[stal]

ok heres a tiny little inconsequential example.

last week my uncle's gun lisence expired. now he served 25 years in the australian navy, including running support for 70s/80's mid-east black ops, and is now a screw (works in a prison, for the government) but as soon as his ticket expired he got a phone call. a few years ago he sent his prized hunting rifle out to my dads farm for safe keeping. as soon as he said this, he was told it was a serious offense, and threatened with jail time.

same as my dad. he was given 1 day to drive 200kms and hand the rifle in. now my uncle can get the rifle back, after paying $50 to renew his permit. doesnt sound like much until you take into account the $15 per day he has to pay for gun storage. oh yeah, the permit takes 6 weeks to process.

now the police were quite willing to book both my uncle (a decorated ex-serviceman) and dad (a highly respected community man), untill they agreed to pay the $$. also, they live 500kms apart, so there were no personal grudges involved. just standard BS.