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Obviously Korea, Americia and Australia have a slightly different view about weapons.
Korea I believe is the strictest. The only weaons I have seen are shotguns which are used for hunting.
In Australia the law differs in each state. But after a particulary horrific shooting spree in the mid 90’s a lot of guns were banned.
No automatics, i.e. no sub machine guns, no machine guns or assault rifles.
If you want to shoot a gun you have to get a license. If you want to own a gun then you have to prove you are a “fit” person. This basically means you have to join a gun club, visit the club X amount of times per year and have a gun locker at your house.
The gun locker is not such a bad idea as I remember when I was a kid I grabbed my dads .22 rifle and then preceeded to see how close to my friends foot could I shoot. ANSWER: about 2 cm from 30 metres – DUMB DUMB DUMB ! …. so locking up your guns and storing the ammo in a different spot is basic commonsense.
If I get my Haidong Gumdo blackbelt I am thinking of buying a real sword. This involves a lot of paperwork. First who ever buys the sword in Korea must have a license. Then if you want to take it home you must get an export permit.
STEP ONE
To get the sword into Australia you must
1. Have an import permit
2. Be a member of an appropriate club
So I will be joing the THE AUSTRALASIAN KNIFE COLLECTORS CLUB (AKC)
If i enter Australia with a prohibted weapons (a sword) it will be confiscated. By joing the AKC I can enter the country with the sword. as long as I have a valid import permit.
STEP TWO
I must get a license for my sword. In Victoria a sword is a prohibited weapon. This has occured after several incidents involving attacks with swords. To “protect” us the government then passed several laws banning most forms of weapons.
The most famous incident happened at an Asian nightclub in Melbourne. There was a fight between two groups. They left the nightclub. One group went back to their cars, grabbed some swords from the boot (trunk for you Americans)and attacked the first group killng one. The remaing two guys ran away closely followed by the sword weilding idiots. They jumped into the local river to escape which worked very well. One problem, they couldn’t swim, so both of them drowned.
Trivia: Under Victorian law a bulletproof vest is classed the same as a gun or sword.
So I must get a license which costs several hundred dollars and somthing similar to a gun cabinet to lock up the sword.
If I join a registered martial arts club then I won’t need a license.
Summary
1. Get a Korean export permit
2. Join the AUSTRALASIAN KNIFE COLLECTORS CLUB so I have a valid reason to import/keep a sword
3. Get an import permit from ???? Victora Police / Australian Customs ?????
4. Get a license / gun case for the sword in Victoria
Questions:
Does a Kar-gum need a license ? It looks like a real sword!
What about mok-gums?
AUSTRALASIAN KNIFE COLLECTORS CLUB (AKC)
http://www.knivesaustralia.com.au/bonafide.html
Outside of the membership and custom crafted knife industry, the activities of the AKC are becoming increasingly better known, particularly by State and Federal authorities, such as Australian Custom Service, Justice and Police Departments.
Victoria had the most stringent anti-knife laws of all states. Other states in Australia then patterned their respective anti-knife legislation on the Victorian model. The Victorian Department of Justice recognized the Australasian Knife Collectors Club (A.K.C.) as a bona fide organization representing bona fide knife collectors and knife-makers back in 1998.
As of July 2004, Sword ownership in Victoria is prohibited without a valid exemption. AKC has an appropriate exemption for sword ownership in Victoria. AKC members travelling to or from Victoria with swords should ensure they carry their AKC membership card as proof of their exemption while in that State.
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hello
i was wondering how i join an “appropriate” club. for example i want to start collecting samuri swords, if i join a club will i have to attend meetings? or can i just be considered a part of the (AKC) by sending in an application form. What will an appropriate club require?
Is there other ways i can have a collection of samuri swords.
do you require a license for non live/false edged swords?
It’s been 6 years so this has most probably been solved, but for people who do not know, mok-gums do NOT need a license. It is a blunt weapon used (mostly) for training.
Now on to whether customs will let you bring them into Australia. Travelling wise, those are listed under the “Common Weapons” list, meaning they are allowed into the country. Then you have to worry about individual state laws, which you will (I’m sorry to say) find out on your own, as they constantly change.
Remember, the blunt wooden swords are sub-categorized as Martial Arts weapons.
Does a martial arts (swords) membership count as ‘appropriate club’ in Australia?