Accidentally Bought a RIF without a UKARA Licence

[DDewy]

About two weeks ago I went to an airsoft session and thought I would like to get into the activity, so I thought I should get a Airsoft rifle/pistol to start off with, then once I get more into it I could get more things. Well half way though the session people started selling old guns they were not using, so I bought a 1911 blow back pistol (all black, so it is a RIF then?) then. It was only till I got back home and I started talking to some friends who knew about the sport and they said I need a UKARA licence.
So I started looking in how to get one, and seen how I need to go to 3 airsoft session over the period of two months then I can apply for one. As I am student in uni I have been busy recently and haven't really had a way to get to a session.
I told my sister about having the pistol but not having the UKARA licence/membership, she didn't want me to take it back home with me "as I might get a record because of it" (which I don't believe will happen, because I will only use it for airsoft sessions, and I won't every wave it around). She said that I should contact the Airsoft site I went to, and see if I could leave it with them over the Christmas break, and collect when I come back for my next airsoft session.

I want to know what people think, and what I should do?

 

Any questions, feel free to ask them.

[Monty]

No, you don't need a 'license' as there's no such thing.

 

You don't really need to provide a defence when purchasing an RIF on site because you're purchasing an airsoft gun with the intention of using it for airsoft and mainly because you being there was your defence. I wouldn't worry about it mate.

[Adam3088]

The short answer is, no, you're not going to get into trouble and there's nothing you need to do. The responsibility is on the seller, not you.

 

But if you're living on campus I would strongly recommend not storing it there, I cant imagine the university would take kindly to students having replica weapons on site. Unless they have some kind of exception.

[Esoterick]

What Monty said, only issue you could have would be flashing it around in public which it sounds like you aren't silly enough to do given you asking the question about owning a RIF.

 

If on the off chance you got stopped by the police on the way to a skirmish and after searching your car found your gun it would be the same as someone being caught with a tool that can be used as/considered an offensive weapon - i.e. you have a valid reason to be carrying it, which you justify to the police.

[Ian_Gere]

Adam3088 makes a good point about University authorities. Many people have a disproportionate fear of firearms and even toys like ours which look like them. However I'd not go so far as to advise that you do not store this, or any other RIFs you may acquire, in your student digs, but do make sure that you do not let random people see it/them. No need to be secretive, but no need to flash it/them around either, because people will talk...

 

I know it's the most tempting thing in the world to buy a pistol, but tbh they are not really much use in airsoft, compared to an assault rifle. But the first thing you really need is your own well fitting eye protection, because the kind of paintball masks which are generally on offer to hire at sites can be majorly fog-tastic. Good boots wouldn't go amiss either...

 

This may help you.

[DX115FALCON]

This may help you.

 

Wondered when "The Guide" would be brought up

 

but seriously, give it a read!

[Russe11]

As said previously the law is very unclear on what is actually a defence but it is clear on when you need one. You need a defence (such as is provided by UKARA) to import or manufacture a RIF, you need to establish that the buyer has a defence in order to sell a RIF. You have therefore broken no rules by buying a RIF and there are no laws saying that you cannot own it. From here on in it's common sense, don't wave it around and keep it hidden so that no-one reports that you have a gun in university accommodation.

[Mr Monkey Nuts]

 

or not, as others have so eloquently put it, no one cares.

[Chock]

a 1911 blow back pistol (all black, so it is a RIF then?) then. It was only till I got back home and I started talking to some friends who knew about the sport and they said I need a UKARA licence.

 

Anything which looks like it could be a real gun to the average person, is considered a RIF in legal terms; even if it was made out of cheese and painted black, if the average person might mistake it for a real gun, then it is a RIF.

 

Your friends are mistaken. In the first place, a UKARA registration (United Kingdom Airsoft Retailers Association) is not a licence, it is a registration with UKARA, which far from being a Government entity with the mandate to issue a license of any kind, is simply a trade association with its own scheme to identify legitimate airsoft enthusiasts (the UKARA scheme is facilitated through participating airsoft sites and airsoft shops). Thus UKARA is merely a convenient means for retailers to identify who has recently been airsofting and is therefore supposedly a legitimate buyer of something which looks like a real gun.

 

In the second place, whilst it is convenient for airsofters to have a UKARA registration number (since it is widely used by retailers when distance selling RIFs and is a number you can quote when buying, which they can check on their database), you do not need one to own or buy a RIF, what you need is suitable reason for wanting one, a reason which will satisfy the person who is selling it to you, so they can be (as far as the risk of criminal prosecution is concerned) seen to be responsibly selling it and not carelessly supplying a RIF to someone who might then use it to rob a bank or whatever.

 

All you really have to do, is not be a dick with the thing, and you will be well within the law. So don't worry about it.

[Shizbazki]

Don't worry about it mate.

As other have said before UKARA is one a registration for retailers to ID people who play airsoft, you don not need one to own an airsoft gun or any sort.

 

I bought my first airsoft RIF weapon before having UKARA using another legal defence (won't work in every shop but hey).

 

End of the day its what you do with it is what counts, walking down the high street in your hand is likely to get you arrested, but having the legal defence of going to or from an insured airsoft event is fine