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They've always been subject to more rules than those for long arms. I've had my rifle and pistol licences for a long time now so can't comment on the current level of difficulty to obtain.

When I got my first pistol (35 years ago?) I had to become a member of a pistol club first and then shoot regularly for 6 months. After that period the club commitee provided approval for me to obtain either an air pistol or 22. After another 3 months of regular shooting I was approved to obtain a centrefire. I got a S&W J frame 38Spl initially and then Colt 45 shortly afterwards, after I discovered IPSC. At that time there was no rifle licence or registration. I also used to shoot IPSC with my M14 (good times!).

Several years back (might be longer though) they (government) introduced minimum participation requirements for pistol ownership. I have a participation card where I record attendance at official matches, signed by the RO at the match, and have to submit to the club every year. The police will check with the club to see that participation requirements have been met. These requirements are state controlled but I think are largely similar between states. I only have one pistol and only need to attend 6 matches per year - this is not a hard task. I only shoot at one club that has a monthly shoot, but there are many other matches that I could also take part in. If more than one pistol is owned then I think the requirements are 4 matches per pistol per year, and can't claim more than one pistol per match eg 3 pistols - 12 separate matches per year.

We are required to have a safe/s for all firearms. The safes have specific requirements - thickness, weight, door hinge/arrangements, bolt-down requirements etc. The safe laws are state controlled but similar between them. The police will inspect the safes at some point in time, against compliance. The last time I moved and had my safe inspected, the police also did a check-off of all my firearms against the register - this is an extra to the inspection of the safe. The police notified me before the inspection so that an appropriate time could be arranged.


Note that we have separate rifle and pistol licences and have to obtain a permit before each time we acquire a firearm. The permit is obtained from the police and they do a "background" check to make sure you are still a "fit and proper person". I've never had any issues. It adds a few weeks into the process.


So the process sounds like a pain in the arse but we survive.