• Hi Guest. Welcome to the new forums. All of your posts and personal messages have been migrated. Attachments (i.e. images) and The (Old) Classifieds have been wiped.

    The old forums will be available for a couple of weeks should you wish to grab old images or classifieds listings content. Go Here

    If you have any issues please post about them in the Forum Feedback thread: Go Here

Would Airsoft be bigger in the UK without ukara?

sonofsammo said:
Sorry if this has been covered before elsewhere - but what is a reasonable excuse wrt the firearms act?
I'm guessing this differs from valid defence?
TIA
 
Click to expand...
A defence under the VCRA covers the seller that they have established that the buyer is a skirmisher, it’s for theatrical use / renactment etc

Reasonable excuse under the firearms act is related to the circumstances when you get stopped by the police etc.

 You may be an airsoft skirmisher but that isn’t necessarily a reasonable excuse to be carrying it around.  If you’re on the way to or from a site in a bag etc then that would be a reasonable excuse, however if it’s slung over your shoulder on show in public then they may not be happy

 
Nope. Anybody can rent. Anybody with a greater mental capacity than a potato can tick the box saying they're 18 and buy a two tone. Now time for my "edgy" opinion: If airsoft was less focused on milsim elements (such as realistic guns kit etc.) it would be far more popular. You can't exactly market pretend soldiers to a parent in this modern day can you?

 
The whole guns must be two tone bullshit is stupid. Airsoft over here though wouldn't be much bigger without that nonsense though i reckon only 5 percent more people would play it. Too many pussy laws over here somedays its tempting to move to america and just be free... lol

 
Aengus said:
Now time for my "edgy" opinion: If airsoft was less focused on milsim elements (such as realistic guns kit etc.) it would be far more popular. You can't exactly market pretend soldiers to a parent in this modern day can you?
Click to expand...


i dunno, i suspect a lot of airsofters are in it for the guns, otherwise we'd all play paintball.

 
Adolf Hamster said:
i dunno, i suspect a lot of airsofters are in it for the guns, otherwise we'd all play paintball.
Click to expand...
I think this is very true, all the people I know are very much gun nuts and the realism is a very big part of the draw. UKARA represents an attempt to self police that I feel should be applauded. I would much rather have this than have some government imposed system or worse have my toys taken away. Yes air guns are not regulated, but that just shows that airsofters are a much more responsible bunch. Yes RIFs can be purchased second hand, but it's not actually that easy unless you are a regular at a site, and given the levels of stupidity and attitude amongst the reality tv generation I fear that there would be more cases of RIFs being misused in public . Lets be honest, we all got up to stuff when we were kids but the behaviour over the last decade has gone way beyond kids having a lark. To be frank , if you have a problem doing the minimal requirements to get a UKARA you probably aren't someone I would be happy to play with 

 
Not as realistic though, either in aesthetics or function.  And if you want to go for a 'look' (and a good majority of players do) you'll be scrubbing paint constantly.  Plus the ammo is cheaper, less competition mindset etc etc etc that's all been done before.

 
padraigthesniper said:
The whole guns must be two tone bullshit is stupid. Airsoft over here though wouldn't be much bigger without that nonsense though i reckon only 5 percent more people would play it. Too many pussy laws over here somedays its tempting to move to america and just be free... lol
Click to expand...


We got our permitted defence in the VCRA due to the realism; which enables us to stay immersed during our law or military scenario reenactments :)  
 

In America, generally speaking, imitation firearms must have an orange tip during shipping and transportation. You also must be over 18 to buy one over the counter. Some states require that orange tip even while playing, so it's not entirely the 'land of the free.'

