UKARA self check issue

[Socky]

Hi everyone,

I have asked a lot of these questions in the past, but always prefer to be on the safe side. So I did a UKARA self check today and was told the UKARA expired last week - does this now mean *strictly speaking* to make the sale would be illegal?

Socky

 

[Guest]

How did you do the self check?

 

[Socky]

How did you do the self check?

I rang up fire support earlier today

 

[Guest]

Fair enough. So,you checking your own or someone else’s?

Anyone, UKARA is only one of a multitude of defences, so we’ll need some more details

 

[Socky]

Someone else's, UKARA is all they have sadly so thats all i can go off

 

[Guest]

Someone else's, UKARA is all they have sadly so thats all i can go off

Your call then, if you’re satisfied they’re a genuine airsofter, fine. Any doubts, not fine.

 

[Rogerborg]

does this now mean *strictly speaking* to make the sale would be illegal

Strictly speaking - the best kind of speaking -  it's illegal with or without a UKARA.

A person is guilty of an offence if he sells a realistic imitation firearm.

If charged, it shall be a defence to show that the conduct was for the purpose only of making the imitation firearm in question available for [a variety of reasons, one of which is] the organisation and holding of permitted activities, which (probably) refers to airsoft skirmishing.

The reason that I'm linking directly to the Act, the Regulations and the explanatory notes is that - strictly speaking - there's no unambiguous answer to your question, since there's no case law on this that we're aware of.

For my own part, I'll note that UKARA only provides some indication of what a buyer has done, not what they will do, and it's a curious defence which requires the seller to predict the future.

A player could do 3 days in 2 months, then go 365 days without playing again, and still be assumed (by UKARA) to be an active skirmisher.  That's a bit of a stretch to adducing a defence "for the purposes only of" airsoft skirmishing.

But the tl;dr version is anyone who's managed to ever get a UKARA is unlikely to be a person who'll do something with a RIF that will bring it to the attention of the State.  That means that in practice it's just not going to be an issue for you.

 

[Socky]

Thank you guys appreciate the help - in that case ill have a think.