Hi Kevin John G & All,
Kevin posted as part of a response from the firearms registry:
"This means that persons who wish to obtain or continue to possess such items may be required to apply for a prohibited weapons permit. Such persons will be subject to criminal and probity checks. Certain groups will be subject to exemptions and there will be no application costs involved for persons seeking to obtain a permit.
An offence for possession of any hand held, battery operated laser pointer in a public place without a reasonable excuse, such as business or employment, will also be introduced. It is not intended that persons who genuinely use laser pointers as part of their occupation or for recognised recreational activities will be unfairly targeted or unduly restricted. The Government is aware that some people use laser pointers for occupational or legitimate recreational purposes and accordingly, the public will be notified in advance of the new laws taking effect."
And Kevin wrote:
"Sounds like a reasonable response without all the hype..."
Yes, I'd agree at this stage that this is quite positive news and if this is followed through (hope, hope) then it will be a quite good outcome in the circumstances. The only thing that concerns me from a quite technical (legal) point of view is the somewhat cumbersome requirements for storage of the item. In another thread I posted the requirements for storage (as they _currently stand_) which are in Regulation 12 and I reproduce:
12 General conditions of permit
In accordance with section 14 (3) of the Act, a permit is subject to the following conditions:
(a) the permit holder must comply with any special requirements that are notified to the permit holder in writing by the Commissioner and that relate to the security, storage and safe keeping of the prohibited weapons to which the permit relates,
(b) any conveying of a prohibited weapon to which the permit relates must be in accordance with the following safety requirements:
(i) the permit holder must take all reasonable precautions to ensure that the prohibited weapon is not lost or stolen while it is being conveyed,
(ii) anything designed to be fired or otherwise propelled from a prohibited weapon (for example, an arrow or dart) must be kept separate from the prohibited weapon while it is being conveyed,
(iii) if the conveying is by person, or by public transport, the prohibited weapon must be contained in an unobtrusive locked container,
(iv)
if the conveying is by vehicle other than public transport, the prohibited weapon must be stored in a locked compartment within the vehicle, or in a locked container within or properly secured to the vehicle, and must not be able to be seen while it is being transported,
(c) any prohibited weapon to which the permit relates that is referred to in clause 2 (1) of Schedule 1 to the Act must be certified, by the holder of a theatrical weapons armourer permit, as having been deactivated (unless the Commissioner otherwise authorises the permit holder in writing).
The one of concern I have
highlighted and it could potentially be a real pain in the you know what (assuming you don't have a lockable glove-box) to comply with the _letter of the regulation_ assuming it is not altered and/or is enforced.
Overall though, I think (tentatively) it is very good news.
John G wrote:
"With all the crap and garbage that has been written (Crime scenes, Polair landing in your yard, SWOS and SPG crashing through your doors) I would suggest that you all get a bit of a thing called common sense and, IF, and I mean IF you are spoken too, leave your ego behind and just remember, the Police Officer you are speaking to might just have come from a brawl, fatal accident, domestic or something similar, and, I can asure you, will not tolerate an aggresive attitude. It will make the difference between discretion being used and you being issued with a CAN and explaining things before a Magistrate, at your cost."
Spot on John!!
:thumbsup :
95% of operational police apply what is called the "attitude test" to nearly all "minor" stuff. In the event of being hypothetically spoken to by police to over possession/use of a laser in the future: speak nicely, don't be agro, be respectful (not obsequious) and I assure you in at least 95% of cases it will get you a loooong way. In the other 5% of cases, it won't hurt so why not do it anyway?
Give them a look at Saturn while you're (if you can) at it and you might even win a convert to astronomy!
Best,
Les D