Our recent survey of Victorian shooters revealed a major dislike of Victoria’s Licensing Regulation Division – the body responsible for licensing Victorian shooters and registering the firearms we use.
We all know why shooters don’t like the policy underlying firearm regulation. However we were curious why shooters felt so strongly that the body charged with administering that policy was a poor performer.
One in two shooters said the registry should be scrapped: only one in five said it should be retained.
After all, we don’t like having to pay a lot more in annual rego fees to VicRoads, but we don’t blame them for poor performance, so why is it that our firearms registry is such a ‘stand out’?
There were many helpful responses: here’s one we thought was worth echoing:
The registry in its current state isn’t that bad, it just adds another few days to your decision process of buying a new firearm. However its upkeep cost out weight the benefits, that’s why I’d like to see it scrapped.
Then there was this comment we received from the many posted on this website:
The registry is the only thing stopping a licensed shooter selling a gun to an unlicensed shooter. The registry should stay but category restrictions and license renewals should go.
We were also interested in the fact the police, rather than the minister responsible for the policies they enforce, does the talking. A clear cut example was the commentary by Victoria Police suggesting the Adler A-110 shotgun should banned. That’s a policy statement which should be made by the Minister!
Why is it the Police are commenting on firearm policy when that’s the Minister’s job? In fact do you know who the responsible Minister is?
We decided to set up a follow-up survey to find out a bit more about what you think about the registry’s performance and behaviour.
Make sure you share this with your shooting colleagues. The poll will close at 6pm Sunday 12 July. We’ll then put the results to the government so we can start the discussion.
Firearms registries in Canada and New Zealand have been scrapped due to the cost of running them as well as the fact that they don’t serve any real purpose, our registry should be scrapped. The police should not be making decisions on firearms, that is up to government ministers.
Great response!
The registry is extremely expensive to run and maintain. I do not believe the registry is efficient as I have had to continually correct errors against my name each time I have renewed my licence. Police dont need to know exactly how many firearms are in my house. they know I have them by the fact I have a shooters licence. If they were worried about my behavior they would respond to my address as if I was a firearm threat, regardless of the type or number of firearms I own. the registry information is not secure, possibly allowing personal information to be leaked and used by criminal elements to steal licenced firearms. as less than 3% of gun crime is committed with licenced firearms I honestly cant see the benefit for the money invested. I would rather see that money used to put more boots on the ground in Victoria to combat actual criminals.
the registry is the only thing stopping a licensed shooter selling a gun to an unlicensed shooter, registry should stay, category restrictions and license renewals should go…
LRD have been in charge of Private Security Licencing since it’s inception and the industry has been mismanaged and effectively disarmed. Even licensed armed guards can’t access, equip, or train with less lethal devices (Capsicum spray, Taser, etc.) because of the fear they will be misused. It’s gotten to the point where LRD spent money on a campaign to prevent positional asphyxiation (death from being held down during an altercation/arrest) but failed to address the fact that security companies don’t allow guards to carry handcuffs out of fear of misuse. Now the industry is filled with gross apathy, high restrictions but low standards, and widespread disrespect from internal and external companies including VicPol.
When I purchased my firearm the wrong serial number was recorded. This was correct when sent in. I photographed the actual number and sent in a form requesting it be corrected. It was but it took several weeks and I had to request written confirmation that it had been done. Talking about this with other gun owners I found this is not uncommon so what is the point of a register that cant get the details correct and what use is the information anyway?? They know I have firearms if they respond to a call out involving me. Like most fire arm owners it is not the licensed and registered that they need to worry about
There is yet to be a single crime anywhere in the world where a firearms registry has aided police in apprehending a criminal. The most they have ever done is identify who owned the gun when it was stolen. This is in about 3 cases worldwide. On the other hand registries have contributed to totalitarian regimes killing about 192 million people during the 20th century. Free societies don’t have registries and totalitarian regimes do. We would much rather be a free society without a registry.
Interesting comment. Will put this on the page we created for the LRD survey. Thanks Glenn!
