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Well, the Aussies Are F***ed....


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Moan all you want about VCRA/UKARA/Two-Tones etc. - we don't have it as bad as Australians.

 

The Gel-blaster business has just been decimated overnight in South Australia with new law changes.

 

In summary:

  • It is an offence to possess a gel blaster without a license.
  • It is an offence to possess an unregistered gel blaster.
  • The sale and possession of gel blasters becomes regulated.
  • They will be subject to licensing and control.
  • If a person or business does not wish to become licensed then it will become illegal for them to sell or possess a gel blaster

 

Obtaining a Firearms license isn't a trivial task either. Between now and April '21 (end of the amnesty period), you can't even take one out of your house, let alone to a skirmish site, without a Firearms License.

 

I just hope we can keep our heads down and that our politicians are too busy with Brexit/Covid to notice what's going on 'down under'.

 

 

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Damn, I wonder if the type of firearms license they will deem necessary is the same type you need to own an actual firearm; pretty messed up if it is.

 

The thing that disturbs me most about that notice is the position of that carry handle and the absence of the lower quad rail - I am well and truly triggered right now. 😏

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17 minutes ago, Zarrin said:

Damn, I wonder if the type of firearms license they will deem necessary is the same type you need to own an actual firearm; pretty messed up if it is.

 

The thing that disturbs me most about that notice is the position of that carry handle and the absence of the lower quad rail - I am well and truly triggered right now. 😏

 

Sounds like it's going to require a Category A License, which includes:

  • Air rifles
  • Blank-fire firearms at least 75 cm in length
  • Rim-fire rifles (other than self-loading rim-fire rifles)
  • Shotguns (other than pump-action or self-loading shotguns) (this includes lever-action shotguns)
  • Break-action shotgun/rim-fire rifle combination firearms

You would also have to attend a mandatory 'safe handling, carriage and use of firearms' course, which I heard (so could be wrong) is around $200 AUD.

 

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I know it's an additional expense but a licence is legal recognition which i personally feel is preferable to our current state where law makers can turn round and just ban airsoft at the drop of a hat. 

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2 minutes ago, BigStew said:

 our current state where law makers can turn round and just ban airsoft at the drop of a hat. 

 

Like they did with Self-loading rifles and handguns in the UK? A license means nothing when it comes to bans.

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3 minutes ago, BigStew said:

that required an actual law change and to be blunt multiple murders to instigate the change. At the moment the home secretary could wake up and say no more airsoft. official legal recognition has got to be better than the grey area we are in at the moment. 

 

Ok, so if licensed, Airsoft would take take a few weeks/months to ban, instead of a few hours/days. A ban is still a ban. Very few politicians would be willing to stick their neck out to defend a bunch of LARPers shooting plastic balls at each other in either scenario.

 

In the mean time, the barrier to entry will be raised so high (assuming we follow Australia's model of a firearms license) that many individuals won't bother applying for said license, and the UK airsoft industry will slowly die out.

 

For example, how many airsofters fall into one of these categories (taken from UK police guidance)

2.28 Relevant medical conditions include:

(i) Acute Stress Reaction or an acute reaction to the stress caused by a trauma;

(ii) suicidal thoughts or self-harm;

(iii)depression or anxiety;

(iv)dementia;

(v)mania, bipolar disorder or a psychotic illness;

(vi)a personality disorder;

(vii)a neurological condition: for example, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s or Huntington’s diseases, or epilepsy;

(viii)alcohol or drug abuse; and

(ix)any other mental or physical condition which may affect the safe possession of firearms or shotguns.

 

Any of the above could be grounds for refusal.

 

Maybe the Government devises a lesser form of License and throw airguns in with it? Will they be willing to put the infrastructure in place to do such a thing? Who will foot the bill? (Hint: us)

 

Maybe long term Two-tones will become mandatory.

 

Maybe Speedsoft will become the future of Airsoft.

 

Lots of maybes....

 

 

 

 

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  • Supporters

A structured licensing system would definitely be an improvement, so long as it recognises the fact that in the scheme of things Airsoft "guns" are technically the least powerful of the shooting sports with no lethal capabilities, & therefore qualifying needn't be as stringent.

At least that way we wouldn't get tarred with the same brush when someone is killed with a full power air rifle etc, obviously we're not covered against idiots waving them round on street corners, but every one knows you can't fix stupid 😏.

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2 hours ago, BigStew said:

a licence is legal recognition

 

It's also a register of who's got them, which is a concern for real steel Murcan liberty-tree-waterers.

 

Not so much an issue for us since (with a few unfortunate exceptions which popped up in the videos section) we're all playing at insured sites.  They could easily enough ruin our fun by shutting down the sites through fair means or foul, leaving us with collections but nowhere to use them.

