NT Police trample over Court ruling
NO SHOOTER likes heavy handed regulators, and now we’re about to jump into a new fight with the NT Police who feel they can bypass due legal process for no reason other to get revenge.
It’s a fight shooters in other states have had with their regulators who feel they are above the law – and why we need to take this on and win.
It also comes hot on the heels of two other recent wins in NCAT and other wins we’ve had in other states.
Ron's story
On 11 February this year, Ron Sterry won his fight to get his licence back after it was taken off him when he went to help a stabbed neighbour.
There was one charge he was found guilty of (regarding a bayonet) but Judge Birch of the Alice Springs Local Court ruled that the police should return the bayonet and his licence to him, with nothing more than a good behaviour bond.
That’s because his actions were seen as being ‘reasonable’ and ‘proportionate’. It was a fair outcome.
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On 15 March, and seemingly out of spite, NT Police raided his place on the pretext that Ron was harbouring illicit drugs.
We covered this story in this article and described the demeanour of police as nothing more than ‘sour grapes’.
What they didn't find
The police found nothing worth pursing. The chemical analysis revealed household items including chilli oil, vinegar, and even water.
The property receipt from police, which has only just been provided, revealed Ron had several replica firearms, including one of a “Steyr” and loose rounds of ammo.
Actually, that’s incorrect. Quite incorrect. The list includes a star wars prop (which was returned to him without charge) and ‘replicas’ which are Nerf guns (and which the Police have not yet returned).
The ‘ammo’ was in fact shells or dummy rounds, which had spent primers. Plus some air rifle pellets. Again, no charges.
Despite this, the police never actually got his registered guns that they came to take. They drilled holes in his safe but were stopped by Ron’s lawyer, Jon Bortoli.
Yet the NT police have now decided to revoke his licence – and seize his guns.
So why the revocation? What is it that Ron has done since then?
Here’s the reason given in the revocation notice:
In other words, the only ground for revocation is the matter that Judge Birch has already dealt with – where the judge specifically ruled that Ron’s licence was to be returned to him.
There is nothing in this to suggest Ron is not a ‘fit and proper’ person, that he has committed any new offences or that he has breached his good behaviour bond.
In other words, it’s not Ron that the NT Police have an issue with: it’s the legal system they don’t like.
Logically if the NT Police want to try this on, then they could revoke any NT shooter’s licence for any matter that the NT courts have dealt with.
That’s why we need to fight this.
NSC re-engages Jon Bortoli
Once again we have hired NT barrister, Jon Bortoli, to represent Ron.
The advice we have received gives us confidence that this is a matter worth fighting.
While we don’t wish to yet reveal how this will be fought, we intend to win this out of principle – and we need your help.
Legal fights are expensive, but they're important
… and we’re winning.
We’ve already won cases in every state and territory other than the ACT (where we are yet to run a matter).
In the past couple of weeks alone, you have seen us win two cases in NSW to help a disabled shooter and a pensioner who simply showed his licence to someone else.
We’ve also got some ‘calibre’ cases in WA being decided soon which we are also confident about.
None of the decisions that have been made so far have been kind to the police. We are not against the police and indeed support them when they make the right decisions – but we have seen and focussed on decisions and policies that are patently unfair and unreasonable.
The behaviour of the NT Police to defy the NT legal system needs to be stamped out.
If we manage to do this, then it will help discourage other registries from doing the same – and encourage our forces to put their focus on where it needs to be – on real crime. Not Nerf guns.
That’s why we’re hoping for your support.
Please consider how you can support our fight to help Ron in this matter. If this is the first time you’ve heard of the NSC, why not join our email list using the sign up box below to find out more?
Pure insanity. Whoever went against the court ruling needs to be held accountable. It’s downright criminal. Good work NSC!
totally agree Bailey, accountability is the major problem and why these brainless time and money wasting cases are bought against innocent people who without the NSC may be bullied into just taking what they think is the easy path and not fighting these idiotic charges
Thankyou NSC
Yeah! I use to on national firearms united, but they don’t post that much anymore. I want this ____ to stop! I thought I heard everything on that site but the demonic corruption is continuing. More people should know about this in the wider community!
Hi Neil,
We have corresponded before recently. I too am having problems with WAPOL, getting my Son a Licence to co-license my firearms. They are a law unto themselves. They keep making rules, forms and Policies up which are not supported by either the Firearms Act or Regs…unlawful in other words. Unfortuneately, the Labor anti-gun Police Minister lets them get away with it. WA is stuffed..Regards, Ross.
NT police sound as incompetent as the NT Government, especially when Micheal Gunner was running the show.
Would it be worth taking a case like this to the federal high court nationally to then set a precedence for other ‘similar’ matters in state courts to make the process easier later?
It’s bound to happen again somewhere!
It should matter not whether you are a ‘plebe’ citizen or a member of the police forces; if you defy a court order or a judges ruling, you are in contempt and should be held accountable, charged, jailed. Let’s make an example of these miscreants.
Of course the police think they are above the statute laws..
But that’s because they are not above Freemasonic Law.
..The logic and dogma of which says, gangster hierarchy is above all other laws.
In the long run the only people who this effects are the tax payers who foot the bill for the incompetence of the police and of course, anyone who has the misfortune of coming to their attention.
Well done NSC….
No one is above the law … they need to be held accountable… the lawful law abiding gun owners of Australia need you…. Well done!! ????
I will be donating to your awesome organisation…..
How is it the “police” are able to do this? Who is monitoring what the police are doing!? Can someone help me!!???
It’s ludicrous that anyone in a police uniform can appoint themselves as a public prosecutor against an individual they do not like simply because of their inbuilt Gestapo mentality without recourse or repercussion to themselves. The police are supposed to be servants of the public, not jailers.
The Police Officers involved in any case like this ,where the Accused is found not Guilty of the offence ,then these officers
should be made , personally , to pay all costs to the Accused . Win or lose ,the Accused suffers Acute Financial Loss .The Accused is badly affected ,and Police know this .
if a court agrees with RON ,very strong action is warranted against the Police
Its now time that individual police invoilved in these illegal actions who abuse their powers and violate the rule of law, be held to account by our courts. This is another example of reckless corrupt cops using their positions as police officers to bully, intimidate and steal property, becuase they were defeated in the court room. These cops refuse to uphold the laws they are duty bound to uphold and for which they are paid to serve. What we have here are a mob of gangster police in a position of public power, using and abusing the law as weapon against the people for which they hold no licence. A police officer, therefore, is the servant of no-one ‘save of the law itself’ and ‘answerable to the law and to the law alone.’[16] R v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis; Ex parte Blackburn [1968] 2 QB 118, 136 (Lord Denning MR).
The pristine view of the position of the police constable as simply ‘a person paid to perform, as a matter of duty, acts which if he were so minded he might have done voluntarily. See F Stephen, A History of the Criminal Law of England (1889) 494, quoted in United Kingdom, Report of the Royal Commission on Police Powers and Procedure, Cmnd 3297 (1929) [15].
The police should be held in contempt and charged accordingly , They should also have to replace the gun safe they damaged, It’s about time the Police were policed, along with a lot of these bludging Polly’s. Good on y’all for taking them on.