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The next story comes from Australia, where a self-described pastafarian went about mocking the rules set up for firearm ID pictures by wearing a colander on his head. Guy Albon convinced the photographer that he was a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster so that he could wear the colander - a symbol of the satirical religious movement whose members refer to themselves as Pastafarians. The 30-year-old said he exploited a law that allows headgear to be worn in photos.
'The law stipulates you can have something on your head,' he said. 'You have to have your entire face uncovered and if the headgear is being worn it has to have some religious significance. I thought 'I've got this one in the bag - it was an absolute scream.'
Officers came to his home, where they seized two handguns and two rifles and ordered him to see a psychiatrist. According to Mr Albon, the psychiatrist immediately declared him as sane and 'laughed it off'.
(Score: 4, Informative) by deimtee on Friday June 27 2014, @02:06AM
You are supposed to have a legitimate reason to own a firearm here. These reasons include hunting, vermin control, target shooting.
If the police are suspicious of you, you may have to prove that your reason is legitimate.
He had two handguns, this will mean that he is much more closely checked than someone who had, eg. a 22 for shooting rabbits.
Your licence will allow you to have firearms suitable for that purpose, (all firearms must be registered):
- vermin control (rabbits, foxes etc) - 22 or other small rifle, shotgun.
- hunting (pigs, large feral animals) - larger rifle.
- target shooting - you can have pretty much any weapon for which you can find a club that shoots it, but these weapons are much more tightly controlled. Secure lockups, guns and ammo separate, reasonable reason to transport them, handguns stay at the club premises, etc.
(These rules vary from state to state, and urban vs rural within a state)
Regarding this guy, it doesn't sound like they kicked his door in and searched the place. They would have had a list of firearms he owned, and it reads like they simply turned up and demanded that he hand them over until he passed a psychiatric check.
This would generally not be considered unreasonable in AU.
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(Score: 1) by clone141166 on Friday June 27 2014, @04:09AM
Thanks for the info.