The firearms registery should be scrapped, it serves no purpose other than to add another layer of red tape and cost. As for the licensing department, they “loose” your paperwork so often I believe it must be a policy to randomly loose paperwork to inconvenience firearms owners.
The mining boom is Kaput (where did the money go 😥 ?) ,things are not so rosy and about to get worse ,this state wont be able to afford it soon.
Besides one of the prisons need’s renovating
,prisoners stand up for themselves but not all shooters ,sad isn’t it 😕
The LRD only makes life difficult for the registered shooter and gun owner, it does nothing to help identify the criminals who have more dangerous and unlicenced firearms. The LRD makes the honest person feel like a criminal, just waiting for us to break their rules so we can have our guns removed. There is possibly more unregistered firearms than registered firearms out in the community but nobody really knows who has what.
The Registry does nothing to prevent the majority of crime committed with firearms, it is there to behest the cries of the anti gun lobby.
My details are already on file from my licence application, as are the details of the firearms I own. There is no guarantee the register will be maintained correctly or it’s security guaranteed. Just seems to be another costly layer of paper to try to monitor?
I recently returned from living in Canada. Whilst I was there I followed closely the arguments for and against the continuation of their gun registry. I was pleased to see common sense prevail with the scrapping of their gun registry. It was proved over and over again that the registry did nothing to aid crime reduction and illegal firearms. Criminals don’t register their guns, neither do gun smugglers so why should I bother to register mine( they are by the way) I am being treated worse than the criminals for absolutely no good reason. Get rid of the registry here.
The registry has all the names of licenced shooters and their firearms, but not the criminals and their fire arms.
The registry will not stop the criminals from obtaining firearms and carrying out their crimes. We have some of the most stringent gun laws in the world so why increase them, they still will not stop the crims.
In addition to my earlier comments, I have contacted the registry many times as there were several errors in my firearms details, such as a Lithgow .22 single shot was listed as a SMLE Enfield and my Remington with a six shot magazine is still listed as having a 10 shot magazine. The registry is a complete wast of money,time and resources.
We need to have a cost / benefit analysis of the Firearm Registration system. Registration is not stopping the illegal firearm trade and is not providing any tangible benefit in my opinion. A proper analysis conducted by an independant body would put to rest whether the Registration system has had any affect on crime. Societies similar to ours in NZ and Canada have done the analysis and scrapped their firearm registration system.
In an age where the government is looking for ways to cut unnecessary costs, this is an obvious area to look at.
Joe. Well put. Your views accord with ours. See our survey on this very point – you can find it by scrolling through our posts on the front page of our website Regards Neil
To my opinion the gun registry only stops gun sales to unlincsed person,and does nothing at all to combat the gun sales to criminals and undeclred gun imports,i think the gun registry and police have no right to ask or demand a bann on any type of gun that meets the acts paramiters,on the other hand the SSAA should ask to see how our money is spend within police department and the fees and all other charges they collect are realy spent to stop criminals getting firearms or stoping the ilegal gun importation??.
I don’t have a problem with the Firearm Registry as a whole, but I am concerned with the fact that all Registered Owners and Firearms are easy targets for those elements in the system,(and outside the system), that use this registry to penalize and intimidate those on the registry, who are doing the right thing. There is need for accountability for ones actions, but there are those who believe that if you have guns, you are a risk and are easily targeted for the wrong reasons.
The Firearms Registry should be in the hands of a responsible, trustworthy and accountable section of the Police department, who are the persons who act on any breaches of/or concerns with the Firearms Act, any alterations needed must be done with full consultation with the people it concerns and/or their respective Associations. This is why we need to have all Associations involved with the dealings and discussions with any and all alterations or enforcement of the Act.
personally i dont think it should be up to govenment ministers let alone police. a licencing system is fair enough to a point but registration is an unneeded expense on the system and a way of guaranteeing that the government knows exactly what you have so that they can just go pick them up at their leisure. at what point do you stand up and say no. it should have been in 96!