Please excuse my ignorance on this subject, but I have a few questions. Having heard that home invasions are on the rise Down Under, due to general disarmament, is a home owner alloed to defend themselves against this sort of thing? Are any sort of shotguns allowed? If so, is one allowed to use them for home defense? Are other hand weapons allowed like swords, cricket bats, clubs sticks and the like? What do the prosecutors think of any of the above? Is it like England where the homeowner is prosecuted for injuring the criminal invader? Just curious. jim
We had a friend who lived there, my recollection is they bought all firearms from the owners years ago. They paid you but you had to sell them to the government.
Again, we will have to wait for Chello for real clarification, but I seem to remember that they went after semi autos of all ilk, pump actions, lever actions, handguns, and anything with detachable magazines. Bolt actions (some) were left alone as were single and double barrel shotguns. I may be wrong, but that's what stuck in my mind. Anybody google it? . well, I just did ... here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Australia
ip offs, You're enquiry is noted....but it's 2:58 am here in Sydney and I'm heading for some sack time. I'll give a longer reply tomorrow evening. The short answer is that home invasions are relatively uncommon, but they do happen. Mostly they are not random crooks invading random targets. They mostly fall in the categories of criminals that have identified targets with known valuables, payback vendettas, extortion intimidation, drug ripoffs, and the like. Home invasion offences are a State, rather than a Commonwealth matter, and as far as I know, coordinated national crime statistics for this particular kind of offence aren't kept, each state subsuming this kind of offence under different names and different categories. A citizen here in Oz is entitled to defend themselves with force against assault / home invasion, with certain provisos. up to and including the use of a firearm. (again with provisos). I doubt that there is a correlation between the changes in the ownership of semi auto rifles and large capacity auto and pump action shotguns; and auto pistols and changes in home invasion stats. Any increase in home invasions since the post Port Athur kerfufle is probably more a factor of population increase in urban s areas, changes in ethnic demographics and so forth. It's rare enough that when it does happen, it will generally make the State, and sometimes the National news depending on the severity of the offence. I'll see if i can dig up more later meanwhile, you may wish to check this link out....it should give you a chuckle....how robbers are dealt with Aussie style.....
Firearms in Australia are grouped into Categories with different levels of control. The categories are: Category A: Rimfire rifles (not semi-automatic), shotguns (not pump-action or semi-automatic), air rifles, and paintball markers. A "Genuine Reason" must be provided for a Category A firearm. Category B: Centrefire rifles (not semi-automatic), muzzleloading firearms made after 1 January 1901. Apart from a "Genuine Reason", a "Genuine Need" must be demonstrated, including why a Category A firearm would not be suitable. Category C: Semi-automatic rimfire rifles holding 10 or fewer rounds and pump-action or semi-automatic shotguns holding 5 or fewer rounds. Category C firearms are strongly restricted: only primary producers, occupational shooters, collectors and some clay target shooters can own functional Category C firearms. Category D: Semi-automatic centrefire rifles, pump-action or semi-automatic shotguns holding more than 5 rounds. Functional Category D firearms are restricted to government agencies and a few occupational shooters. Collectors may own deactivated Category D firearms. Category H: Handguns including air pistols and deactivated handguns. This class is available to target shooters. To be eligible for a Category H firearm, a target shooter must serve a probationary period of six months using club handguns, and a minimum number of matches yearly to retain each category of handgun. Target shooters are limited to handguns of .38 or 9mm calibre or less and magazines may hold a maximum of 10 rounds. Participants in certain "approved" pistol competitions may acquire handguns up to .45", currently Single Action Shooting andMetallic Silhouette. IPSC shooting is approved for 9mm/.38/.357 handguns that meet the IPSC rules, but larger calibers are not approved for IPSC handgun shooting contests. Category H barrels must be at least 100mm (3.94") long for revolvers, and 120mm (4.72") for semi-automatic pistols unless the pistols are clearly ISSF target pistols: magazines are restricted to 10 rounds. Handguns held as part of a collection were exempted from these limits. Category R/E: Restricted weapons: machine guns, rocket launchers, assault rifles, flame-throwers, anti-tank guns, Howitzers,artillery, etc. can be owned by collectors in some states provided that these weapons have been rendered permanently inoperable. They are subject to the same storage and licensing requirements as fully functioning firearms. Certain Antique firearms can in some states be legally held without licences. In other states they are subject to the same requirements as modern firearms. All single-shot muzzleloading firearms manufactured before 1 January 1901 are considered antique firearms. Four states require licences for antique percussion revolvers and cartridge repeating firearms, but in Queensland and Victoria a person may possess such a firearm without a licence, so long as the firearm is registered (percussion revolvers require a license in Victoria). Australia has very tight restrictions on items which are far less controlled in comparable societies such as the UK. Air pistols, elsewhere unrestricted, are as difficult to get as centrefire and rimfire handguns, and low-powered airguns are as difficult as cartridge arms to license. Airsoft guns are banned in all states and non-firing replicas banned in most. Suppressors (or 'silencers') which are legal in the UK and New Zealand, are extremely restricted in Australia to a few government bodies.[3]
