Posted on 04/18/2011 5:24:02 AM PDT by marktwain
THEY were used to destroy some the meanest baddies in Hollywood history but Queensland police have now deemed them to be real weapons and illegal to boot.
A movie buff who imported three model guns based on those wielded by Ripley in Aliens has found himself tied up in red tape when customs officers claimed they were prohibited weapons.
In the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, member Peta Stilgoe expressed understanding about collector Mark Hamish Beckett's frustration with bureaucracy, but found she did not have the authority to rule on his case.
Ms Stilgoe was asked to settle the question QCAT hearing on the papers.
The tribunal heard Mr Beckett purchased three model guns, replicated from the 1986 movie Aliens, and when two of the guns arrived in Queensland Australian Customs issued a seizure notice stating the guns were prohibited items.
Customs then notified Mr Beckett that to enable the release of the guns he needed "written confirmation in the form of a police permit from the Queensland police before the goods could be issued".
Mr Beckett made the application but Queensland police told him they believed the guns were category R weapons and he needed a permit to acquire them.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Its actually not a bad country, it is considered one of the best places to retire to. For every flaw people see coming from Australia there are many times more in America. Like guns, people in Oz still have guns, you can still go out and buy one. It is restrictive and you do have to apply for special permits.
In Oz don’t tip the waitresses, its actually offensive as those waitresses make a lot more than people think.
There are cities that have some problems, nothing like Detroit or Watts though. I think Australia will become a very important and leading country in the next couple of decades.
If a large part of America was having conflicts, wars, nuclear attacks then Oz would be the place people will run to.
The Yellow Brick Road
..is 70 years old.
Today, if Dorothy were to encounter
Men with no brains, no hearts,
And no balls,
She wouldn’t be in Oz.
She’d be in Congress!
They are not prohibited - the Customs officials thought they might be, and directed him to get an opinion from the police. The police they are Category R firearms (in other words, they are considered realistic enough that somebody might genuinely believe them to be a weapon rather than a toy). Perfectly legal to own provided he has a Category R licence - in this case, the best one for him to get would be a Firearms Collectors licence. That would cost him $80 to apply for, and $12 a year to maintain. Provided he doesn’t have a criminal record, he should have no difficulty in getting such a licence.
Whether he should have to is another question, but that’s the situation as it is. Customs tried to categorise then as prohibited - police disagree but are treating them as replicas because they are not obviously toys.
No, they are not. They are treating them as replicas. That's what 'Category R' means - the R actually stands for Replica.
Australia has a firearms licencing system which places different firearms into different categories and requires a person to have the right licence to own particular types of firearms. Realistic replicas (ie, something that looks realistic enough that nobody would think it was just a toy) are included - but is the cheapest and easiest licence to get.
If it look real enough that a reasonable person would believe it to be a firearm, then it would depend on whether or not you have the right licence to own it, and were carrying it appropriately. If you have the right type of licence, provided you are not carrying a firearm in a dangerous manner, you're pretty much fine. People are allowed to own firearms and they are allowed to move them from place to place. Sometimes that involves carrying them in public.
Of course, it you are carrying it in a dangerous manner, you're going to be lucky to reach jail.
A license to carry a paper gun? LOL!
Take a look at this paper gun from the movie, “Aliens.”
Forgot to include the link.
http://aliens.humlak.cz/aliens/aliens_papirove_modely/aliens-m41_gb.html
In this case, R still stands for “retarded”.
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