Australian Gun Culture Part 20: Abuse Leads to Gun Law Reform

By Dean Weingarten

By Dean Weingarten

Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- When I arrived in Australia, one of the first stories was about how the so called “sensible gun laws” were not so “sensible” for people in rural Australia.

I related the Donald Eykamp case about how interpretation of minor storage infractions lead to the confiscation of hundreds of thousands of dollars of highly collectible and historic firearms.

It appears that sort of abuse has lead to reform in the firearms law. The Eykamp case is in the process of appeal. A decision from the appeals court has been due any day for the last month.

The case has been in process since March 14, 2015. At that time, the law read that any guns found in violation of the safe storage laws had to be confiscated. Donald Eykamp paid about eighteen thousand dollars of fines, and about that much in lawyers fees.

On June 14th, 2016, the court ruled that the firearms should be turned over to a dealer, sold, and the proceeds given to Donald Eykamp.

The police appealed almost immediately, arguing that the judge did not have the authority to order the guns sold, and they must destroy the firearms. The appeal …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand