Repainting Two-Tones... into other bright colours

[BlackFive842]

Hi guys. I've noticed a few other threads on repainting, but none that completely address my concerns as the poster's intent is always slightly different to mine. Sorry if this feels like re-hashing, but I thought I'd start a new topic to be safe.

 

 

I haven't had any airsoft guns since I was a teenager, but recently decided to get back into it again. Unfortunatly I don't have the time, money or inclination to go skirmishing, so it's Two-Tone for me. Not that that bothers me, I just want to plink away in the garden.

 

My question is exactly how strict is the law regarding the appearance/altering of Two-Tone guns? Am I allowed to alter the colours providing they're still bright and unrealistic, and cover 50% plus of the model? To be absolutly clear, I'm NOT talking about using black, tan, olive, camo, subdued colours or stuff like that. If anything I want less realism, not more.

 

For example, can I respray an orange gun into sky-blue or bright turquoise? What about a mixture, does it literally have to be Two-Tone, or can it be Three Tone instead? (provided all tones are bright, obviously) How about (non-camo) patterned designs? Can I have a pink and yellow Mr blobby rifle, or something that looks straight out of Borderlands 2?

 

The way I see it, if I have to have brightly coloured guns, I may as well have some fun with it. My other hobby is modelmaking, so I have the painting skills and kit (airbrushes etc) to be pretty creative, but I just want to make sure I'm not inadvertantly falling foul of the law.

 

Thanks, Doug.

[Deek]

There are some guidance notes regarding amendments to the Violent Crime Reduction Act, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-violent-crime-reduction-act-2006-commencement-no-3-order-2007-firearms-measures

 

 

 

Subsection 2 provides that an imitation firearm should not be regarded as distinguishable from a real firearm if only an expert can tell the difference or the difference is only apparent on close examination or as a result of attempting to load or fire it. Subsection 3 provides that in determining whether an imitation firearm is realistic, its size, shape and principal colour must be taken into account, and it is to be regarded as realistic if these features are unrealistic for a real firearm.

Subsection 4 gives the Secretary of State a power to make regulations specifying dimensions and colours that will be regarded as unrealistic. This is designed to provide business with a degree of certainty over what they can trade in. The aforementioned Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 (Realistic Imitation Firearms) Regulations 2007 specify the following dimensions and colours:

• a height of 38mm and a length of 70mm. An imitation firearm with dimensions less than this is to be regarded as unrealistic
  • transparent
  • bright red
  • bright orange
  • bright blue
  • bright yellow
  • bright green
  • bright pink
  • bright purple

An imitation firearm whose principal colour is not one of those listed in the regulations does not automatically fall to be regarded as realistic, although it is more likely that will be the case. In these circumstances, the general test of whether it is distinguishable from a real firearm, taking into account its size, colour etc, should be applied. It is worth keeping in mind that the intention behind this measure is to stop the supply of imitations which look so realistic that they are being used by criminals to threaten and intimidate their victims.

Not being an expert in law I wouldn't like to give a definitive answer, but would suggest that if you did respray your IF in whatever bright colours you wanted, i.e. 'Blobby-style' then as long as the weapon can pass the general test mentioned above then you should be OK.

[Chock]

All laws are open to interpretation, if they were not, lots of lawyers would be out of business (yeah, i know, how would that be a bad thing? lol). So the really important thing to note with the Violent Crimes Reduction Act and the two-toning it mentions, is the reason for it and the intent of anyone who has something which could be mistaken for a real firearm.

 

The reason for two-toning is to make it readily apparent to an uninformed observer, that you are not genuinely brandishing a real firearm, because the purpose of the Act is to reduce Violent Crime, i.e. to prevent that uninformed observer from feeling under threat of violence when seeing something which they may mistake for a real firearm. Don't underestimate the chances of that happening either; it's easy to forget that in being knowledgeable about guns, we are a minority here - not everyone is an expert on weaponry, in fact, the vast majority of people know very little about guns and could easily mistake something as harmless as the extension pipe from a vacuum cleaner for a gun if they saw someone wandering about in a back garden holding it like it was a weapon. If you think this is not the case, ask the average person what an M4 is; they will probably say it's the motorway that runs across the bottom of Wales which goes to London rather than telling you it's a variant of the Armalite rifle.

 

So, ask yourself these questions: If you are in your back garden with your airsoft gun, who is going to, or could potentially, see it? If you are in a small terraced house which backs onto other terraced houses, it could be a lot of people, if you are in some detached house in a leafy suburb, probably a lot less people. I would balance the likelihood that something seen at a distance might be mistaken for a real weapon, with the choice of colour. If on the other hand it's only one neighbour who could possibly see into your back garden, then I'd simply chat to them and tell em you are painting up a toy gun to shoot in your back garden, so it is obvious that you are not gearing up for a bank raid or armageddon.

[BlackFive842]

Thanks for the advice guys. Sounds like I'm probably pretty safe then, after all whatever I create will probably look far less like a real gun than an out-the-box Two-Tone IF.

[Richard65]

If you painted a gun bright pink with yellow flowers all over would you be safe to walk down a street with it?

 

If you were in a shop and someone pointed this at you and said "hand over the money from the till or I'll blow your head off" would you feel confident to laugh?

 

I know this is off topic but just wondered if the VCRA can make a real difference. There was a James Bond film where he grabbed a can of deodorant (or similar) and a lighter and created his own flamethrower to kill a snake or spider. No ideal if that would really work but not sure I would want to take the chance if facing someone using it as a threat.

[Rock-climby-Dave]

and lowe! the problem with the VCRA has been found. It's just a rubbish law, badly written and unenforceable.

 

The problem is that any FAC holder can go and paint any of his rifles in whatever combination of colours that he chooses, including any of those that 'prove a gun isn't real' (essentially what that list of colours boils down to) and so if you held up a post office with a two tone real gun and someone didn't act as one would expect for being robbed at gunpoint, people are going to start getting actually shot.

 

Not to mention that when confronted with a firearm, RIF or two tone a firearms officer WILL treat all 3 the same way. IE if you're brandishing it in a manner likely to cause concern for life, well, you'd best be wearing some thick ceramic plates!

[straffham]

and lowe! the problem with the VCRA has been found. It's just a rubbish law, badly written and unenforceable.

 

The problem is that any FAC holder can go and paint any of his rifles in whatever combination of colours that he chooses, including any of those that 'prove a gun isn't real' (essentially what that list of colours boils down to) and so if you held up a post office with a two tone real gun and someone didn't act as one would expect for being robbed at gunpoint, people are going to start getting actually shot.

 

Not to mention that when confronted with a firearm, RIF or two tone a firearms officer WILL treat all 3 the same way. IE if you're brandishing it in a manner likely to cause concern for life, well, you'd best be wearing some thick ceramic plates!

This.

In an episode of "Sons of Guns" the owners daughter created a new line of M4 real steel rifles to appeal to women shooters - by fitting them with luminous yellow stocks and handguards, looked horribly similar to Imitation Firearms. Makes me wonder how the law would work if they tried that in the UK? Reverse UKARA maybe? IE "real firearms must be coloured a realistic colour"? The mind boggles!

[AK47frizzle]

It's fine to respray them in a different colour.

 

Purple's a great colour

[two_zero]

and lowe! the problem with the VCRA has been found. It's just a rubbish law, badly written and unenforceable.

 

The problem is that any FAC holder can go and paint any of his rifles in whatever combination of colours that he chooses, including any of those that 'prove a gun isn't real' (essentially what that list of colours boils down to) and so if you held up a post office with a two tone real gun and someone didn't act as one would expect for being robbed at gunpoint, people are going to start getting actually shot.

 

Not to mention that when confronted with a firearm, RIF or two tone a firearms officer WILL treat all 3 the same way. IE if you're brandishing it in a manner likely to cause concern for life, well, you'd best be wearing some thick ceramic plates!

Don't think it's the FAC holders we should worry about however^^

[two_zero]

Just wanted to add that people make guns in different colours all the time.. look around the web for target rifles

[strewthirwin]

+1 for purple guns!