Guns on a Boat, Yes or No?

[El Pinguino]

I've been looking for up to date info re Australian Customs requirements... I can find nothing more recent on the customs site itself than 2008 and nothing at all re the ability to temporarily import a boat for up to 3 years.
Can anyone point me towards some up to date info? ... and please don't say noonsite......

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by atoll

great,be sure to specify that the vessels in question are foreign flagged,not being imported into Australia,and by non Australian citizens.

just passing through as tempory imports

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

According to your own statement a few posts back a foreign flag yacht entering at Bundaberg and clearing at Darwin has indeed been imported if only temporarily ...

"Foreign yachts may now be temporarily imported into Australia for up to 3 years without paying duty or Goods and Services Tax. "

Whether the yacht stays for 3 weeks or 3 years its status is the same whilst in Australia.... I see no 'in transit' classification....

I think you might be splitting the hairs a little fine here. Atoll's intent is clear. Maybe this minor correction will help you if you still don't understand what he is saying.

great,be sure to specify that the vessels in question are foreign flagged,not being permanently (added) imported into Australia,and by non Australian citizens.

just passing through as temporary (highlighted) import

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

I've been looking for up to date info re Australian Customs requirements... I can find nothing more recent on the customs site itself than 2008 and nothing at all re the ability to temporarily import a boat for up to 3 years.
Can anyone point me towards some up to date info? ... and please don't say noonsite......

Not sure if it's what you have already seen on the Aus Customs website.....

Yachts

1. Control permits

A control permit will be issued to the Master or owner of the craft if Customs and Border Protection is satisfied the craft is touring Australia for non-commercial purposes. Control permits may be issued for specified periods, for example three (3) months or the length of time of the Master's visa, whichever is less, however the maximum length of time a permit will be granted will not exceed twelve (12) months.

Extensions of the permit may be granted on application, provided that you have an appropriate visa however extensions will only be granted for a maximum of three (3) years within a four (4) year period commencing from the date of arrival of the craft in Australia.........

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

Not sure if it's what you have already seen on the Aus Customs website.....

Yachts

Thanks for that... quite bizzare... I kept getting led by google into out of date stuff...

[sailpower]

Originally Posted by atoll

i did say ALL countries will allow you to declare a firearm on arrival.
but personally just a quick run through region by region;
,all of the windward islands,abc islands,panama,french polynesia,cook is fiji,tonga,vanuatu,new caledonia,australia,south africa,brazil,trinidad.

yemen,egypt,cyprus,malta,france,spain ,gibraltar,morrocco,

thats on the last 2 circumnavigations,with a semi auto .223rifle ,.22rifle,12 guage shot gun and 9mm semi auto pistol

I'm pretty sure there is a former active duty US marine locked up in Mexico right now after he declared his guns.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by sailpower

I'm pretty sure there is a former active duty US marine locked up in Mexico right now after he declared his guns.

keep on reading where I quote mexico as an exception

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

Bringing weapons into Australia

Atol is right, I'm wrong (again)

After a chat with Customs about visiting vessels (all visiting vessels are registered elsewhere), which are carrying any designated weapon, prohibited weapons or restricted, all you have to do is declare them as being on board when you contact the port of arrival, being at least 96 hours prior.

Upon the usual inspection, if your weapon and ammo is appropriately stored and can be safeguarded such as in an onboard gun safe, Customs will then 'seal' the locked locker with a seal which is tamper proof. If it is tampered with upon final inspection at your port of leaving you will be prosecuted.

If you are carrying weapons of a particular nature, e.g prohibited weapons, which usually included automatic weapons, they 'May' be seized and as Atol says returned to you at your expense at your port of leaving. This is discretionary on the officers at the time. It all depends on whether they believe they are safe enough to be left on the vessel.

Always declare and you will always NOT be prosecuted. He must have a bit of a sense of humour because he then stipulated that if you declare a kilo of coke, then you will still be prosecuted.

The four weeks notice relates only to the purchase by Australians of restricted items such as weapons for the importing into Australia.

And of course, none of this applies to Australian registered vessels of which the usual state or territory, and federal laws apply even if you are coming from over seas. Though 'declare' and you will avoid prosecution (unless it's a kilo of coke).

thanks for clearing that up and getting a definitive answer,nice to know nothing has changed for yachts with high powered semi automatic weapons

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Factor

You can leave Australia well off your cruising plans. Little or no tolerance for gun ownership here.

you need to check your facts before posting mis-information,it would be a shame to miss out visiting Australia based on opinionated tosh such as you have posted,that goes for mark J as well

[ontherocks83]

Originally Posted by sailpower

I'm pretty sure there is a former active duty US marine locked up in Mexico right now after he declared his guns.

