “B”, etc., listed after the rego number, we determined that perhaps that was how registry did it now.
At no time was I quizzed about the number I own except for my lever guns. I explained about the different competitions that I participate in and also that we shoot as a family in those. Also the fact that most are around 100 years old and the need for spares seemed to placate them. The officers didn’t appear to have any interest in shooting or firearms, a couple of comments about my older guns and my BPCR’s but that was it.
All up, they were happy with my security, thanked me for my time and left.
BTW, I just applied for and received a PTA for another firearm, ( a .22 that I already have 9 of ) without any “please explain”.
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That sounds exactly like the experience I had when I had the mandatory 15 gun inspection. Except one of the officers was American and fully pro gun.
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