West Australian FAC - How does the UK FAC compare?

[FirstBlood 0]

Hello Fellas,

I live in West Oz and am about to apply for my West Oz FAC.So what eh? Well I`m wondering if anyone can tell me about how a Ozzy FAC compares.Having been brought up in the S. Yorks countryside, all I`ve ever shot was air rifles and they require an FAC here, so have also taken up Long range shooting with a 7.62 rifle here at the SAS barracks range in Perth.

Here the system is what I thought England was, please bear in mind I have very little knowledge in this area,well I thought getting an FAC in England was like getting a driving licence-get it and then automatically you can buy and shoot anything level or underneath it in calibre. Here though I was quite disappointed to hear that that is not the situation. Here first the rifle must be purchased, where it remains at the dealer`s shop untill the FAC arrives in the post. No problems so far, but then you can only shoot that rifle and that one alone. When i get the Australian category B FAC I`d have to go through the whole process of getting another FAC, even for a category A 1 FAC, which is air-rifles, and even then I could only shoot and own that rifle. You see the rifle`s got a serial number on it and the FAC applies only to that rifle, not the group and those below it.

 

Miffed to say the least, I also found out that in W.Australia to apply for an air rifle FAC it must be of .177 calbre only, unless a landowner has given his express permision for you to shoot vermin on his land. All air rifle clubs only shoot .177. Isn`t that a pile of pooh pooh.

 

Frigin' Ozzys and their strict gun laws. You`d think with all these millions and millions of square miles that are empty, save for the roos and the Abbos and flies, well that it would be a bit more lenient. Hope this isn`t a global trend. I`m sure everytime some kid in the States goes nutts with a handgun, or any other lunatic over there, the ramifications will spread to other followers of "the Gun Prohabitionists" in countries such as Oz. Might be going to Canada to live at the end of the year and I`ve heard the same for over there as here applies. So what`s it like in England, please, cos I love my shooting?

 

Any help with info relating would be much appreciated. Cheers, Chris.

Edited April 19, 2011 by FirstBlood

[mjr88 50]

So what`s it like in England, please, cos I love my shooting?

 

Any help with info relating would be much appreciated. Cheers, Chris.

 

Hi FirstBlood.

 

Here's a link that covers most , if not all , the UK procedure for obtaining an FAC,

 

All the best,

 

John

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/steve.davidson1/fac_app.htm

Edited April 18, 2011 by mjr88

[matt_hooks 188]

Firstblood, the system is pretty much the same over in the UK as in Oz.

 

You need specific permission on your licence for each caliber of rifle you wish to acquire. You can't buy the rifle until you have a "slot" on your certificate for that caliber. Once you have acquired the rifle in the specified caliber, you are restricted to that weapon. If you wish to change the weapon, then you need what's called a "one for one" variation, which gives you permission to acquire another rifle of the same caliber, but only once you've sold or otherwise disposed of the previous weapon.

 

Do you have the same "reasonable cause to hold" condition on the Aussie FAC? In the UK, you need to prove that you have a good reason to own the weapon you are applying for.

[FirstBlood 0]

Firstblood, the system is pretty much the same over in the UK as in Oz.

 

You need specific permission on your licence for each caliber of rifle you wish to acquire. You can't buy the rifle until you have a "slot" on your certificate for that caliber. Once you have acquired the rifle in the specified caliber, you are restricted to that weapon. If you wish to change the weapon, then you need what's called a "one for one" variation, which gives you permission to acquire another rifle of the same caliber, but only once you've sold or otherwise disposed of the previous weapon.

 

Do you have the same "reasonable cause to hold" condition on the Aussie FAC? In the UK, you need to prove that you have a good reason to own the weapon you are applying for.

 

Hi, thanks for your reply.

Yes there is the same provision here, of which a shooting club membership(which only applies to target shooting, including all disciplines such as rifle, hangun, shotgun etc, and of a particuler calibre)and/or permission from a landowner to eradicate vermin is sufficient in satisfying. Permissions, though, are very hard to get here.

 

Cheers, Chris.

[FirstBlood 0]

So what`s it like in England, please, cos I love my shooting?

 

Any help with info relating would be much appreciated. Cheers, Chris.

 

Hi FirstBlood.

 

Here's a link that covers most , if not all , the UK procedure for obtaining an FAC,

 

All the best,

 

John

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/steve.davidson1/fac_app.htm

 

Thanks John, I`ll have a squizz of that.

Cheers, Chris.