Airsoft update

[graafen]

Since the Violent Crimes Reduction bill threatens to slowly kill the sport of Airsoft I've decided to start saving for the worst. If it does go through I want to be able to at least buy two more rifles and a pistol before the ban on the sale/importation/manufacture of replica firearms takes effect.

I aim to purchase two more G36c's and a H&K SOCOM/USP, with one G36c being converted into a G36 LMG and the other being converted into an SL9.

I start saving at the end of this month. Here's hoping I don't have to rush buy all the rifles. :/

Comments

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

If the bill requires you to give up your replica arms, is it such a good idea spending money on more?

Or does the bill simply prevent the FUTURE sale of such items? Leaving existing owners free to keep their replicas?

I am not sure what the proposed law will say.

[graafen]

The bill (thankfully) only prevents the sale, manufacture, or import of replica arms.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Its a dumb law no matter what. Quite how banning an item which fires nothing more lethal than a plastic pea is supposed to cut down on violent crime, I have no idea.

Can you say "electionary populist pleasing knee jerk"?

[schnee.livejournal.com]

"electionary populist pleasing knee jerk".

What's even worse about the whole thing is that those who actually *are* prone to violence will lose another way of defusing it in a comparatively safe and harmless way. If anything, such a bill would lead to a *rise* of violent crimes - while at the same time, those who simply want to have some fun will have their liberties curtailed even more.

It's sheer idiocy. :/ But then, that's politics...

[graafen]

Because, of course, venting the violent tendancies leads to more violent tendancies. Or some such crap like that.

This is one liberty I will not have curtailed. >:|

[schnee.livejournal.com]

*noddles* It's definitely worth fighting for. *snugs*

[graafen]

It is a knee-jerk law, most likely spurred on by MAG, complete with propaganda films.

The bill is desgined to tackle the increasing amount of springers that are sold to people underage on local markets. These are not weapons that are used in the sport of airsoft, infact an airsofter wouldn't be seen dead with a springer!

But as usual the goverment has elected for a total ban instead of proper legislation because it would "cost too much". This penalises the common man, taking away our liberties. And that is why I will fight the VCR in it's current state to the last breath!

[cloneboy.livejournal.com]

oooh i want one!

[graafen]

£300 for a G36c and the kit needed to use it. :)

[cloneboy.livejournal.com]

ll thats a big fat no no then

[graafen]

It's an expensive sport to start. Once you get going it's pretty cheap.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

Interesting things. :)

[graafen]

I will admit that I am a fan of firearms, and this is the safest way for me to experience them first hand. They may not be real, but for a couple of days a month we act like they are. :)

[schnee.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* Yeah, that's pretty much what it's like for me, too. ^_~ I wouldn't really feel safe around real guns, but these aren't real - yet they look real enough to, um, experience them like real ones. ^_~

[southpaw1805.livejournal.com]

Have to say that I can see both points of view here. Whilst the proposed ban on realistic imitation firearms proposed in the Bill does mean that the realism is lost from the sport (though there is provision made for exemptions to be made, presumably for registered sites, for example), at the same time, you've got to appreciate the point of view of the Police.

If you were an armed copper and called out because of a suspected armed suspect, who had a realistic looking imitation firearm, would you like to be the one to make the judgement call as to whether to gun him down (not discovering it's an imitation 'til you've done so) or risk being shot yourself? I know I wouldn't...And that is, I suspect, the primary reason behind the proposed ban.

Of course, never having been Airsofting, I'm looking at this from a purely objective point of view, rather than an emotional one, but that's my opinions on the matter...

YMMV. IANAL. E&OE. And other such acronyms.

[graafen]

Those are valid points, but let's take a realistic look at things.

The situation where a copper does get called out to a suspected armed suspect who in actual fact has a realistic imitation firearm it is 99% likely that the firearms is a "springer", a pistol/rifle that requires cocking before each shot (which no airsofters would be caught dead with) and that the suspect has bought the pistol/rifle from an unscrupulous market stall who sold it to them for £30.

The influx and availability of springers is what has caused this problem in the first place, and as usual the government has decided to ban everything completely instead of coming to an arrangement.

And with regards to the provision, we all feel that a "maybe" is not enough. We want a guarantee, not a "we might allow it if we feel like it".

It's not as though we're against registration and licensing either, but the government has already decided against that.

All in all, that part of the law is POORLY thought out. A complete ban isn't needed.

[rallicat.livejournal.com]

I accept realistic replica firearms need to be taken off the streets, but this law will affect more people who use Airsoft guns for sport and recreation, than those who use them for criminal and anti-social purposes. Consider the following statistics:

+ In 2004, there were 3268 offences involving replica firearms
+ So far, the Campaign to Save Airsoft has gathered over 8000 signatures
+ Airsoft groups estimate 10,000 airsoft players in the UK

So, if we outnumber the criminals, a blanket ban would see the adverse effects outweigh the intended benefits. Such a law is flawed and poorly thought out.
Excluding Airsoft guns from this ban, and instead only allowing their sale from retailors who have signed up to UKARA would be better, as would requiring those who wish to purchase Airsoft guns to obtain a licence, subject to background checks.