State laws govern the possession and use of firearms in Australia. These laws were largely aligned under the 1996 National Agreement on Firearms. Anyone wishing to possess or use a firearm must have a Firearms Licence and, with some exceptions, be over the age of 18. Owners must have secure storage for their firearms. Before someone can buy a firearm, he or she must obtain a Permit To Acquire. The first permit has a mandatory 28-day delay before it is first issued. In some states (e.g., Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales), this is waived for second and subsequent firearms of the same class. For each firearm a "Genuine Reason" must be given, relating to pest control, hunting, target shooting, or collecting. Self-defence is not accepted as a reason for issuing a license, even though it may be legal under certain circumstances to use a legally held firearm for self-defence.[2] Each firearm in Australia must be registered to the owner by serial number. Some states allow an owner to store or borrow another person's registered firearm of the same category.
Hmmmm, somehow post 6 and 7 look familiar. Oh, I got it .... Anybody google it? . well, I just did ... here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Australia Read more: http://www.survivalmonkey.com/threads/australian-gun-laws.35326/#ixzz2A4WbuMXY . Sorry Sea, I couldn't hold it back ..... lol
I've got friends in Perth and Sydney. They've never mention any incidents that they've had. But both gals have been doing Judo for years. Methinks they can hold their own.
Essentially, guns are banned in Oz. Criminals get a free ticket unless there are 50 bikers next door.
Each state and territory in Australia administers its own legislation and regulations relating to the ownership and use of firearms by Australian residents. Although the legislation and regulations are roughly comparable, there are some variations between jurisdictions. I have posted links to the websites to each of the eastern states and territories for your information. Although to most Americans, the regulations may seem onerous, If one is of good character and one is prepared to store firearms and ammunition responsibly, is prepared to undergo initial firearms safety training, belong to a gun club / hunting club and attend gun club practices / hunting club activities on a minimal number of occasions, then legal gun ownership is not all that onerous. Farmers, professional shooters and some other categories of professions that have a demonstrated need to use firearms are not required to belong to a rifle club etc......but the usage of firearms are restricted to the actual requirements of their profession unless they choose to also meet the requirements for recreational hunting and target shooting licensing. http://www.police.qld.gov.au/programs/weaponsLicensing/ http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/fullhtml/inforce/subordleg+512+2006+FIRST+0+N#pt.2-sec.10 http://www.canberraconnect.act.gov.au/Services/f/firearm-licence http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=34324
I am well aware of the fact that I am not exactly tiptoeing into matters of your country, but your idea of onerous and mine differ widely. Here we have the second amendment to our national constitution, and the vast majority of the states have adopted to their state constitutions a "must issue" type of concealed carry weapons law. This "must issue" law mainly says, if I submit a properly documented request for a ccw license along with passport type photos, fingerprint card from local law enforcement, monitary fees, proof of attendance to a course of instruction on firearms use with regard to force and deadly force, and safety, the state government must issue a license unless they can show good cause not to. ie; felony conviction, domestic violence conviction, etc etc, but rather specific. This has been a boon to firearms sales and legal carry as well as a reduction across the board in violent crime. I fully support it for what it is, a vast improvement over the prior wishy washy near impossible situation of obtaining a ccw permit or illegal carry to protect oneself as the second amendment intended. Actually I feel that carrying a concealed weapon with or without a permit or license should be allowed by all law abiding citizens of legal age, and that ownership of any weapon of any type for protection of ones home and property should be allowed and unrestricted.
Sorry Chell,But I consider The restrictions our government here in the USA has placed on my INALIENABLE rights as a human being onerous.I would consider the restrictions in Aussie land dang near slavery. Unfortunately there are a large number of people over here that would consider the regs over there way to lenient. The fact that under certain guidelines here my government labels me a terrorist probably has something to do with my pizzy attitude toward their attempt at restriction of my God given rights.
