Post by trigger finger on Sept 14, 2008 0:43:31 GMT
The Violent Crime Reduction Act.
The Law
From the 1st of October 2007 it will be illegal to sell, manufacture or import realistic imitation firearms within the UK.
Furthermore, selling an imitation firearm to, or the purchase of an imitation firearm by, anyone under the age of 18 years is illegal under Section 40 of the Act. Contravening
this is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment, a fine or both.
In blunt terms, it will not be legal to sell imitation firearms (of which realistic imitation firearms should be
seen as a sub-set) to anyone under 18.
A realistic imitation firearm is defined thus in the Act:
38 Meaning of “realistic imitation firearm”
(1) In sections 36 and 37 “realistic imitation firearm” means an imitation firearm which,
(a) has an appearance that is so realistic as to make it indistinguishable, for all practical purposes, from a real firearm; and
(b) is neither a de-activated firearm nor itself an antique.
(2) For the purposes of this section, an imitation firearm is not (except by virtue of subsection (3)(b)) to be regarded as distinguishable from a real firearm for any practical
purpose if it could be so distinguished only,
(a) by an expert;
(b) on a close examination; or
(c) as a result of an attempt to load or to fire it.
(ci)
(3) In determining for the purposes of this section whether an imitation firearm is distinguishable from a real firearm,
(a) the matters that must be taken into account include any differences between the size, shape and principal colour of the imitation firearm and the size, shape and colour in which the real firearm is manufactured; and
(b) the imitation is to be regarded as distinguishable if its size, shape or principal colour is unrealistic for a real firearm.
The Statutory instrument entitled “arms and ammunition” which includes the Defence says the following about ‘unrealistic imitation firearms’
The Defence
This should be read in conjunction with Section 38 of the Act and is included for reference. It would be legal to sell an Airsoft gun conforming to these specifications to a person over the age of 18 regardless of whether or not they were a registered player.
The defence granted by the Home Secretary allows for the continuing purchase of Airsoft guns by those participating in, holding or organising airsoft skirmishes*.
It is understood that in order to abide by the defence, the Airsoft community within the UK will become self-regulating. It is therefore of the ultimate importance that everyone
involved takes their responsibilities seriously. Failure to do so could, in the worst case, see the defence being revoked.
There will inevitably be cases where the Act will either be contravened or ignored. Should any of us be aware of such instances, it is in our own interest to ensure that such
acts are brought to the attention of the relevant bodies or authorities and that lawabiding Airsofter's distance themselves from those involved.
Sites.
The Government has determined that a 'legitimate' site is one that holds third-party insurance. This is important, because only members of a site or club with valid third party insurance can claim to be "airsoft skirmishers"* for the purposes of the defence.
It is expected that in order to differentiate the casually interested from the committed Airsoft player, that sites will maintain a minimum standard with regards to new players.
UKARA will require that any site applying to register under the scheme should ensure that a new entrant into Airsoft should play a minimum of three times in a period of not less than two months before being offered membership of a site. This is important, as
the main objective of the VCRA is to reduce the supply of imitation firearms within the UK, and the defence granted is aimed at assisting only legitimate airsoft players.
Procedure
In order to comply with the new legislation, and before you can purchase Airsoft guns, you must be a member of what the government call an "official skirmish* site".
First, check to see which of your local sites are participating in the UKARA player validation scheme. You will need to become a local member of one of these skirmish sites in order to register with UKARA. A full list of participating schemes is available by
visiting www.ukara.org.uk
Once you have obtained membership with a game site of your choosing, you may register your details with any participating UKARA retailer who will upload your information onto a national database, (accessible only by UKARA registered retailers) for
the purposes of validating purchases of Airsoft guns, in order to comply with the VCRA legislation.
Your data will be held under the strictest of rules by an independent, third party hosting company, and will never be available for use as a marketing tool. It will be for one
purpose, and one purpose only - to ensure that you can continue to purchase Airsoft guns easily.
Once you have been entered onto the database there is no need to renew your membership annually - it will remain active as long as at least one check against your membership number is made within a 365 day period, or the game site to which you are
a member writes to us informing us otherwise.
(As published by the Home Office :~ “skirmish”*)
* this term is quoted from the HO document and has nothing to do with Skirmish Ltd, their trade mark, or any other person, or company using the afore said word or
abbreviations.