The difference though is he was driving into mexico not sailing. He allegedly got into the wrong lane being unfamiliar with the area and had no option but to drive into mexico. All he wanted to do was make a u turn and go back to the U.S. He declared his guns before they searched the car but they arrested him anyways.

All that being said I do not think that anyone here is arguing that Mexico is a giant exception to the rule. If I were forced to go into port there I would be deep sixing all of my firearms before making land fall.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by ontherocks83

The difference though is he was driving into mexico not sailing. He allegedly got into the wrong lane being unfamiliar with the area and had no option but to drive into mexico. All he wanted to do was make a u turn and go back to the U.S. He declared his guns before they searched the car but they arrested him anyways.

All that being said I do not think that anyone here is arguing that Mexico is a giant exception to the rule. If I were forced to go into port there I would be deep sixing all of my firearms before making land fall.

Its a political situation rather a straight forward arrest.
It will clear up when Mexico and the US agree on something........

[sailpower]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"when a gun owner says "automatic" he is not referring to a machine gun, but to a gun that automatically moves a cartridge from its magazine to its firing chamber after removing the previously fired cartridge case from the firing chamber, if their is one."

Uh, no. An automatic weapon is one that continues to fire as long as the trigger is depressed. What you are talking about is a semiautomatic weapon, which diverts a portion of the fired charge to cycle the bolt and feed the next round into the chamber.

That's almost as wrong as the term "assault rifle". Neither the US Department of Defense nor NATO has any definition of what an "assault rifle" might be. The term was coined by anti-gun advocates in the US and has been adopted in some legislation, but among militaries and firearm manufacturers, it is still an undefined buzzword meaning something like "evil guns that will leap out of the closet and slaughter whole cities all by themselves".

Boogeymen.

Assault rifle is a real term and goes back to the Germans.

Assault weapon is the made up political term for a weapon that is not capable of doing what the weapon that it is cosmetically styled to look like can do but is really, really scary looking.

Assault rifle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[sailpower]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Not a "gun" guy but aren't pistols referred to as automatics if they are magazine/clip fed (and automatically chamber) as opposed to revolvers?

No. Pistols and rifles that are magazine fed and that require the trigger to be pulled for each round fired are termed semi-automatic weapons. Sometimes, depending on their cosmetic features or options they are termed to be assault weapons.

Fully automatic weapons or, as they are often called, automatic weapons, keep firing as long as the trigger is engaged.

Selective fire weapons fire a preset burst with one trigger pull or can fire automatically if selected.

The last two are considered assault rifles by law and are heavily regulated.

Note that the media and the anti-gun groups often use the terms assault rifle and assault weapon interchangeably irrespective of their legal classification. Some consider this to be a deliberate distortion in order to advance an anti-gun agenda. That is why you often hear or see news accounts where the citizen is described as carrying a "military style" or assault rifle when what they actually have is an AR 15 or similar.

RE: "Military Style:I know of no military that issues semi-automatic weapons as their main battle gun but it sure does sound scary to those who don't know..

[ontherocks83]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Not a "gun" guy but aren't pistols referred to as automatics if they are magazine/clip fed (and automatically chamber) as opposed to revolvers?

A more correct term would be auto-loader. Most people and the news media just see the word "auto" and pee themselves that it is a full automatic machine gun and don't take the time do a little research.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by sailpower

Assault rifle is a real term and goes back to the Germans.

Sturmgewehr 44, actually manufactured specifically against Hitler's orders,
Sub Machine Gun, sort of a rifle firing essentially pistol bullets, low velocity, short range, inaccurate. The Sturmgeweher was an attempt to keep a rifles good qualities and the good qualities of a Sub Machine gun, sort of. But is pretty much accepted to be the first "assault rifle". I believe it was actually called machinepistol or something like that, but Hitler had forbidden those so he called it a Sturmgewehr, which I think may be German for Assault Rifle or similar, but as I speak very little German, I'm not sure.

Automatic is sort of half the word, to make it make sense, it should be full auto, or semi auto

[a64pilot]

Looked it up, actually means "Storm Rifle", English translation makes it assault rifle I guess.
Duh, I should have known Sturm = Storm