Thread: Possession of live ammunition for blanks

I agree that certainly some might have nefarious reasons for trying to get some items through customs , where it gets ridiculous is if the items are not illegal and freely available (with a bit of research) in Australia . I just think that some common sense should apply in these matters ,not some faceless public servant trying to justify their existance in some little "cubby hole" Having previously received a state police Permit to import such Items ( who had no problems with these items ) at least these guys are living in the real world and on the front line ,as opposed to the customs seat warmers and Bureacratic Bunglers. That said when they are doing what I think they are meant to be doing ,protecting us from illegal things like drugs and other such items they seem to have a lot of success and good results ,it's only when they start nit picking and using their powers to waste time on such things as have been brought forward in this thread. Some things just get up my nose

We do have to realise that so many people are now considered "not qualified" to make certain judgements.

Bearing that in mind......the average customs official is not capable of determining that an item that may be "amunition" is or is not capable of being made viable....regardless of how it appears.

Remember too there are a great many things that are legal to posess and sell in one or many states but are restricted at the customs barrier or vice versa.

Then, as we have heard, the procedure and requirements may vary from state to state...AND...an item may cross the customs barrier in one state and be destined for another.

Do you recon every customs officer will know all the small detail about every type of restricted item there is...and the small print that permits them and under what special circumstances.
Or are they more likely to recognise restriced items and know "they should be rejected".

In this day and age, public servants generally are harder worked than they once where and they are not braught up in the way of the department from a low position and a young age...so they have big holes in their knoweledge.

If you are doing anything at all marginal or unusual, you realy have to be on the front foot and be able to quote chapter and verse as to why something IS permitted...and it would be wise to have your claim in writing shipped with the goods.

Like

bla b bla bla...these items are imported under section #### of the @@@@@ federal act, a permit number ***** has been issued bt XYZ under the state act !!!!!!.
These may be trasnsported byAustralia post guidelines being *****.

Public servants, inspectors and regulators of all types will take anything at first impressions and say NO first and as questions later.

These guys see all sorts of crap and reject many packages daily.

They don't get punished for saying NO, they only get punished for saying yes when they should not.

There is also very much the attitude that if you are going to do weird stuff, you should know your business......if ya don't ya probbbly should not be doing it.

This is the way it is with burocracy......and it will never change.

So no matter what it is...vehicle modifications, weird electrical devices or importing weird stuff.

You have to know your business in advance, be able to quote chapter and verse and don't wait for them to contact you.


People who import regularly or make a living from clearing stuff from import know all the ins and outs.

Back in the day when there where large import duities and sales tax that varied from 10% to 30%...simply knowing the right words to put on the customs forms could save thousands of dollars.

The change of a single word, could make all the difference.

If ya want to deal with this "amunition", do ya homework and know your business in advance.

"THEY" are not going to do your work for you.

cheers

update to the issue i encountered, went and got the correct permit required, rang the gentleman from customs who wanted me to contact him, , and bugger me i had to either get hold of a courier to collect the and deliver them to mount isa or i could make an appoitment, drive down there and collect them myself, as far ad he was concerned australia post was not an option.
have written off 10 X 50cal cases
so the score is customs 1, tony nill

cheers Tony

Perhaps you can get someone in Bris to pick them up then just post them, as although Customs say Aus Post won't deliver them, we know they do

So are people looking for NEW UNFIRED brass and NEW UNFIRED projectiles?

Originally Posted by Mk1 Development

So are people looking for NEW UNFIRED brass and NEW UNFIRED projectiles?

I am not sure about unfired brass as that may be a bit dangerous ,or you would have to plug the end with something where the detonater goes, unfired projectiles are fine as they are mostly solids that need drilling out for the mechanisms ,I have some to go on with for a while ,but eventually as they sell off will need to start looking again for some more cheers ! and welcome to the forums hehe, John

John

Unfired brass is as safe as houses. It will have never been in a rifle, never been put through a sizing die, never dented on the neck as it comes out of the ejection port and will not have a primer nor ever had one.

EDIT: Having travelled OS with firearms and ammunition many times, I do not suggest you try and get through any screening process to get on a plane, with a bullet pen anywhere in your carry on gear or on your person. Unless the customs guys are all asleep, you will almost certainly miss your flight and be very inconvenienced.

Ozhunter, you are perfectly correct,its getting hold of them in Australia that seems to be a problem ,although legal it seems they are a bit scarce ! used or unused cheers ~ John

John

They are scarce because the US have stopped shipping them out of the country, along with a lot of other firearm related stuff, and they don't have much of a sense of humour about it.

I can source some once fired and deprimed shells if anyone needs them. Don't know how much they might be though.