UKARA Question

[JapaneseMafia]

So I was wondering wether you need to have a license to own a RIF. As I want to purchase a airsoft gun from Taiwangun however would it be illegal to own in the UK without the required proof?

[Tad]

Right.

 

To own an RIF - No it is not Illegal, so long as that RIF was purchased by someone who holds an Active UKARA membership, and passed on as a gift (No exchange of services or goods)

 

 

You need to be 18 regarding the below points.

 

To Purchase an RIF - You need a UKARA registration to purchase an RIF.

 

To purchase an IF (Two-Tone) - You do NOT need a UKARA license.

 

 

 

 

 

Purchase from international sources would be detained at customs unless a valid membership was displayed that correlates to the destination address.

 

If this does not happen, it will be returned or very likely Destroyed by customs.

[DX115FALCON]

Right.

 

To own an RIF - No it is not Illegal, so long as that RIF was purchased by someone who holds an Active UKARA membership, and passed on as a gift (No exchange of services or goods)

 

 

You need to be 18 regarding the below points.

 

To Purchase an RIF - You need a UKARA license to purchase an RIF.

 

To purchase an IF (Two-Tone) - You do NOT need a UKARA license.

 

^that

 

(was midway through writing something almost exactly the same :/ )

[Sitting Duck]

strongly advise getting UKARA for this

then it won't be seized by customs etc....

 

There are other forms of defense but in general UKARA is a straight forward way of checking by retailers ( UK EU US & others )

They know each countries regulations and most are not willing to dodge or attempt to dodge them rules etc....

 

So to avoid it being seized by authorities and/or sale being cancelled I'd say just get UKARA like the rest of us

[Tad]

 

^that

 

(was midway through writing something almost exactly the same :/ )

 

I knew i ninja'd at atleast one person

[Sitting Duck]

yeah basically what has been said - it "could" get seized and you have little argument if no defense

whatever people may think of UKARA it does simplify buying RIF's like in this matter

 

there is no real license as such - just you on a database of saddo's that play with toy guns

(in a figure of speech - no offense to rest of us)

[dex]

Here's the rub:

- There is no such thing as a a UKARA "license". You can become a UKARA registered skirmisher however...

- It's NOT illegal to own or buy a RIF, whether you are a registered skirmisher or not. End of story.

- It IS illegal for a retailer to sell you a RIF if you are under 18 or cannot provide a defence against prosecution under the VCRA - which is where becoming a registered skirmisher comes in.

- It IS illegal to "manufacture" a RIF without the aforementioned defence.

- Two tones are not considered realistic and therefore as long as you are over 18, a retailer can sell you one.

 

This stuff has been covered countless times elsewhere...

[jcheeseright]

Legal to own... illegal to import without a suitable defence. Which as far as customs are concerned is UKARA or nothing.

 

No such thing as a license, never has been, never will be.

[Tad]

Here's the rub:

- There is no such thing as a a UKARA "license". You can become a UKARA registered skirmisher however...

- It's NOT illegal to own or buy a RIF, whether you are a registered skirmisher or not. End of story.

- It IS illegal for a retailer to sell you a RIF if you are under 18 or cannot provide a defence against prosecution under the VCRA - which is where becoming a registered skirmisher comes in.

- It IS illegal to "manufacture" a RIF without the aforementioned defence.

- Two tones are not considered realistic and therefore as long as you are over 18, a retailer can sell you one.

 

This stuff has been covered countless times elsewhere...

 

 

Would like to point this out.

 

A person is guilty of an offence if—

 

(d)

he brings a realistic imitation firearm into Great Britain or causes one to be brought into Great Britain.

 

 

Which pertains to his original post about buying it externally and importing it.

[dex]

Yeah, fair point which I missed in my post. This has been covered many times before though...

[Sitting Duck]

not splitting hairs - so please don't flame me

 

OP said need license to own RIF - not if gifted you could say

 

but yup to import like OP is thinking uhm yes is the general correct answer - get ukara

 

Bloomin' hate these ukara related posts coz most people know the answer and often there are a few grey areas

that can been seen as a little unclear or may not fully apply to the usual regulations, causing differences

 

in general and for ease of everything - get UKARA it is best license you will never own

 

soz in advance and if I have got wrong yet again then light me up

[Chock]

Theoretically you could have a legitimate defence for owning a RIF without having a UKARA (UKARA is merely a scheme organised by retailers and airsoft sites to enable retailers to check if you are a regular attendee at airsoft skirmishes, and thus have a defence, enabling them to sell it to you). But there is no law which says you have to apply for a UKARA if you go airsofting.

