The nature of collecting historic arms has been changed, not by the  collectors themselves, but by government diktat. As the mere acquisition and collection of historical arms  has become a political act involving issues of freedom, liberty, and personal rights being subjugated to State decree, the issues of historical arms collection in a changing society become libertarian issues.

RECONNECTION OF THE WEBSITE - 22 FEB 2009

wlb ruling on magazineS - 5 january 2006
 Starting off the New Year with another serving of Police Legislation? (Only for those with a strong stomach)...................................................(more)

HOW THE COMMONWEALTH WILL ABUSE ITS CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS -  the next attack on arms collectors will be federally sponsored
As there is no right under the Constitution enabling Australian citizens to bear arms,  the framers of the Constitution also denied to the Commonwealth Government the express power  over firearms and ammunition.  However your Government won't let a silly little limitation like the Constitution get in the way of exerting their 'less express' powers.  Here's how they will coerce your friendly local Weapons Branch into further denials of supply, outlawry of military-style weapons,  criminalising the possession of large capacity magazines
etc..............................................(more)

Weapons Licensing Branch caught falsifying their own records – and maybe yours too!
We all know that WLB are the first to throw the book at you if you get something wrong with your paperwork.   It's Devil's Island for you if you so much as spell your own name wrong.  But what about the state of THEIR records? So who is to throw the book at WLB when they breach that obscure bureaucratic commandment when they decide to leave the "not" out of "Thou shalt not bear false witness?"
..............................................(more)

CUSTOMS REGULATIONS BRING IMPORTER UNDONE
A QUEENSLAND gun dealer, who had lately  triumphed over several years of Queensland Police misuse of their powers and abuse of legal proceedings,   has lost his legal battle with Australian Customs officials over the importation of pistols from China – and more than half his shipment worth almost $US100,000 as well.   Have the Federal Government, lacking the Constitutional Power to make Firearms Laws, decided to use their Customs Powers as the means to enforce their unconstitutional agenda?  .......(more)

KISS ANOTHER WEAPONS CLASS GOODBYE!  (29 August)A little canary tells me that there's a group of people meeting this week here in the Smart State with a specific agenda to reduce your ownership of firearms.  No, they're not terrorists - well, not in the way we know them. There is a Police Minister's Conference in Brisbane this Wednesday, and their reported number one item on the agenda is Pump Action and Lever Action Rifles and Hi-Capacity Magazines. The Victorian Governments position is to BAN THE LOT

 AMNESTY? WHAT AMNESTY? (22 August)

 AMNESTY? WHAT AMNESTY?


A Guild Member has been charged with the unlawful possession of a weapon which was handed in and  registered during the Firearms Amnesty. Another lesson in trusting your friendly local Weapons Licensing Branch, Police Minister, Amnesty etc; HACCA, meantime, looks the other way. More from the files of OPERATION CATAPULT.................................................(more)

DISTRICT COURT DECISION FAVOURS COLLECTORS
There has been a win in the District Court against the Weapons Licensing Branch recently in which a Collector appealed against the decision of a Magistrate who had upheld a WLB decision.  The court held that the Magistrate had applied the wrong tests in deciding to uphold the decision of the Authorised Officer.  In doing so, the court limited the WLB's interference with transfers of weapons from Concealable Licences to Collectors Licences............................ (Download the Decision)........(more)

SECRETARY'S REPORT
Do you recall, some years ago being told that computers would save paper?  I'm afraid that isn't so when it comes to the implementing of the new uniform handgun was as dictated by our beloved and revered PM .  I'm afraid the Guild's consumption of paper has also risen in complying .  So, let us get down to the next Tätigkeit des Papierkrieges.........................(more)

IN THE MEDIA
I
n case you are still feeling glum about creeping bureaucracy and all these new rules and regulations, take comfort from the "it couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of blokes"  views of  Damien Stannard in the Sunday Mail (June 12, 2005)............................................................................(more)

