Melbourne International Shooting Club

Melbourne International Shooting Club, also known as MISC, isc based in Australia that provides facilities and services for shooting sports enthusiasts. The organisation offers members access to ranges where they can practice and compete in various disciplines, and it maintains a membership database that includes personal details and information about firearms owned by its members. As a shooting club, its core function revolves around supporting the shooting community through organised events, training opportunities, and the administration of member records. The club operates within the broader context of Australian firearms regulation, though specific regulatory roles are not detailed in the available information. Its activities are centred on serving individuals who participate in recreational and competitive shooting, with a focus on maintaining safe and controlled environments for these pursuits.

In November 2017, MISC experienced a cybersecurity breach that compromised the private details of 540 members, exposing storage locations and types of over 1,500 semi‑automatic handguns, most of which were kept in residential premises. The incident highlighted concerns about potential targeted thefts, noting that individual firearms could be valued at approximately $5,000 on illicit markets and that high‑risk weapons such as Glocks and Colt .45 automatics were specifically mentioned in the exposed data. Members expressed fears for their personal safety should criminal actors gain access to the information, while authorities investigated the scope of the unauthorized access without disclosing audit protocols or regulatory oversight of similar firearm databases. The breach underscored the sensitivity of the data held by the club and the risks associated with storing detailed firearms information in digital form. No further details about the club’s ownership, parent or subsidiary structure, or overall size beyond the incident‑related figures are provided in the source material.