 

In practice however, a UKARA registration is the most efficient way to prove you have a defensible reason for owning a RIF, and that is particularly true when it comes to importing RIFs, since UK Customs have access to the UKARA database, so it is common practice for retailers on airsoft websites abroad to have a bit on their order form which allows you to put additional comments, so most people put, 'please put this UKARA number - XXXXX - on the packaging'. You'll also see that most foreign airsoft retailers put stuff like: 'it is your responsibility to ensure compliance with your country's rules on the importation of firearms.' on their sites. And they are right to call them firearms, because as far as the EU is concerned, a plastic AK or M4 or Luger or Tommy Gun or whatever, which is in relatively realistic colours, is regarded as a 'Class D firearm'.

 

Thus if Mr Customs X-Rays your parcel with a shiny new airsoft AK74 in it, and sees a gun shape in there, he will open it up to check it ain't a real AK, and will then check if there is anything on the packaging which relates to the legitimacy of one being purchased by you, and if he does not find something like that, such as a UKARA number, or the name of a film production company on the package or whatever, then that parcel will be going in the crusher (or more seriously, be subm,itted as evidence for a prosecution), and you may indeed also be prosecuted, since it absolutely is illegal to import a RIF without a legitimate defence. You can get sentenced to several years in prison for doing so, and/or get a massive fine as well.

 

This is particularly true right now in light of the recent terrorist activities in France and Belgium, where in both cases, the terrorists had AKs. Any package which has a gun shape in it is going to light up the Customs checking process like a Christmas Tree at the moment, and if there's no UKARA or similar easily checkable defence on the package, you could not blame them for destroying your package, and most people would be glad they were vigilant about that, so there's practically no chance that you'd have any comeback on it in terms of compensation for your loss. More importantly, right now, with anti-terrorist measures at a peak, Customs and the CPS would probably like nothing better than to prosecute someone for importing a RIF without legal clearance to do so, because it would make them look good in the eyes of the public.

 

Do not chance it without a UKARA or some other easily checkable defence, or you absolutely will be risking going to prison, and it ain't worth doing time for a toy gun.

.

[jcheeseright]

Theoretically you could have a legitimate defence for owning a RIF without having a UKARA (UKARA is merely a scheme organised by retailers and airsoft sites to enable retailers to check if you are a regular attendee at airsoft skirmishes, and thus have a defence, enabling them to sell it to you). But there is no law which says you have to apply for a UKARA if you go airsofting.

 

In practice however, a UKARA registration is the most efficient way to prove you have a defensible reason for owning a RIF, and that is particularly true when it comes to importing RIFs, since UK Customs have access to the UKARA database, so it is common practice for retailers on airsoft websites abroad to have a bit on their order form which allows you to put additional comments, so most people put, 'please put this UKARA number - XXXXX - on the packaging'. You'll also see that most foreign airsoft retailers put stuff like: 'it is your responsibility to ensure compliance with your country's rules on the importation of firearms.' on their sites. And they are right to call them firearms, because as far as the EU is concerned, a plastic AK or M4 or Luger or Tommy Gun or whatever, which is in relatively realistic colours, is regarded as a 'Class D firearm'.

 

I'll stop you right there. THERE IS NO REQUIREMENT FOR A REASON TO OWN A RIF. NONE.

 

You can OWN as many RIFs as you want, unless you commit a crime with them the police cannot do anything.

 

The things legislated against are SELLING, IMPORTING, and MANUFACTURE.

 

Posession of a RIF is not something you require a defence for. EVER.

[Chock]

 

The things legislated against are SELLING, IMPORTING, and MANUFACTURE.

 

 

Which is what my post is about if you read it all the way through. My reference to 'owning a RIF' is in relation to the act of buying one - to end up owning it - it being a response to the OP's query about importation of a RIF. Don't take the quote out of context, or it becomes a straw man, I know you don't need a defence to merely own one. I'm trying to keep the guy out of prison!

[Sitting Duck]

I knew it - see it always causes this - UKARA - must have been set up by a woman

(they always cause blokes to row)

 

think nobody should be allowed to type the letters U K A R A with fully reading vcra 10 times

(that would exclude nigh on all of us)

[jcheeseright]

 

Which is what my post is about if you read it all the way through. My reference to 'owning a RIF' is in relation to the act of buying one - to end up owning it - it being a response to the OP's query about importation of a RIF. Don't take the quote out of context, or it becomes a straw man, I know you don't need a defence to merely own one. I'm trying to keep the guy out of prison!

 

I didn't quote you out of context, I cut off the last half of your wall of text. When you reference 'owning a rif' with the word defence people get the wrong idea, especially when you don't specifically state that referencing that was in relation to buying/importing/manufacturing.

