Gunnedah Rural Museum members are pleased their long fight to keep its collection of historical firearms "temporarily inoperable" has been won.
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Coming exemptions for historic firearms means they will not be forced into "defacing pieces of history" by rendering them "permanently inoperable".
The museum's members have been fighting for months for changes to occur, hoping to see their priceless artefacts remain in their original state.
Now, NSW Governor Margaret Beazley has gazetted the Firearms Amendment (Museums Firearms Permit) Regulation 2019 to let NSW Police Commissioner Michael Fuller make exemptions for museum collections of firearms.
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These exemptions will allow historic and unique firearms to stay on display at museums across the state.
"We're thankful for the commonsense approach taken by the NSW government," Gunnedah Rural Museum member Trent Donoghue said.
Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott said the decision followed concerns raised by some museums, including Gunnedah's.
He said it showed that the NSW government had taken into account "the significant safe-storage requirement" for public displays of historic firearms.
"After speaking with a number of museum operators and the police commissioner, I believe we have achieved the right balance while ensuring pistols and prohibited firearms remain subject to regulation."
Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson was supportive of the changes.
"I've been working hard with the supporters of the Gunnedah museum to get an outcome [from] the minister that will safeguard the integrity of the display," Mr Anderson said.
"I want to thank the minister for his efforts and appreciate his attention to this important issue. I am pleased we have been able to get a quick resolution to this important concern."
The museum's members had verbal confirmation in July that the changes would go ahead but were hesitant to talk until after they received written confirmation.
Their fight also gained support from Gunnedah Shire Council, Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers party member Jeff Bacon, and countless community members.
In the coming weeks, the Firearms Registry will write to all museum firearms permit holders to advise them of the regulatory changes and the process to apply for an exemption.
