Would Airsoft be bigger in the UK without ukara?

[STORMZOMBIES]

Personally, I think yes it would be. it prevented me from getting into the sport for many years as I don't want to be running around the field with a two-tone bright colour gun it puts people off it certainly put me and a few of my friends off till we got just cos licences to buy RIF. And I think that's an issue I know our laws are restrictive and that it protects the buy but I still personally think the sport would be bigger without ukara, don't get me wrong I like bright coloured guns I custom pained a gun bright pink with blue and white highlights but for real not many people want to run around playing airsoft with a vomit green or bright orange. what i would like to see in airsoft expanding in the UK Id like to see more younger people coming down to fields to show the games spreading and I really wanna see a massive airsoft superstore like Evike in the UK as well as more fields and field variety. What do other people think about this topic please share your thoughts.

[M_P]

I don't think so personally, most people rent at first to see if they like airsoft or not before buying stuff and lots of sites run a rent/buy scheme until a player gets their membership.

If someone is really interested in playing they'll just follow the membership rules, if they're not willing to do that I don't think they'd end up being a serious player anyway. I think the number of people turned away by it would be minuscule 

[BigStew]

I think to a certain extent yes it would be more popular but not much more.  the UK is not really a pro gun country so I am not sure how many more people would want to play and cost will then put a lot of people off( depending on who it puts off is not always a bad thing) 

[Nick G]

1 minute ago, M_P said:

I don't think so personally, most people rent at first to see if they like airsoft or not before buying stuff and lots of sites run a rent/buy scheme until a player gets their membership.

If someone is really interested in playing they'll just follow the membership rules, if they're not willing to do that I don't think they'd end up being a serious player anyway

Totally agree with this. Personally I think if it was too easy to purchase rif's we would start to see the morons running around with them in public and getting shot (not that I have a problem with them being shot) then we would start to see calls for banning the sport.

[Sacarathe]

14 minutes ago, STORMZOMBIES said:

Personally, I think yes it would be. it prevented me from getting into the sport for many years as I don't want to be running around the field with a two-tone bright colour gun it puts people off it certainly put me and a few of my friends off till we got just cos licences to buy RIF. And I think that's an issue I know our laws are restrictive and that it protects the buy but I still personally think the sport would be bigger without ukara, don't get me wrong I like bright coloured guns I custom pained a gun bright pink with blue and white highlights but for real not many people want to run around playing airsoft with a vomit green or bright orange. what i would like to see in airsoft expanding in the UK Id like to see more younger people coming down to fields to show the games spreading and I really wanna see a massive airsoft superstore like Evike in the UK as well as more fields and field variety. What do other people think about this topic please share your thoughts.

 

UKARA is the a solution, not the problem.

 

What you should be asking yourself is why do players have a problem with two tone. It seems like you know what's what so it's kinda odd question? 

 

If people could just buy RIFs, they'd be common and with common comes crime/fear etc and a general banning - and then there would be no RIFs and it would be difficulty for IFs (imitation firearms) aka two-tones, to stay legal.

 

 

[Druid799]

No i think it’s helped , I’m a great believer in the principle of the UKARA , I just hate the way it was created so a few big retailers could control the market and then circumvent it by selling the abomination that is the two-tone ! But I digress , if your buying somthing that potentially can inflict life changing injuries or could get you killed by armed police due to miss use then I’m all for a control system in place . As other will say “if you want somthing , you’ll work for it “ put your games in and apply for your registration .

 

PS The UKARA system is simply a register of players who belong to third party insured sites , it’s not a pissing licence ! 🤦‍♂️

[Mancave]

As I’m new to Airsoft (first game next weekend) I’m happy to rent my rifle to see if I enjoy it,and if so play some more then get my UKARA membership. It hasn’t put me of to get into the sport😀

[EDcase]

Good luck Jason and enjoy.

 

It may be a hurdle to the sport but that is far preferable to the chaos which would ensue if anyone could buy a RIF.

 

After all, its not so difficult to play the three games and get registered with UKARA.

[Nick G]

Been shot by guys using 2 tone guns and it feels just the same as a black gun, Don't really understand the issue. If you don't want to buy 2 tone just rent until you have done your games. 

[Druid799]

2 minutes ago, Jason sharpe said:

As I’m new to Airsoft (first game next weekend) I’m happy to rent my rifle to see if I enjoy it,and if so play some more then get my UKARA membership. It hasn’t put me of to get into the sport😀

Well said mate , and most definitely well done as a noob for using the CORRECT terminology, it’s a membership register NOT a licence ! 👍

[Hilldo87]

New to the game also.

 

Didn't put me off buying gear, i've yet to play and have spent upwards of £600 so far, as have another 2 mates (first game next sunday).

 

Plus I'm kinda looking forward to doing the camo paint job to get rid of the horrendous blue IF.

