In Australia the firearms laws are that if you want to own a firearm you have to get a licence. To get the licence you need to prove a genuine reason. e.g. I live on a ranch and need one for vermin destruction or I am a member of such and such a rifle gun club and I need a firearm to compete etc. Provided you pass the background check e.g. you don't have an arrest or conviction against you then you get the licence which needs to be renewed every 5 years again prooving you still have a genuine reason. Liceincing can take a couple of months and costs $.
Once the licence has been procured you need to apply for a permit to acquire. That can take about six weeks. You pay for each PTA as well. That permit is only good for 3 months. So you don't get that until the firearm is ready to pick up. But wait there's more. Once you submit the PTA to the rifle smith or dealer you have to wait for the two week cooling off period to elapse before you get your hands on it.
The laws vary from state to state with western australia being hardest of all. But all firearms need to be stored in an approved gun safe and in the atate Queensland the fireing mechanism cannot be stored with the firearm. A nusance when it isn't a bolt action. That's why you will never see a swap meet or be able to sell a rifle at a match. In fact all private sales need the owner of the firearm to fill out the disposal papers, the purchaser to acquire the PTA then the firearm has to be brokered by a licenced dealer. You pay a storage fee while the cooling off period elapses before the new owner can take it. I hate to think of what BR shooters had to go through when they held the world BR championships here in about 2001 and I think we have them again in 2013. I wouldn't even consider it.
Andy.