 

I'm enjoying airsoft while it lasts, but I do think that the UK will go the way of Convict Island soon enough, with Scotland being the first to stamp on our fun, as soon as Queen Nicola has the authority and legislative time to get it done.

 

I'd imagine that we'll be caught up in the existing air-gun licence scheme initially, which won't be so bad... but that's what the frog always says about its hot tub.

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3 hours ago, BigStew said:

I know it's an additional expense but a licence is legal recognition which i personally feel is preferable to our current state where law makers can turn round and just ban airsoft at the drop of a hat. 

Just like after dunblane you mean where tens of thousand of legally licensed hand gun owners had to hand all their guns in for destruction.

The powers that be can do what they like when they like regardless of what paperwork you have ☹

Regards 

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again that required a change in the law and had overwhelming cross party support. the protection airsofter have at the moment can literally be taken away on a whim of one minister anything has got to be better than that.

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2 hours ago, BigStew said:

 the protection airsofter have at the moment can literally be taken away on a whim of one minister 

Which is exactly why I support,by way of a membership fee,the work done by Ukapu. They have a finger on the pulse and work with government bodies and big name politicians in order to keep us playing.But for their work,I wonder what we would be doing now?

But I do wonder sometimes how much longer we can continue as we are.☹

Regards 

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Was discussing this with a friend the other day. I've got so much money tied up in RIFs, I keep thinking I should sell them, rather than be out of  pocket in a couple of years or less when airsoft eventually gets banned.

 

All it is going to take is a couple of incidents of idiots with replicas, or one with fatal consequences and RIFs will be illegal faster than any of our previous firearm bans.

 

Mind you, if you've got an FAC, maybe you can get an "Airsoft" slot. I'd happily have that. A bit like an SGC, you can own as many as you've got safe storage for.

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24 minutes ago, Shamal said:

Which is exactly why I support,by way of a membership fee,the work done by Ukapu. They have a finger on the pulse and work with government bodies and big name politicians in order to keep us playing.But for their work,I wonder what we would be doing now?

But I do wonder sometimes how much longer we can continue as we are.☹

Regards 

Ditto for paintball and the UKPSF
Unseen they deal with the Home Office and police, occasionally seen they deal with the media (A retraction from the Sun, even though it was a tiny corner of the paper), getting official testing recognising a non standard projectile, formal Home Office response on paintball vs the VCRA, getting paintball named in Covid guidance and providing support to sites on covid requirements etc

 

Support the people who support your hobbies 

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17 minutes ago, Tommikka said:

 

 

Support the people who support your hobbies 

Well said 👍

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  • 3 weeks later...

On a slightly different tangent.

 

You can buy gel basters  in the UK from Amazon in various 'realistic' colours.  Would they considered to be RIFs?

 

Not seen a gel blaster close up but for the price they are going for I take it they look and feel very much like a toy.

Just found this.

 

 

 

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I feel sorry for them but at the same time they deserve it - it not like they didn’t vote for their government. But man, license of fucking toys? Coming from mainland Europe I already thought UK restrictions were a joke but Australia is in another dimension entirely. They even can’t have new Rival nerf guns... like, who in their right mind makes these laws?

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On 27/10/2020 at 15:18, CrackCommandoUnit1972 said:

On a slightly different tangent.

 

You can buy gel basters  in the UK from Amazon in various 'realistic' colours.  Would they considered to be RIFs?

 

Not seen a gel blaster close up but for the price they are going for I take it they look and feel very much like a toy.

Just found this.

 

 

 

They are RIFs

The UK retailers selling without VCRA style restrictions or as IFs are being ignorant or blatantly ignoring the law - just as was done in Australia.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Absolute madness australia has always had bad goverment policies. First they censor films and video games now they cant handle toys called gel blasters lol How is a gel blaster threatening at all? The arguement that it looks too realistic could be nullified by having something similar to the defense and UKARA system over here. Or just have all of them forceably orange tipped and two toned. Such sadness for australians, people are way too scared nowadays. How many gel blaster robberys have they had? if it isnt in the thousands they are completly cooko for ruining another sport. They must lose theyre minds at the idea of real guns, i wonder why they dont replace theyre military and police weapons with Japanese body pillows with censored anime girls on the front to be more good and nice lol

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6 hours ago, padraigthesniper said:

 Or just have all of them forceably orange tipped and two toned. Such sadness for australians, people are way too scared nowadays.

 

It's because it uses compressed gas to propel the projectile - in this case the forward movement of a piston in a cylinder. They've even banned certain Nerf guns due to this.

 

I'm sure the 'look' of them doesn't help though, they probably have laws for that too.

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