(Text lifted from Ambush Adventures website)
The Law
From the 1st of October 2007 it will be illegal to sell, manufacture or import realistic imitation firearms within the UK.
Furthermore, selling an imitation firearm to, or the purchase of an imitation firearm by, anyone under the age of 18 years is illegal under Section 40 of the Act. Contravening
this is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment, a fine or both.
In blunt terms, it will not be legal to sell imitation firearms (of which realistic imitation firearms should be
seen as a sub-set) to anyone under 18.
A realistic imitation firearm is defined thus in the Act:
38 Meaning of “realistic imitation firearm”
(1) In sections 36 and 37 “realistic imitation firearm” means an imitation firearm which,
(a) has an appearance that is so realistic as to make it indistinguishable, for all practical purposes, from a real firearm; and
(b) is neither a de-activated firearm nor itself an antique.
(2) For the purposes of this section, an imitation firearm is not (except by virtue of subsection (3)(b)) to be regarded as distinguishable from a real firearm for any practical
purpose if it could be so distinguished only,
(a) by an expert;
(b) on a close examination; or
(c) as a result of an attempt to load or to fire it.
(ci)
(3) In determining for the purposes of this section whether an imitation firearm is distinguishable from a real firearm,
(a) the matters that must be taken into account include any differences between the size, shape and principal colour of the imitation firearm and the size, shape and colour in which the real firearm is manufactured; and
(b) the imitation is to be regarded as distinguishable if its size, shape or principal colour is unrealistic for a real firearm.
The Statutory instrument entitled “arms and ammunition” which includes the Defence says the following about ‘unrealistic imitation firearms’
The Defence
This should be read in conjunction with Section 38 of the Act and is included for reference. It would be legal to sell an Airsoft gun conforming to these specifications to a person over the age of 18 regardless of whether or not they were a registered player.
The defence granted by the Home Secretary allows for the continuing purchase of Airsoft guns by those participating in, holding or organising airsoft skirmishes*.
It is understood that in order to abide by the defence, the Airsoft community within the UK will become self-regulating. It is therefore of the ultimate importance that everyone
involved takes their responsibilities seriously. Failure to do so could, in the worst case, see the defence being revoked.
There will inevitably be cases where the Act will either be contravened or ignored. Should any of us be aware of such instances, it is in our own interest to ensure that such
acts are brought to the attention of the relevant bodies or authorities and that lawabiding Airsofter's distance themselves from those involved.
Sites.
The Government has determined that a 'legitimate' site is one that holds third-party insurance. This is important, because only members of a site or club with valid third party insurance can claim to be "airsoft skirmishers"* for the purposes of the defence.
It is expected that in order to differentiate the casually interested from the committed Airsoft player, that sites will maintain a minimum standard with regards to new players.
UKARA will require that any site applying to register under the scheme should ensure that a new entrant into Airsoft should play a minimum of three times in a period of not less than two months before being offered membership of a site. This is important, as
the main objective of the VCRA is to reduce the supply of imitation firearms within the UK, and the defence granted is aimed at assisting only legitimate airsoft players.
Procedure
In order to comply with the new legislation, and before you can purchase Airsoft guns, you must be a member of what the government call an "official skirmish* site".
First, check to see which of your local sites are participating in the UKARA player validation scheme. You will need to become a local member of one of these skirmish sites in order to register with UKARA. A full list of participating schemes is available by
visiting www.ukara.org.uk
Once you have obtained membership with a game site of your choosing, you may register your details with any participating UKARA retailer who will upload your information onto a national database, (accessible only by UKARA registered retailers) for
the purposes of validating purchases of Airsoft guns, in order to comply with the VCRA legislation.
Your data will be held under the strictest of rules by an independent, third party hosting company, and will never be available for use as a marketing tool. It will be for one
purpose, and one purpose only - to ensure that you can continue to purchase Airsoft guns easily.
Once you have been entered onto the database there is no need to renew your membership annually - it will remain active as long as at least one check against your membership number is made within a 365 day period, or the game site to which you are
a member writes to us informing us otherwise.
(As published by the Home Office :~ “skirmish”*)
* this term is quoted from the HO document and has nothing to do with Skirmish Ltd, their trade mark, or any other person, or company using the afore said word or
abbreviations.
(Text lifted from Ambush Adventures website)