Law on buying a RIF

[Chock]

Yup, it does indeed forbid carrying an imitation firearm in public, but a two toned gun is, by definition, not an imitation firearm, if it was, then you'd need a specific defence for buying one of those too, which as we know, you don't, because it isn't an imitation firearm if it is two toned, since the purpose of two toning it to make it apparent that it isn't a firearm. If this was not the case, then painting a two tone black would not be classed as manufacturing a RIF, since it would, by that definition, already be a RIF.

 

But in any case it's a moot point as far as my point was concerned, since I wouldn't recommend waving even a transparent green plastic ray gun about on the street, because you can guarantee some berk would, via chinese whispers, claim you were waving a .50 calibre belt-fed anti aircraft gun around, and then an armed response unit would turn up and shoot you.

[DX115FALCON]

Are you sure that your GF didn't misunderstand what they said? i.e. if they had no rifles which were two-toned sat on the shelf (which is likely since the one in question is a limited edition, so they're unlikely to two-tone those on spec, since doing so would devalue it to a potential collector), then there'd presumably be a wait involved in getting one painted up, whereas a black one would be available immediately, but she would need a valid defence (typically a UKARA) to buy one of those and walk out with it immediately. That's the only thing i can think of which might explain her coming away empty handed.

 

That part that I've put into bold in your message is 100% correct. Spoke to one of my mates who works in Airsoft World this morning and they confirmed that they do not stock them "pre-two toned" due to the limited edition nature of the products.

[jcheeseright]

Yup, it does indeed forbid carrying an imitation firearm in public, but a two toned gun is, by definition, not an imitation firearm, if it was, then you'd need a specific defence for buying one of those too, which as we know, you don't, because it isn't an imitation firearm if it is two toned, since the purpose of two toning it to make it apparent that it isn't a firearm. If this was not the case, then painting a two tone black would not be classed as manufacturing a RIF, since it would, by that definition, already be a RIF.

 

But in any case it's a moot point as far as my point was concerned, since I wouldn't recommend waving even a transparent green plastic ray gun about on the street, because you can guarantee some berk would, via chinese whispers, claim you were waving a .50 calibre belt-fed anti aircraft gun around, and then an armed response unit would turn up and shoot you.

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/d_to_g/firearms/#a03

 

You're wrong. An imitation firearm (IF - 2-tone) is legally defined by the CPS in the link above. You wave one round in the street and you're comitting a crime. Yet another hole in the VCRA, it doesn't actually make any impact on reducing crime.

[Chock]

Fair enough, but as you say, makes little impact on reducing violent crime if it is illegal to wave a model of a star trek phaser about in the street. Ye canne change the laws of physics Jim, but we probably should change the law on RIFs.

[Jambo88]

 

That part that I've put into bold in your message is 100% correct. Spoke to one of my mates who works in Airsoft World this morning and they confirmed that they do not stock them "pre-two toned" due to the limited edition nature of the products.

My order was dispatched this morning. So either they painted it very late last night or it was in stock.

[jcheeseright]

I can kinda see AWs point here, there's no real reason for them to keep 2-tone guns in stock. If they keep them as RIFs until they're sold they can sell them both ways... If they pre-paint them then they can't then sell those guns to people who don't want a 2-tone.

 

The reason she couldn't just pop in and get a 2-tone gun I expect is that to do a half decent job of spraying something it takes about 30-40 minutes including prep, drying between coats etc. Thats the best part of an hour for her to wait, and for a staff member to not be on the shop floor. What I would do is spray 2-tone guns in batches when the shop is shut/very quiet, saves time and ultimately money.