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No.38 - February 2008: Proposed Firearm Licence Fee increases
Government Proposes Massive Fee Hike for Licences
The Guild has just received from the Combined Firearms Council of Victoria (CFCV) a notice concerning the above proposal. Below is a summary of that notice (with some small changes):
The Department of Justice has put forward the following proposed fee rises (and some useful reductions) for a range of firearms licences and permits. We urge you to make every effort to contact your local member as well as make your feelings felt about the increases directly to the Department of Justice. Their contact details are included in this notice (the deadline for any submissions is 5pm 11th March 2008).
We have underlined the charges that are subject to the greatest increases.
Dealers - Dealers are the arteries of the firearm registration system and for shooters. Many small dealers exist either as a part time business or to assist clubs. Imagine what these fees will do to them. Dealers make between 10 and 20% margin, which means they will now need to turnover $50,000 of stock just to pay the licence fee. Fewer dealers will mean it is harder to purchase items and this will also mean it is harder for people to bring illegal firearms into the legal market - and to transfer firearm registration.
Juniors - the massive increase for them sends the wrong signal and will discourage them from taking up the sport.
Pistol shooters - the reason the increase is there, is because of the paperwork that is now imposed on clubs by the Licensing Services Division. The LSD is uninterested in reducing the regulatory burden, and simply sheeting the added costs to shooters.
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Summary of Currents Fees with Proposed Fees
* Proposed fee increases in blue
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| Description |
Current fee ($) |
Proposed fee ($) |
Percentage change |
| Longarm licence for category A longarms (natural person) |
176.32 |
157.59 |
-11 |
| Longarm licence for category B longarms (natural person) |
203.87 |
157.59 |
-23 |
| Longarm licence for category C longarms (natural person) |
122.32 |
116.62 |
-5 |
| Paintball marker licence (natural person) |
203.87 |
157.59 |
-23 |
| General category handgun licence-sport or target shooting or prescribed reason (natural person) |
148.77 |
293.11 |
+97 |
| General category handgun licence - security guard, prison guard, official or commercial purpose (natural person) |
231.42 |
192.26 |
-17 |
| Provisional licence |
82.65 |
100.86 |
+22 |
| Junior licence |
39.67 |
94.53 |
+138 |
| Category 1 firearms collectors licence (natural person) |
258.97 |
168.10 |
-35 |
| Category 2 firearms collectors licence (natural person) |
308.56 |
157.59 |
-49 |
| Firearms ammunition collectors licence (natural person) |
126.73 |
168.00 |
+33 |
| Firearms heirlooms licence |
126.73 |
157.59 |
+24 |
| Antique handgun collectors licence (natural person) |
258.97 |
168.00 |
-35 |
| Firearms dealers licence - dealing in category A, B longarms and general category handguns (natural person) |
965.35 |
7208.97 |
+647 |
| Firearms dealers licence-dealing in category A, B longarms and general category handguns (body corporate) |
1348.85 |
7208.97 |
+434 |
| Firearms dealers licence - dealing in category A, B, C, D, E longarms and general category and category E handguns (natural person) |
1348.85 |
7208.97 |
+434 |
| Firearms dealers licence - dealing in category A, B, C, D, E longarms and general category and category E handguns (body corporate) |
1543.90 |
7208.97 |
+367 |
| Permit to acquire a category A,B or C longarm |
9 |
30.50 |
+239 |
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The first thing you should do!
You need to put in a written submission to:
Ms Mary-Anne MacCallum
Senior Policy Officer
Justice Policy
Department of Justice
GPO Box 4356QQ
Melbourne VIC 3001
or email: MARY-ANNE.MACCALLUM@justice.vic.gov.au
by no later than 5:00pm, 11 March 2008. You can also obtain a copy of the Regulatory Impact Statement from Mary-Anne (and the Guild suggests you do so before preparing your submission).
** UPDATED CLOSING DATE - NOW 17 MARCH 2008 **
One of our members received the following response from the Department of Justice on Friday, 22 February 2008. Please note that the final date for submissions has now been extended:
In response to your query about the closing date, the Department of Justice had identified technical errors in respect of certain licence fee amounts in the Proposed Firearms Regulations 2008 that were advertised on 9 February 208.0
The proposed Regulations and the RIS were therefore removed from our website, and the errors have now been rectified. The draft Regulations and Regulatory Impact Statement were then re-advertised on Saturday 16 February 2008, and the full 28 day consultation period will apply. Therefore, the closing date is 17 March 2008.
Kind regards
Tatiana Mitrevska
Justice Policy
Department of Justice
L24/121 Exhibition Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000
Go and see your local member of parliament and tell them about this. If you don't have the time to do that, then write to them.
The Guild will itself be making a submission and thanks the CFCV for sending us this information.
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