Travelling with a gun

Bricky,

Yes, it is perplexing. From my understanding of the laws in Victoria, the firearm must be secured in a locked container out of site. However, this is open to interpretation. Have you tried contacting the SSAA, and asking for some guidance from them?

Macca.

We used to carry a rifle many years ago.
A single shot .22 for bunnies, and they supplemented our diet well in the bush. Then for a while we carried a Lee Enfield Mk 4 .303 (I used to do a lot of snorkelling and spear fishing in remote locations and a .303 fired into the water by Margaret keeping watch from the sand hill for sharks was the best warning devise ever).

More recently I carried a single barrel 12 gauge shot gun which is the most versatile option with a choice of projectiles available. From ducks and bunnies to wild pigs or even a buffalo. But the main reason was to put injured wild life out of their misery. I had a couple of instances of killing sheep and kangaroos with broken legs with a hammer and that was not a good scene.

But now we carry nothing. It is just too hard. It is almost impossible to legally shoot a rabbit now unless you are on private property with the owner's permission. And it especially too hard if you cross borders which we do often. Beside, in the last 3 years of carrying the 12 gauge I never fired a shot, but the license cost about $1,000 for that period, so I have no licence now either.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

I'm sure there would be a storage case on the market people use. I don't have gun but travelled with 3 mates yrs ago who had them first they found out what guns were legal in each state/territory around Aus as it might vary. Then they fitted approved storage cases and I don't know the rules but the bolts, bullets were locked in their own seperate approved boxes away from the guns it was a bit of an ordeal to get one out but they were long time shooters and were very safe about how they carried guns.

Sorry if this is distressing to some people, it was to me at the time.
About mid-morning one day in August 2017, heading North somewhere along the highway North of Leonora WA , a full grown cow was laying on the side of the road maybe a meter off the bitumen, it had been hit by a vehicle and suffered a broken back/ pelvis but was still alive, it was "pawing" at the ground with its front legs.
All I could do was to ask people in a vehicle on the UHF heading South to contact the Leonora police when they got within radio or phone range.
I have been a shooter for 65 years , how I wished I had a gun with me at that time.

Scrubby.

If you have a boot, and a keyed lock and chain, you are set. Put the chain through the trigger guard and around the boot hinge, lock the padlock then close the boot. Amo in locked glove box and key to the padlock on your key ring and you are set.

I use to travel with a gun many years ago and found that to use it in another state you needed to have a licence for that particular state. Unlike a car or boat licence which covers you Australia wide, a shooters licence is only valid in the one state it is issued, much like a fishing licence.
As someone said earlier about reporting to first police station, I also found not much interest, but did it each time and found that I could carry a weapon through the state if passing through only and as long as it was kept secure and not used. I find it not worth the trouble these days.

How is it?

Bricky, the major issue is that each state of Australia may as well be a separate country in respect to their firearms legislation. They are all different and there has been no real effort to harmonise of federate those disparate sets of legislation into a single 'national' or commonwealth regime. Every state also has different registration and licensing regimes.

Having said that all states have 'mutual recognition' provisions that recognise legitimate firearms licences and registrations meaning you can transport firearms through each state (providing they are carried in accordance with that states law - here they are all pretty much the same, locked boxes, ammo separate etc) and you have your licence with you. In addition states will also allow you to use the firearms for the legitimate purpose that the firearm is held and the licence issues - ie; competition, clay shooting, primary production, vermin control, professional or contract shooter etc.

An example of this can be found here - NSW Mutual Recognition

Like anything, and without preaching to the converted, firearms use is all about common sense. If you're in the middle of no-where and you want to bowl over a bunny with a .22, who's going to care or know. If you're prowling a paddock 2 km from town or making a hell of a racket with a .308 in a farming area, well that's a different situation where you could and should reasonably expect to draw attention. Lawful destruction of injured wildlife/stock is a legitimate use is in all states (providing the firearm is registered and the user licensed).

If you're licensed, registered and carrying appropriately, you will have no issues regardless of the state.


Cheers

Mick

I wouldn't rely too much on the common sense of police officers. The fellow in the linked article was a serving soldier, doing fitness training in uniform with a fake "gun". The article says it was made of pipe. I recall at the time seeing a photo. If my memory is correct it was vaguely gun shaped, crudely welded out of 20mm square tubing, and toted along to approximate the weight of a weapon. No sensible person would mistake it for a real rifle, even at a distance.


Soldier training with fake "gun"

I think there may have been a similar incident with a fellow carrying a star picket driver.

Do you think all police offices know all the currant firearms' Laws

Thanks for the replies...some useful information, and I will be checking state laws thoroughly before deciding whether or not it is worth it.
I'm in my early 60s now and have been around guns since I was a teenager, so would like to think I am responsible.
We would be taking a 12g under over....no rifles as I certainly understand the distance a projectile can travel.