There are a lot of active hunters in Australia.Quote from: "Fashionista"A lot of people think there aren't any guns in Australia any more, but there are. By some estimates there is one gun for every seven people. My local suburban pistol club has 300 members. My sons have been shooting since they were 12 and both have rifle and pistol licenses.
It's actually not that hard to own a gun. But you do have to have a genuine reason. You have to be a member of a target shooting club or a hunter and you have to prove it. For hunting, you can get written permission from a landowner who says you are hunting on his land. Or you can join a hunting club. Pistols [handguns], on the other hand, are heavily restricted. All applicants undergo a background check by the police and there is a mandatory 30 day cooling off period for all license applications, both long arms and pistols. Firearms safety training courses are mandatory as well.
One of the biggest changes is that the government established different types of firearms for different categories of guns and ruled that each would need different licenses. Here's roughly how it works:
Category A is .22s, shotguns and air rifles. That's the easiest license to obtain. No semiautomatics are allowed.
Category B is for center fire rifles. You have to provide a reason for why you need a more powerful gun. I shoot feral pigs and foxes; that's a valid reason. Again, no semiautomatics.
Category C is available only to farmers; they can own a semiautomatic shotgun or .22 but the cartridges are limited to five shots for the shotgun and 10 shots for the .22.
Category D, for semiautomatic guns and rifles, is only for professional shooters: you have to have a registered business and prove that you are earning an income through shooting.
An H license is for handguns. If you want to buy a pistol in Australia you've got to be a member of a target pistol club. You've got to do a minimum of eight competition shoots per year to keep your license. If you don't, you lose it.
Category G is for collectors. For that you've got to attend at least one meeting per year.http://time.com/4172274/what-its-like-to-own-guns-in-a-country-with-strict-gun-control/"> http://time.com/4172274/what-its-like-t ... n-control/">http://time.com/4172274/what-its-like-to-own-guns-in-a-country-with-strict-gun-control/
Hunting is popular in Australia.