  NEWS & COMMENTARY
WLB has decided "in the Public Interest"
that centre-fire rifles with a detachable magazine should not have a capacity greater than 10 rounds.  (Sounds like a ban to us!)  In this manner, WLB have just created a new criminal offence.  Being found in possession of a high capacity magazine turns legal ownership of a Category B weapon into an offence. We need to assess what its implications are, get the word out and about, and determine what is to be done about it.............................................................(more)

JOURNAL ESSAY
In  the old coal mining days, a canary was placed in a cage and put into mine shafts in order to detect any traces of methane gases that would naturally seep up from deep below the surface of the earth. If a miner saw a canary lying flat dead on it’s back, then he’d know it was high time to get the hell out a’ there
!
Arms collectors are like canary's of individual liberty..............(more)

WEBSITE POLICY
This policy describes the Website's objectives, contents, responsibilities and freedoms, as well as the article submission & editing procedures.......(more)

TECH TALK
The website is a major project of the Guild, and is a 'free to air' internet educational asset. It's not an 'entertainment' vehicle  for casual web-surfers or people in a hurry.  It assumes that you are seeking resources and perspectives  which you  just can't find elsewhere. Not every Internet Browser handles FP/JAVA language equally.  Internet Explorer (version 5 and above) is required. The website was developed using Microsoft FrontPage, and some of its features will..........................................(more)

 

 

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         Show Cause Notices , Licence Revocation  and OTHER FORMS OF
    bureaucratic incrementalism.

    Last year Weapons licensing Branch issued 410 ‘Show Cause Notices’ and 57 licences were revoked.   So far this year, 766 Category H licensed persons have been sent a ‘Show Cause Notice’ for non-compliance with reported participation and/or financial membership licence conditions.  

     DOWNLOAD THE ANTI-TERROR BILL - CLICK HERE

    If you receive a notice, you are encouraged to respond in writing to the Authorised Officer rather than ignore the letter.

    If you believe the circumstances are incorrect, respond with a letter from your club Secretary and photocopied evidence of membership and/or participation.  

    If the circumstances are correct, respond with a letter demonstrating that you are taking positive measures towards compliance.

    If you no longer require a Category H licence, it is recommended that you surrender your licence to police, rather than have it revoked due to a lack of response on your behalf.   ‘Revocation’ is not a positive message to have recorded against your details in the event you consider renewing the licence at a later date.

    The WLB have their powers, which are extensive - but not unlimited.  They have their proper purpose, set out in the legislation, so take formal objection if they go beyond it.  Their role is to regulate collectors who go cross the bounds of legality, and the role of the collectors, in turn, includes taking lawful objections (and appeals) when the WLB itself crosses the bounds of their empowering legislation.

     

     

    SIG-INT -- NOT!

    SOP for the QPS, if they are visiting your house on an operational matter is to get a weapons check from their computer system in order to be forewarned if your house is a weapons capable residence.  Sounds reasonable, until you find out how, in the days of the old analogue radios, this allowed anyone with a scanner to locate houses where weapons were being lawfully kept. Theoretically, with today's digital radios, this source of SIG-INT is now available only to the Police. 

    Bet they never let any law abiding types in on how loose radio discipline made your residence the target for a professional break-in.

    And don't start to wonder why you might have been given special treatment on a routine traffic stop. They are forewarned if you are a registered weapons owner who might well be expected to be transporting a weapon.

    Say it ain't so, fellows!

     






     

     
     

    Weapons Licence Holders have to realize that when they bleat "The Coppers are taking our guns, " not only will no one listen, there will be a group of people  who shall applaud them and say "It's about time, too!"  The message that responsible gun owners must communicate is "The Government is employing people to conniving to take your liberty, and your freedom, one step at a time," and then it might dawn upon the great unwashed that there is some truth in what weapons owners have been saying, after all.

     


     

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