You know the story – David Dunstan is the NSW farmer who became the victim of an atrocious bureaucracy that took his guns off him for defending himself against an armed intruder carrying a knife at his back door at 3 in the morning.

Five and a half weeks on, the NSW Police have finally advised David that he can have his firearms licence back. All David has to do now is go and get his licence from Albury Police Station and then his guns.

UPDATE (26/10): David advises that he now has his licence – and his guns!



It goes without saying this is something which shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

The failure of NSW Police to fix the problem straight away tells you about the culture of the place.

It also speaks to the misplaced trust the NSW Parliament has placed in the NSW Police acting in the public interest when administering the Firearms Act.

It’s a stark reminder that we should all look at our own legislation to see how it could be abused by a bureaucracy which has it’s own view on how firearms should be regulated.

A huge thank you goes to the many of you who supported our campaign to get the legal help David needed, which was a real help in steering us through legal avenues and in dealing directly with NSW Police. Our lawyer, Stephen Mainstone, did a great job (if you’d like to chat with him, you can get him at: info@mainstonelawyers.com.au).

Thank you also to the Office of the Deputy Premier of NSW, which helped pursue this matter over the past few days.

We’ll be spending the next few days working up our thoughts on the matter with a view to making a submission to the NSW government on this matter.

COMING UP: We now have a hearing date for our action against Victoria Police in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (for withholding documents showing the advice they provided the government on ‘firearm law reform’). Click here to sign up to our email list to get updates as they become available.