The fact that 22 people have been fatally shot by local law enforcement after carrying or brandishing airsoft guns should tell you that they're going to clamp down even harder in the future.

 
padraigthesniper said:
The whole guns must be two tone bullshit is stupid. Airsoft over here though wouldn't be much bigger without that nonsense though i reckon only 5 percent more people would play it. Too many pussy laws over here somedays its tempting to move to america and just be free... lol
Click to expand...
Unlike America where it’s shoot first, ask questions later in the UK we also have cases where kids carry a cheap BB gun and there was at least one incident on CCTV where ordinary kids decided to point their gun at responding armed police. This resulted in a standoff until they dropped the gun.  The policemen couldn’t believe they were going to be shot by kids

In America though police respond to a call that tells them a kid has a gun that is probably fake , but gun down Tamar Rice in seconds because he lifts his shirt to show it.

There was also a campaign in America to bring in brightly coloured guns

 
A) Why would it stop you from playing for "many years"? It's 8 weeks to play a few games. Hardly a lifetime.

B) There would be no airsoft without UKARA. Too many idiots would have got their hands on guns and the sport would have been shut down ages ago.

 
AshOnSnow said:
A) Why would it stop you from playing for "many years"? It's 8 weeks to play a few games. Hardly a lifetime.

B) There would be no airsoft without UKARA. Too many idiots would have got their hands on guns and the sport would have been shut down ages ago.
Click to expand...
Because of age I didn’t want a coloured gun 

 
Lozart said:
You have to be over 18 to buy a black RIF in addition to having a valid defence.
Click to expand...
Thank you some people just don’t want coloured guns I’m not saying ukara is a bad thing at all it’s literslly a question on what others think about this topic personally I think ukara is bad but as I have seen many people explain what good it does aswell

Gtech said:
But that's not UKARA's choosing, that's the law (VCRA). I think that's what @AshOnSnow was indicating. ?
Click to expand...
But a lot of new players really won’t see the difference and will automatic link them  some thing I think a lot of experienced players forget 

 
STORMZOMBIES said:
Thank you some people just don’t want coloured guns I’m not saying ukara is a bad thing at all it’s literslly a question on what others think about this topic personally I think ukara is bad but as I have seen many people explain what good it does aswell

But a lot of new players really won’t see the difference and will automatic link them  some thing I think a lot of experienced players forget 
Click to expand...


Oh I get that. UKARA haven't exactly tried to un-muddy the waters on that front. Heck, I've seen the top 3 retailers saying 'UKARA Licence' all over social media.

VCRA was the law behind the limitations.

UKARA is the tool to help retailers, comply by the limitations. They don't have a lot of choice, but they did consult to ensure airsoft wasn't entirely banned/restricted.

It's important to state that it wasn't just UKARA though. You had plenty of others in the room, lobbying and working hard to try and get us the best deal possible - we also had the ABA, UKASGB and UKAPU. If you read through the VCRA only one of them got mentioned in the circular/law, and it wasn't UKARA. If you've not played since the late 2000s, the UKARA now is a shadow of it's former self from 2006-2008.

Finally, UKARA isn't the only option - but it's the best known option. At least for now...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Gtech said:
Oh I get that. UKARA haven't exactly tried to un-muddy the waters on that front. Heck, I've seen the top 3 retailers saying 'UKARA Licence' all over social media.

VCRA was the law behind the limitations.

UKARA is the tool to help retailers, comply by the limitations. They don't have a lot of choice, but they did consult to ensure airsoft was entirely banned/restricted.

It wasn't just UKARA though, you had plenty of others in the room, lobbying and working hard to try and get us the best deal possible.

Finally, UKARA isn't the only option - but it's the best known option. At least for now...
Click to expand...
I think was the biggest issue iv seen is the laws seriously seriosuly needs to be reworked badly as I get that Airsoft are RIF so they look the same but it seriously needs to be separate and have more clear guidelines etc

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Gunboat Diplomat
If you could change the joule limit, would you?
2
Replies
34
Views
2K
Colin Allen
Colin Allen
Mtemprell
Cringe in Airsoft
4 5 6
Replies
101
Views
27K
THE CHIEF
T
A
What Do You Want
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
rj1986
R
Klesin
Private sale to the US
Replies
13
Views
695
Klesin
Klesin
Lima02
AK to NATO muzzle device adapters - Curious to how many people would be interested.
Replies
16
Views
1K
Lima02
Lima02
Back
Top