Australia in 2100 has very restrictive gun laws (CR 5). This has done very little to curb criminal use of firearms. Several organized crime groups in Australia illegally manufacture firearms. Black market minifacs may be located in remote regions or within urban areas. Some groups use pirated designs, blueprints often acquired from the TSA Web or Trojan Mafia. Original designs are also manufactured. Appealing to patriotic and nostalgic memes, copies of the Owen, Austen and Lithgow F1 submachine guns in 9mm MAX are available. In addition to illegally manufactured weapons, many guns of various types are also smuggled into the country.
Such weapons are not just purchased by career criminals. Australia has many communities located in remote regions. Their objections to Australia’s gun prohibition laws are both ideological and practical. Many communities, many of them Isolates, do not want to have to rely on police for protection. Many communities are so remote that any call for help may take hours to be answered.
In remote areas, and some urban area too, bows and crossbows are used. Being Australia, use of woomera (atlatl) or war boomerangs is not unknown either. Firearms acquired by illegal means will be kept well hidden until really needed.
Officially, it is grudgingly admitted that some citizens may possibly have a need for firearms. With considerable trouble and red-tape a citizen may be permitted to own a “gauzi”. For most Aussies, this is the only model of gun they may ever legally own. Few permits are ever issued to urban dwellers. Being approved for ownership may be a little easier if the user agrees to security features such as locator-tags, and recognition pads.
The gauzi is an unusual weapon, looking like a 19th century rifle but using modern technology. It is a single-shot gauss-gun, the breech being opened by a lever that also serves as the trigger guard. The safety resembles a hammer to give a simple, easy to understand mechanism. When the hammer is in safe position the sights are obscured. After firing the hammer drops back to the safe position. It cannot be set to fire while the breech is open. A C cell is installed in the stock and powers the gun’s systems. The 18mm calibre barrel can accommodate a variety of loads. The projectile is suspended in a magnetic field and does not come into contact with the barrel walls. The gauzi will actually fire any object that can fit the bore and is ferrous. With a container of steel shot it serves as a shotgun. Several weights of spitzer bullet make the gauzi a small game or medium game rifle. Heavy, large calibre slugs provide some capability against dangerous animals. Explosive rounds and other varieties of military ammunition are not available. Because of the requirement for metallic content, producing less-lethal ammunition types for the gauzi is problematic. Purchasing or storing large quantities may prompt official investigation. The gauzi has a two-foot long barrel. Unlike that of a conventional firearm, the barrel cannot be shortened to make the gauzi more concealable. Cutting the barrel destroys the electromagnetic accelerator system. Cutting off the stock removes the power supply. The Australian government prefers to keep the number of gauzis in circulation low, so the design has a modular sighting system, allowing a single weapon to be used in a variety of roles. A HUD sight is fitted as standard.
Each gauzi is “made on demand” at a minifac. Some users opt for decorative finishes and ornate furniture. If you are only going to own one gun, might as well have one that you can be proud of. Other examples are plain utilitarian.