It's "just a case of 'wait'" for Gunnedah Rural Museum before it can put its treasured historical firearms back on display.
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The museum volunteers have applied for an exemption to NSW government gun laws that would have required them to make the items "permanently inoperable".
Committee president Ian Guest said the display items were missed but would have to remain in storage for the time being.
"We're just waiting on our exemption to come through, so it's just a case of 'wait' now," Mr Guest said.
"We put in for the exemption over a month ago, and we've had a call from the Firearms Registry saying it's in the process."
The group had been worried the Firearms Regulation 2017 - which required all pistols and prohibited firearms in museum collections to be made permanently inoperable - would mean "defacing pieces of history".
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It lobbied Gunnedah Shire Council and residents for support to protest against the rule, gaining more than 6000 signatures on a petition to change back to the "temporarily inoperable" rules.
In late August, the NSW Governor gazetted the Firearms Amendment (Museums Firearms Permit) Regulation 2019, meaning NSW Police Commissioner Michael Fuller could allow exemptions for museum collections.
In the meantime, Mr Guest said the artefacts were missed.
"The ones in question have been stored elsewhere but, once we've got the exemption, they can come back out on display," he said.
"People have been asking questions about how we're getting on and they've commented there's quite a few vacant holes [in the display]."