As many of you know, the Victorian State Government is seeking submissions to the Regulatory Impact Statement proposing new Firearms Regulations to replace the existing ones, which expire in April.
In Victoria, all regulations expire after 10 years and need to be remade. Our current regulations were made in 2008, so it’s our turn.
The Combined Firearms Council of Victoria has prepared a submission which we are now posting for your information. It has been reviewed by our executive and we’re aiming to submit it before the due date of 25 January.
We just have one more internal review which needs to happen before then (which means it is subject to change).
Click here to see our draft submission.
It’s important to understand that regulations normally deal with the detail of stuff which sits under the Firearms Act, such as fees and details on processes. This is because Parliament is busy dealing with new issues, and details like fees are delegated to ministers to look after.
That’s why our submission will focus on things like fees, rather than argue about why we have a registry and so on. Those issues have nothing to do with the regulations, but are issues which can be pursued at this year’s state election.
The focus on our submission is on (surprise, surprise) fees. You will see we are supportive of some aspects, such as freezing junior licence fees and introduction of pensioner concessions, but not the extent of the proposed increase in the costs of permits to acquire. We reckon that the reduced revenue from the positive aspects should be made up from farmers who have a ‘primary producer waiver’ (which means we’re paying for their licences) and efficiency gains from within our registry.
Anyway, agree or disagree, we’d be interested in your view of what we’re proposing.
We’re also encouraging you and your organisation to consider putting its own submission in – it’ll be the last chance you have to shape our regulations for the next 10 years!
All the information you need to do this is at https://engage.vic.gov.au/firearmsregulations. Submissions can be sent to firearmsregulationreview@justice.vic.gov.au
Don’t forget, submissions are due by January 25th.
More great work,many thanks for your efforts for all of us.
Hi Neil, How very fortunate are we firearm owners and shooters to have such an organisation as CFCV who have our back and the expertise to be able to challenge issues of government and Vicpol that effect our sport/hobby. Thanks for all you do for us. Very best regards, Kevin.