Thought people might want to know.
Just spoke to my local gun shop to see if a PTA had been approved. The LRD sent out a communication yesterday informing dealers that they should expect PTAs to take up to 28 days due to the COVID situation in Melbourne.
Good, to be honest. I mean I know not good for you… But! Good for us in Melbourne, the closer to the end of lockdown, the better 
Although, how this is different or why this is different, I don’t know.
Probably a more politically correct way of preventing “stockpiling” than closing the LGS’s and ensuing the wrath of @ShootersUnion and @NationalShootingCouncil and 800,000 voters.
You don’t need Lisa Neville to put her big foot in her stupid mouth this way 
Yeah I was wondering if that’s what it was.
I seriously doubt it. It’s very hard to keep secrets like that… I’d go with, a massive backlog they are going through. Maybe not, maybe both.
I’m not sure about backlog tbh. My Bergara took 2 weeks to process for the PTA, which was applied for on the 10th of June. Is it possible to have that many sales that it’s now 4 weeks? If so, the guns must have been flying out the door.
I think it’s either, they wanted to stop gun sales without the political headache so have just shut down PTAs.
Or, probably more likely, all or most LRD staff are working from home and can’t access police systems when not in the office.
I have no issue at all with the LRD staff working from home and I hope they are. However, I do think another solution could be found to keep PTAs being processed.
I don’t see how it can be a backlog when I had two different dealers tell me last week that PTAs were being approved in 24 hours. That tells me they had worked through the backlog.
I’ll see what I can do.
Just spoke to the dealer again.
They were emailed last night by the LRD and a message has appeared on the website or system that the dealers use asking that dealers remember that Victorian legislation allows for the LRD to process PTAs within a 28 day period.
It did not explicitly state that PTAs would now definitely take 28 days, simply that the LRD has up to 28 days to process them and can choose to do so if conditions require it. This dealer is interpreting this (rightly or wrongly) as a warning that PTAs will be taking up to 28 days from now on due to COVID.
@NationalShootingCouncil this dealer is a member of yours. If you want his details, PM me.
We’ve been making some enquiries about it but are still trying to ascertain if it’s a backside-covering exercise due to PTA processing timeframes blowing out due to the lockdown etc, or if it’s part of a more deliberate plan.
Done via your website.
I put in a permit for a .308 on Friday about lunchtime, permit came back yesterday arvo.
Sadly the gun is still in transit 
.
I had to buy a shotgun to console myself. 
I’ve been waiting 7 days thus far, thinking it could be a while longer, given the shituation!!
