Thinking about a firearms licence

[MrCrowley]

Well as of last week in New Zealand, air guns which pose a "special threat" or are "specially dangerous" now require a firearms licence to own (this law was introduced since a Police officer and a civilian were killed by a PCP FX Monsoon air rifle in separate incidents). This makes pretty much every cannon I own, illegal (not that my hybrid wasn't already illegal).

Since a firearms licence is cheap and easy to obtain I've been thinking of getting one but I'm also worried that by getting one I could alert the police to my cannons which they may confiscate or just alert the police to my presence in general. Even with a licence, these are the laws I could break by using my cannons:

•Carrying or possessing a firearm without a lawful, proper and sufficient purpose
•Careless use of a firearm, airgun, pistol or restricted weapon
•Discharging a firearm, airgun, pistol or restricted weapon in or near a dwelling house or public place so as to endanger property or to endanger, annoy or frighten any person.

Generally, I break these laws on a day-to-day basis since I don't always shoot on my own property, shooting a soda can at a TV probably is considered "careless use" and my pneumatic and hybrid cannons are pretty damn loud.

I'm worried that if I got a firearms licence, the police would be aware/more aware of my cannons and my activies than if I didn't get a licence. Also, if I got a licence and were caught breaking one of the above laws, I wouldn't be able to play dumb by saying "I wasn't aware of these restrictions" compared to if I didn't have a licence I could argue I thought it was considered a non-PCP air rifle and didn't need a licence for it.

I'm going to email my local P.D. hypothetically asking them about pneumatic cannons and see that they say.

[POLAND_SPUD]

Yeah, that's not the best idea.

Here it's pretty much the same. If you want to own an airgun that has muzzle energy higher than 17J you need a licence. The problem is that the police can pay you a visit at any time. If there is an airgun related incident in your town you can expect their visit too

I'm going to email my local P.D. hypothetically

It might be a good idea to use an anonymising proxy for this

[MrCrowley]

Yeah that's what I'm going to do, I just hope they don't have a filter which would mark my email as spam.

[Crna Legija]

get a mate to email them. my bros had his gun licencee for about 2 years now and they never come over to see it, hes got a sako tgr 42 and some shot gun never even use them eny more

[Matt_NZ]

I'm interested in what they say regarding pneumatic cannons.
I own a New Zealand firearms license and can help you regarding this, basically like you, I understood the a pneumatic cannon had always been classified as a firearm. Just like you said some high powered air rifles now require a license to own.

By obtaining a firearms license you don't change your current situation much, your still breaking the law by shooting "firearms" on your suburb (I'm Guessing) property.

When I got my firearms license, they had to come round to my place and check that your have a secure place to store a firearm. As long as your launchers aren't in view, then your fine. I.e the only thing they were more aware of was that I have no convictions to my name and that I had safe place to store a firearm. They don't even know of my .22 and shotgun.

If your thinking of getting it for hunting or shooting on a mates farm etc, then go for it. Just make sure they don't see your launchers.

Matt_NZ

[MrCrowley]

Does a secure place mean a gun safe or could it be a locked room etc?

Like you said, it doesn't really help me since with it I'll still be breaking the law just not "posession of a firearm".

[Matt_NZ]

Does a secure place mean a gun safe or could it be a locked room etc?

Like you said, it doesn't really help me since with it I'll still be breaking the law just not "posession of a firearm".

Not sure about the locked room, it would come down to the inspection of how secure it is. In my case I got away with a basic lockable gun rack which i built, simular to this

Yes, unfortunately you'll still be be breaking the law. It will probably come down to how soft the police are, if they were dumb enough you could convince them it is extremely low powered and similar to a nerf gun.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

I would think laying low is a better course of action than alerting the authorities to the nature of your home brewed activities, it's certainly the option I've gone for.

[ThornsofTime]

Man oh man... I guess I just never knew how easy we had it here in the states...

Here, when you want to own a gun there is no license involved. The gun shop salesman checks your ID for your age (18 for rifles and 21 for pistols) and then calls in an FBI/ATF background check to see if you're a convicted felon. If the FBI/ATF give the thumbs up... you hand over the cash and drive away with your gun.

There is no limit to the # of firearms a person can own, and the only license I know of is for concealed carry. Other than that you need to have special permits for full-auto, silencers and large caliber weapons.

So... rifles, shotguns, air-rifles, air-soft, spudlaunchers... they dont care so long as you're not shooting in town @ your neighbors dog or something. lol

BIT OF ADVICE- get the license. At least its a good will gesture towards trying to comply with the law. You can always play dumb saying " I thought this license covered nuclear warheads... thats why I did the paperwork.". The fact of the matter is that either way, you seem to be thinking you will be in violation BUT a license might just be the difference between a confiscated launcher and a stint in lockup...

Just my 2 cents.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

At least its a good will gesture towards trying to comply with the law.

Unfortunately, people with genuinely good intentions that make such gestures usually end up on the short end of the stick, especially when this is a knee-jerk legislation that tars all airgunners with the same brush because of a couple of isolated incidents, and I fear such a move would effectively backfire.

[al-xg]

The problem is even tough a powerful spudgun is considered like a firearm, it doesn't mean it's legal to use one with a firearm licence, they often have to be declared and often have to go through a whole load of tests to establish that they are safe to use etc...

[Insomniac]

I don't think the problem would be ruining your chance to 'play dumb'. I don't think it matters whether you believed you were breaking the law or not... The law has still been broken, and if you are proved guilty then the consequences will still apply.

To be honest, it is this sort of legal grey area, and the severity of the potential consequences which has pretty much prevented me from building cannons... The largest I ever owned was a small-bore ballvalve gun, which I've since dissassembled. I've made a couple of mini combustions and coaxial pistons, plus a couple of piss-weak pengun style launchers, but almost all of them have been since destroyed. The only ones I have left are so small, weak, and unlikely to be identified as what they are that they are pretty much invisible as far as the law is concerned. I sometimes shoot toothpicks across my room with them, but that's pretty much the extent of my involvement with the hobby at the moment. I still occasionally build prototypes of small launchers, and then dismantle them again once I've had my fun. The risk vs reward for me just isn't quite worth it, so I'm content to browse the forums and see what others are building.

It's a pity, but it's just what I think makes sense.

[POLAND_SPUD]

Unfortunately, people with genuinely good intentions that make such gestures usually end up on the short end of the stick

I agree... it pretty much sums up everything...

Also notice that in many places it is illegal to make firearms. This basically means that you will be treated in the same way as the guy who owns a small factory producing illegal firearms...

I guess I just never knew how easy we had it here in the states

you've got other not so cool stuff... fat women, political correctness, minorities and so on...

Lol if you think about it.. it seems you are the last country that should have access to guns
(remember ze germans ? their women are also... how should I put this... aesthetically challenged… but they had pretty cool tanks

so it isn't surprising at all that they started WWII)

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

(remember ze germans ? their women are also... how should I put this... aesthetically challenged… but they had pretty cool tanks

so it isn't surprising at all that they started WWII)

LOLOLOLOL! that remarkable synopsis of the origins of the second world war made my day

Does nobody else fear China?

[velocity3x]

Does nobody else fear China?

Yes....they're destroying us from within with their exported toys.