In 1996, after the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania the Firearms Act here is Australia was changed. Drastically. I was 11 at the time so id did not affect me then, but it does now.

Automatics, semi autos, pump action shotguns were banned. There was a nationwide government buyback. Many firearms were subsequently destroyed, including some with historical significance that were not on the banned list. Storage requirements such safes bolted down, alarm systems installed also came into affect.

A few years later we had another shooting at a university here in Victoria. This also led to another knee jerk reaction by the government to ban and highly restrict handguns higher than .38 cal.

There are exemptions to own some of the banned firearms such as collectors licences, farmers for pest control, security requirements ect.

”how do people manage to hold onto them”   this would depend on which state you are in and what licence you hold. I believe under most collectors licences, a 1897 would have to be made ‘permanently inoperable’. This destroys the gun as you can imagine – welded action drilled and welded chamber ect. .

Overall, IMHO, some of the changes were for the better, some also for the worse and were very unfair for the vast majority of collectors, shooters and hunters alike.

I am sure some of the other Aussies on here that are a fair bit older than me, can shed a lot more light on how bad things were in 1996.

Chris (current LEO, shooter, hunter and collector).

AH did you include the part of the barrel that is screwed into the receiver too?  Many forget this.