[TheFull9]

No VCRA would likely mean more RIFs sold, more sold would mean potentially slightly lower prices and/or a greater range in shops and/or more shops, which might mean more airsofters and/or sites to play etc etc etc.  There's been zero analytical study to determine the likely reality though, so absolutely everything we all say is pure conjecture.

 

Politically I am personally opposed to any restriction on personal freedom, doubly so relating to toys, triply so when literally any idiot can get hold of an IF and a can of spray paint and make an illegal RIF with zero chance of being caught as long as they're not so utterly moronic as to do something which drew the attention of our ever shrinking and over-red-taped police force.  Not to mention the face that significantly more deadly objects can be far more easily obtained within the bounds of the law.  But that's just my 02 and I welcome anyone else to think whatever they like lest this turn in to an online gun debate.

 

Realistically getting a site membership is very very easy, it is in the sites' interest to make that the case.  Social media and the explosion thereof will have done far more to enlarge airsoft as a whole than the VCRA has done to constrain it.

[L3wisD]

36 minutes ago, Hilldo87 said:

New to the game also.

 

Didn't put me off buying gear, i've yet to play and have spent upwards of £600 so far, as have another 2 mates (first game next sunday).

 

Wowsers, let's hope you enjoy it then!

 

Welcome, by the way!

[Tiercel]

1 hour ago, Sacarathe said:

 

What you should be asking yourself is why do players have a problem with two tone.

 

Because it looks like shit and ruins the immersion for me... I like playing dressup toy soldies, being all tacticool'd up, with a neon plastic toy gun. No thanks.  I have no problem with other people using two tones, hell it makes them much easier to spot and shoot   but Id never want to use one myself. If, god forbid, the govt decided that RIFs are no longer allowed and we all have to have two tone, no exceptions, Id probably give up and go find a new hobby.

 

To answer OPs question, I dont think UKARA makes much difference. Im not sure why airsoft isnt as popular as (for example) paintball, if I were to hazard a guess I'd say its because paintball isnt based on realism its seen as a more socially acceptable thing to do for stag dos, office outings etc. Its all a bit of a laugh in some borrowed overalls with big plumbers pipe looking guns (sorry "markers" ). Wheras airsoft is seen as slightly odd, grown men dressing up as soldiers, spending all their money on buying their own kit and using "real" looking guns and shooting each other. It appeals to much more of a niche audience and to those who arent into it, its all a bit wierd. For instance my mum's reaction when she came round to visit once and saw my airsoft guns was "Oh my god you're a gun totting wierdo".   then again shes very boring and her main hobby is watching Eastenders, so anything "unusual" is wierd by her standards. 

[AK47frizzle]

Do you want chavs running around parks with black guns?

[YorkieT17]

Probably but then again I don’t think it’d be all that much of a difference.

 

As a new player my personal experience is that it’s a bit of a pain. I work shifts so can attend 2-3 game days in every 10 weeks maximum. So it has taken me the best part of 6 months to be in a position to join the register. By the time I have the chance to Skirmish my own RIF it will have been about 30 weeks since my first game. So I would have preferred a way for this to be slightly easier/faster. 

[Rogerborg]

Bogus premise is indeed bogus.  The issue is VCRA 2006, not any of the ways around it that allow retailers, importers and airsoft to exist.

 

2 hours ago, STORMZOMBIES said:

it prevented me from getting into the sport for many years as I don't want to be running around the field with a two-tone bright colour gun

 

You didn't have to.

 

If you were stopped going to or from a skirmish in possession of a RIF, or an IF, and required to provide a reasonable excuse for purposes of Firearms Act 1968 S19 (the proof whereof lies on you) what would you say?  "Because UKARA," or in your case "Just Cos", is not sufficient as an excuse for possession in public, and neither is it necessary as a defence to modifying an IF into a RIF.

 

And as you've pointed out yourself, there are ways to get a retailer to sell you a RIF independently of ever having played airsoft.

 

Actually, I've just spotted the delicious irony there.  The one retailer that I know accepts Just Cos as their defence is https://www.airsoftworld.net

 

Guess who runs the UKARA scheme?

 

[AK47frizzle]

17 hours ago, Tiercel said:

 

Because it looks like shit and ruins the immersion for me... I like playing dressup toy soldies, being all tacticool'd up, with a neon plastic toy gun. No thanks.  I have no problem with other people using two tones, hell it makes them much easier to spot and shoot   but Id never want to use one myself. If, god forbid, the govt decided that RIFs are no longer allowed and we all have to have two tone, no exceptions, Id probably give up and go find a new hobby.

