Got a letter the other day from the police. It was informing me my gun license for one particular state (I have a license to own guns in two states) had expired and I had to hand in my guns.

No biggie, right?

Except, the address I was living at when that expired license was first granted - some six years ago - is three address old. Yep... I had moved three times and not once updated my address on their records.

I asked... "How did you know where I lived?"

They said, "Driver's License."

See, Boyd. We have national gun registration in this country. You cannot buy a gun without a permit which is issued by the police. You cannot sell a gun unless it is to a licensed gun dealer. And they must fill out a form with the gun's details and send it in to the police. All guns are linked to a gun license which is thus linked to a driver's license.

All police can plug in your address on their in-car computer and see if you own guns. So if they want to visit you, they can know before they knock on your door whether you are a gun owner.

To open a bank account we need to show many of the following: birth certificate, passport, driver's license, other form of official goivernment issued identification, other bank "cards" and have a Tax File Number - so our bank accounts can be linked to the Tax Office.

We do NOT have anything in our constitution which guarantees our privacy. Not that I am aware of.

In the middle of this country is a communications base. That base received signals from satellites which listen to EVERY communication transmitted. Key words picked up in a dialogue between a couple of people flags the message for later listening.

Anyway. Best we can do is keep as low a profile as possible and buy with cash as much as possible.

Michael Ross