BUT, registration is still the first step to confiscation - and there will be a huge fight here before that every happens nation-wide. There is registration now in some states.
Yes, we do have universal registration, and that does make us more vulnerable to confiscation if that ever becomes a government's desire. It's not an ideal situation - just not as bad as it gets painted overseas. Our laws are, to a great extent, based on compromises between those who did want a near total ban back in the late 1990s (which included the Prime Minister, John Howard - a conservative in most ways, but city born and bred and who doesn't get guns at all) and those who managed to persuade them that there are actually legitimate reasons for law abiding citizens to own firearms. There's a lot of compromise involved, and it's not perfect. Just not as bad as it gets presented.
Yes, the guys with the big collection out in the country had NOT registered their guns - thought it not necessary as they didn’t use most of them, and others were in common use in area.
Yes, well, that's what would have got them in serious trouble. If you break the laws that are in place, they will come down on you like a tonne of bricks.
Para Ordinance 1911? What year? Some had a history of jamming - I have personal experience with a friend’s that did. I’m a Sig guy.
I'm not sure of the year. I bought it, more or less, because it was what was easily available at the time - importing guns from overseas is complicated for bureaucratic reasons and most gun shops only carry a small range of handguns. It's a Para Ordance P-18 chambered for 38 super (another one of our laws is that .38 is the largest calibre allowed for a basic handgun. I'd prefer something larger but the 38 will do the job it needs to do).
I've never noticed any jamming issues, but I only take it down to a range three or four times a years to make sure I can still shoot straight. For me, guns are a tool. I enjoy shooting, but it's not a major hobby and I don't have any other reason to do it all that often.
Can you get semi-autos rifles? AR-15/AK-47/Ruger Mini-14 or 30?
Yes - the rifle I put a picture up of is a semi-auto - An Australian Small Arms Factory Self Loading Rifle (SLR), based on the Belgian FN FAL, and also known as the L1A1. It's what I learned to use in the Navy, which is why I chose it - I'm comfortable with it. I hold it on a 'Category C Licence'.
AR-15s and AK-47s (and derivatives) require Category D Licences, which are extremely hard to get - unless you are a full time professional shooter. To get a Category C licence, I had to sit an interview with my local firearms officer to make sure I was a 'fit and proper person'. He was a Police Sergeant. To get a Category D licence, requires the personal approval of the state's Police Chief Commissioner - the most senior law enforcement officer in the state - it's an order of magnitude higher and harder.
Using terms, Americans tend to be familiar with, an A/B licence (the basic firearm licence for things like basic hunting rifles and shot guns) is 'Will Issue'. A C licence is 'May Issue', a D licence on that scale would be 'Only issued in extremely unusual circumstances.'
The laws are inconsistent too - an AR15 or AK47 is really no more 'dangerous' than my SLR, but the SLR is CatC and they are CatD, and the reasons for the difference really comes down to politics and image. Because the SLR was the standard military rifle here from the 1960s to the 1980s, it's popular with veterans and nobody wants to suggest veterans can't be trusted. The AR15 and AK47 are perceived differently. There's also the fact that there is a company making AR15s in Australia under licence, and that makes the gun law people edgy about making it a CatC weapon - an 'unofficial' control on people owning CatC and CatD is the import restrictions making that complicated - home grown CatC's would be a game changer in that regard.
I think Ruger Mini 14s are CatC (I know Ruger 10s are). The Mini-30 is, I think, CatD.
A mini-14 shoots the same round as an AR-15, and is a very similar semi-auto - as I’m sure you know - so I’m surprised it also wouldn’t be a CatD. A survey was done of our Army infantry, and 50% prefered it to an AR-15 for close-in combat. Not as accurate as an AR, but possibly more reliable, not so finicky about cleaning.....easier to swing around they said.
While my state Virginia is being taken over by Marxists from the North (DC suburbs), we have perhaps the best gun laws - for now - in the country. ANYONE can open carry any weapon anywhere except schools and federal buildings, courts. AND anyone can carry a weapon in their car’s console or glove compartment without a CCW permit. All concealed carry however, on person, requires a CCW that is anyone can get except felons or domestic abusers, mental cases, etc.
It will take the Marxists a while to change VA laws as conservatives will most likely continue to control our House of Delegate - the Senate is a tie with the winning vote going to our liberal Dem. Lt. Gov. The House will veto any attempts to take away our freedoms.
It was here that Patrick Henry gave his “Give me liberty or give me death” speech - AND MY GREAT X4 GRANDFATHER WAS NOT ONLY THERE TO HEAR IT (I have his sworn testimony in writing from 1832 in his Revolutionary War Pension application), but more of my family that lived near Patrick Henry signed up for the Minutemen than any other family in that county.