Dealer gets guns back
A GEELONG gun dealer has won a six-year battle with Victoria Police to clear his name in a bittersweet victory that casts a cloud over the state of the Victorian firearms registry.
Rod Haugh says the protracted legal fight to restore his gun dealer licence has cost about $9 million in revenue at The Outdoor Sportsman in Geelong West with the stress of the ordeal suspected of leading to the 72-year-old’s deteriorating health.
The Licensing and Regulation Division of Victoria Police has returned about 1750 guns seized from the store in 2013 and restored his dealer’s licence after an agreement was reached at the Firearms Appeal Committee earlier this year.
“It’s been hard I tell you, it’s been very hard,” Mr Haugh said. “But I have always been confident I will see it out.”
Mr Haugh has only ever been accused of poor bookkeeping and has not been accused or charged with any other wrongdoing.
While he accepts he contributed to part of the bookkeeping problem, he insists the major issues were in the accuracy and management of the state’s firearms registry.
Firearms must be registered with Victoria Police, with dealers like the The Outdoor Sportsman submitting a weekly record of purchases and sales.
Mr Haugh, who had previously operated his business for more than 30 years in Geelong without an issue, said his recent experience exposed serious questions over the accuracy of the state’s firearms registry
“The registry figures, I would estimate to be 25 per cent out in our case,” he said.
“If they don’t know where one in four guns are, then what’s the use of registration?”
A Victoria Police spokesman said the 1996 Firearms Reforms identified a uniform requirement for all firearms sales to be conducted only by, or through, licenced firearm dealers and certain minimum principles that would underpin rules relating to the recording of firearms transactions by dealers and right of inspection by police.
“Therefore, licensed firearm dealers are expected to input data records of firearm acquisitions and disposals,” spokesman said.
“In the case of Mr Haugh, his dealer’s licence was suspended in 2013 as a result of the inaccuracy of his record keeping which was a breach of his licence conditions.
“The matter at the Firearms Appeal Committee was settled without the latter having to make a ruling. It was adjourned sine die for both parties to try and reach an amicable agreement, which occurred in January.”
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