 

To answer OPs question, I dont think UKARA makes much difference. Im not sure why airsoft isnt as popular as (for example) paintball, if I were to hazard a guess I'd say its because paintball isnt based on realism its seen as a more socially acceptable thing to do for stag dos, office outings etc. Its all a bit of a laugh in some borrowed overalls with big plumbers pipe looking guns (sorry "markers" ). Wheras airsoft is seen as slightly odd, grown men dressing up as soldiers, spending all their money on buying their own kit and using "real" looking guns and shooting each other. It appeals to much more of a niche audience and to those who arent into it, its all a bit wierd. For instance my mum's reaction when she came round to visit once and saw my airsoft guns was "Oh my god you're a gun totting wierdo".   then again shes very boring and her main hobby is watching Eastenders, so anything "unusual" is wierd by her standards. 

Na, it is just advertised wayyyyyyy better than airsoft. Another big selling point to casuals is the kill confirmation that paintball naturally possesses. Whereas, in airsoft, you have to use this perplexing, baffling term called "honesty".

 

Paintball is pushed very hard into the public with stalls everywhere asking you to sign up. Even in my high school and university had peeps who were assertive into giving you their leaflet as if their lives depended on it.

[STORMZOMBIES]

14 minutes ago, AK47frizzle said:

Do you want chavs running around parks with black guns?

ngl that sounds like it would be funny but i agree 

 

[gasman]

1 hour ago, Jason sharpe said:

As I’m new to Airsoft (first game next weekend) I’m happy to rent my rifle to see if I enjoy it,and if so play some more then get my UKARA membership. It hasn’t put me of to get into the sport😀

Well the ukara situation will give you a chance to learn what guns are good and what are crap so saving you money in the long run.

[STORMZOMBIES]

9 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

Bogus premise is indeed bogus.  The issue is VCRA 2006, not any of the ways around it that allow retailers, importers and airsoft to exist.

 

 

You didn't have to.

 

If you were stopped going to or from a skirmish in possession of a RIF, or an IF, and required to provide a reasonable excuse for purposes of Firearms Act 1968 S19 (the proof whereof lies on you) what would you say?  "Because UKARA," is not sufficient as an excuse for possession in public, and neither is it necessary as a defence to modifying an IF into a RIF.

 

And as you've pointed out (although I suspect most folk missed the reference to Just Cos) there are ways to get a retailer to sell you a RIF without ever playing airsoft.

 

Actually, I've just spotted the delicious irony there.  The one retailer that I know accepts Just Cos as their defence is https://www.airsoftworld.net

 

Guess who runs the UKARA scheme?

 

i know airsoftworld takes justcos as i have used it to buy my RIF 

5 minutes ago, AK47frizzle said:

Na, it is just advertised wayyyyyyy better than airsoft. Another big selling point to casuals is the kill confirmation that paintball naturally possesses. Whereas, in airsoft, you have to use this perplexing, baffling term called "honestly".

 

Paintball is pushed very hard into the public with stalls everywhere asking you to sign up. Even in my high school and university had peeps who were assertive into giving you their leaflet as if their lives depended on it.

yeah I was in college and there was a group outside handing leaflets to everyone outside and even down by Kingston station seems to be paintball guys regularly trying to get more guys into the hobby would be nice if some sites tried doing this

[TheFull9]

15 minutes ago, AK47frizzle said:

Na, it is just advertised wayyyyyyy better than airsoft. Another big selling point to casuals is the kill confirmation that paintball naturally possesses. Whereas, in airsoft, you have to use this perplexing, baffling term called "honestly".

 

Paintball is pushed very hard into the public with stalls everywhere asking you to sign up. Even in my high school and university had peeps who were assertive into giving you their leaflet as if their lives depended on it.

 

I think that last point might well be because paintball is seemingly dying off whereas airsoft has grown hugely.  I've seen airsoft societies at absolutely tons of unis, thriving ones at that.

 

I'm not aware of any statistics on paintball player numbers or numbers of active paintball retailers vs the same numbers for airsoft, but the CoD generation (which is now the PUBG/Fortnite generation) is, I would imagine, going to be far more taken in by airsoft when you've got social media behemoths like LadBible sharing Novritsch videos.  I thoroughly dislike both of those entities, but I think the fact remains.

 

[Guest]

I qualified for my UKARA by doing practical pistol evenings and using my local range, never skirmished in my life 🙈

[jcheeseright]

2 hours ago, EDcase said:

Good luck Jason and enjoy.

 

It may be a hurdle to the sport but that is far preferable to the chaos which would ensue if anyone could buy a RIF.

 

After all, its not so difficult to play the three games and get registered with UKARA.

 

Really? Before 2006 anyone could buy a RIF and I don’t remember there being chaos on the streets! 

[ImTriggerHappy]

Honestly don't think it makes a huge difference or at least not to me.

I would play with a two tone if needed as it is just a bb flinger and I don't see them as anything to do with real weapons.

 

I play for the game and the camaraderie  nothing else.  If anybody didn't get into airsoft because of having to use a two tone and not being oper8tor🤮 enough then to be honest that might not be a bad thing as it's one less delusional fucker to deal with.

 

Ukara is just an easy answer to keep the hippies happy.