[southpaw1805.livejournal.com]

Time for some cold hard facts (courtesy of the Home Office):-

The provisional number of recorded offences involving imitation firearms (primarily BB guns) in England and Wales for 2004/5 was 3,332.

This is an increase of 55% (1,186 offences) on 2003/4.

Clearly, this suggests that something needs to be done. In its current form, the Bill only covers new Sales and Imports, it has nothing to say about existing realistic imitation weapons, though I suspect there are those who wish it did.

At the end of the day, I fully expect that when/if it achieves Royal Assent, Airsoft Clubs will be permitted to apply for a License giving them an exemption from the provisions contained therein, presumably with a similar rider to that for the legislation relating to "real" Shooting Clubs, namely that the weapons have to be kept securely on site, and probably signed out and checked back in again...

The other option, of course, is to just buy Airsoft weapons that *gasp* don't look like the real thing. Okay, you lose the realism, but you're perfectly within the law (assuming you're 18 or over), and it doesn't change the game mechanics, you're still firing BBs at other folks...

But like I say, I've never participated in an Airsoft event, so what do I know?

[rallicat.livejournal.com]

Firstly, your research on the statistics is accurate, but incomplete. In order to interprete them correctly, you have to look to a Home Office/National Statistics publication entitled 'Crime in England & Wales: Quarterly Update to December 2004' and dated 21 April 2005. In comparing firearms offences for year 2004 versus year 2003, this document includes the following comment:

"New, more explicit guidelines for the classification of weapons may have increased the recording of firearms offences, particularly those committed with imitation weapons"

This means that the apparent massive rise in figures are affected, at least in part, by a change in the way these figures are recorded.

We have been given no information about whether or not Airsoft retailors are likely to be granted an exemption, other than that we would have to 'make a strong case' (according the Hazel Blears MP and Charles Clark MP). It is prudent therefore, to continue a campaign, in anticipation that we might at least 'get a mention' at the Standing commitee when they meet in October.

The option to make Airsoft guns unrealistic has various pitfalls.
Firstly, it has been suggested that Airsoft guns be painted with coloured bands (as in America). In America, criminals have allready fooled police into thinking that their real guns were fake, with the result being that some Policemen were shot dead. Safety colour-bands are not a viable option in my opinion, as the confusion could be easily maintained.
Criminals wishing to threaten people with replica guns, would also find it a simple job to remove the 'safety colours'.

Painting a gun all over, would have serious implications for the dynamic of the game. As things stand, holding a large black gun does not make you stand out if you are trying to be stealthy. This is in stark contrast to how easy to spot you would be if your gun was bright orange, as the Gun Control Network have suggested.

Ultimately, if the appearance of a gun is the problem, then consider how the appearance of a cricket or baseball bat changes in the hands of a criminal - suddenly it's a threat. In the same way, the appearance of an airsoft gun in the hands of a responsible sportsman to me is perfectly safe, and if we can find a way to keep replica guns off the streets without affecting airsoft, then it's appearance to people like me is all that needs to matter.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

You could use the same reasoning to ban water-guns, though - and all of them, for that matter. If somebody draws what looks like a gun while being confronted by the police, the policeman won't be able to take a closer look to determine if it's real or not - they will have to *assume* it is, even if it would otherwise, under other circumstances, be obvious that the gun in question is a toy [1]. So you'd really have to ban *everything* that looks like a gun - including, for example, bright orange plastic toys and other such things.

1. This is sometimes done on purpose - a so-called suicide by cop.

[graafen]

That reminds me of the time a cop shot someone who he thought had a shotgun in his jacket. Turned out it was a chair leg.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

*noddles* Well, I sure hope he (the cop, that is) didn't get away with that. o.o

[murries.livejournal.com]

*has nothing to say on the "ban" that he hasnt ranted about already*

*drools at the SL9*

[graafen]

My plan is get the rifles now with nothing else. If I go for the CA versions (which are said to be better for modifying) it's £440. Since we can still order parts I can then build up the G36K LMG and SL9 over time. :D

[pliskin.livejournal.com]

Thats the rifle i wanted.... *cry*

[graafen]

The G36c?

[pliskin.livejournal.com]

(opps I didnt log out)

*sigh* Yea thats the one I wanted... but Im in a bit of a financial rut...

[graafen]

Well don't think you can't get it just because I've got one. Get one yourself, the rock lots. :D

[pliskin.livejournal.com]

It was between that and the FAMAS