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...
no subject
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.