 

With subjects like this it pays to be concise (not one of your strengths, I'm aware) and not rely on people reading between the lines. Tad managed to explain the law on the subject pretty comprehensively in 106 words, your 545 word essay didn't actually explain any legal points at all and somehow managed to shoehorn in references to domestic terrorism.

[JapaneseMafia]

Wow guys so much information I appreciate it however I still dont understand Say I receive the product somehow is it illegal to own that rif without a valid defence? Some users are saying that you need an actual skirmish license where as some are saying that the sole airsoft reason is enough.

[Cheeky vimto]

Wow guys so much information I appreciate it however I still dont understand Say I receive the product somehow is it illegal to own that rif without a valid defence? Some users are saying that you need an actual skirmish license where as some are saying that the sole airsoft reason is enough.

 

It's up to the seller to make sure you have a defence to buy it, You would be in the clear. Though someone could gift it you and everything would be legit.

[jcheeseright]

No, OWNERSHIP is LEGAL. There's no requirement for a defence or license of any kind to own a RIF, you don't need to go airsofting with it, or be a reenactor, or any of that shit, OWNERSHIP IS NOT LEGISLATED AGAINST.

 

IMPORTING the RIF is illegal however, so I'd ask how you intend to get the item while staying on the right side of the law.

[Chock]

Nope, you can own a warehouse full of RIFs if you like with no defense at all, the defence part is only relevant when purchasing, and really, that defence is more for the person selling it to you, so they know you are not going to use it for some dodgy reason.

[JapaneseMafia]

It's to the seller to make sure you have a defence to buy it, You would be in the clear. Though someone could gift it you and everything would be legit.

Thats what Im trying to ask say I purchase it abroad where the airsoft laws are more lenient eg Belgium and then bring it back into the UK in a car? Would that be considerd illegal or legal?

[Cheeky vimto]

Thats what Im trying to ask say I purchase it abroad where the airsoft laws are more lenient eg Belgium and then bring it back into the UK in a car? Would that be considerd illegal or legal?

 

It would could down to customs. If they couldn't see a reason for you to have one it'd probably be destroyed. Better off just sticking it out and getting ukara registered and buy in the UK.

[Chock]

No. That would not be illegal, although you could understand that obviously there would be questions asked if you walked through the scanners at Heathrow with a RIF in your bag. Specifically, the law on the matter says that it is illegal to import a RIF, unless it is for one of the following reasons:

 

A It is for the purposes of a museum or gallery;

B It is for the purposes of theatrical performances and of rehearsals for such performances;

C It is for the production of films (within the meaning of Part 1 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48)_see section 5B of that Act);

D It is for the production of television programmes (within the meaning of the Communications Act 2003 (c. 21)_see section 405(1) of that Act);

E It is for the organisation and holding of historical re-enactments organised and held by persons specified or described for the purposes of this section by regulations made by the Secretary of State;

F It is for the purposes of functions that a person has in his capacity as a person in the service of Her Majesty.

 

Reason E is the one related to airsoft, and the easiest way to demonstrate that, is with a UKARA registration number, which is why people get them. So if you were stopped at Customs, it would obviously be most expedient to say 'here is my UKARA number, go ahead and check it'. I'm willing to bet that it would not be a five minute wait before you got waved through with a cheery smile, but that is nevertheless the law as it stands.

[jcheeseright]

It is illegal, importation of a RIF is against the law.

 

Importation means the item coming from another country into this one, doesn't matter how it gets here, without a valid defence against prosecution you could be prosecuted under the VCRA 2006.

[jcheeseright]

No. That would not be illegal, although you could understand that obviously there would be questions asked if you walked through the scanners at Heathrow with a RIF in your bag. Specifically, the law on the matter says that it is illegal to import a RIF, unless it is for one of the following reasons:

 

A It is for the purposes of a museum or gallery;

 

B It is for the purposes of theatrical performances and of rehearsals for such performances;

 

C It is for the production of films (within the meaning of Part 1 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48)_see section 5B of that Act);

 

D It is for the production of television programmes (within the meaning of the Communications Act 2003 (c. 21)_see section 405(1) of that Act);

 

E It is for the organisation and holding of historical re-enactments organised and held by persons specified or described for the purposes of this section by regulations made by the Secretary of State;

 

F It is for the purposes of functions that a person has in his capacity as a person in the service of Her Majesty.

 

Reason E is the one related to airsoft, and the easiest way to demonstrate that, is with a UKARA registration number, which is why people get them.

 

It is absolutely illegal, importation is importation!! driving over the border with a RIF is AGAINST THE LAW. Even for those of us with a valid defence, it is still illegal, it's just that defence means that you cannot be prosecuted for breaking that law, doesn't mean we're not breaking it!