Clarification

[SuicidalBarrelRoll]

As I understand, UKARA is not a defense, but a very convenient and widely accepted way of proving a defense. Airsofting itself is the defense, right? So:

Is it legal, having attended a single skirmish, to strip any paint off a two tone IF to restore it to an RIF?

Is a photo of you airsofting and receipt details of a site booking enough to prove your defense? I thought yes, just checking as to not bring the sport into disrepute. Thanks in advance

[BrightCandle]

Were you arrested for the offence you would be making the argument that after one game you should be considered an airsofter. Relying on UKARA its extremely unlikely to ever get to court, without it its much more likely. Its unlikely you would be arrested for it, but be aware any crimes committed on RIFs are pretty serious and result in many years in jail. I don't personally intrepret the law as 1 game being sufficient, the commencement order gives a good example of sufficient period being 2 months and 3 games as UKARA uses and if you use something less I would expect the CPS to challenge it.

 

I would say if you want to go this route you should consult a lawyer, because I am not a lawyer and I have no idea what the CPS would do with you. Neither less its very unlikely they would catch you, but just keep in mind the penalties can be extremely high for wiping off some paint.

[Deek]

The problem with a defence is it is down to individual legal interpretation.

 

So, if you believe you have a valid defence for manufacturing a RIF (which repainting it or removing the two-tone paint actually is) then you can go ahead and do it. If it was deemed that you did not have a valid defence the CPS would then have to consider if a prosecution was in the public's best interests.

 

The Home Office have issued guidance regarding airsoft - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-violent-crime-reduction-act-2006-commencement-no-3-order-2007-firearms-measures

 

In realistic terms nobody is really going to know that you have done it, and if you are at a skirmish (a permitted event) then you have your defence there.

[Josh95]

if you dont go waving it about in a public place, and only use it at a registered airsoft site you will have no problems.

[M_P]

Being an airsofter would be the defence yes, but playing once wouldn't be good enough in my opinion. I once played golf but that doesn't make me a golfist.

[TheGrover]

The problem with a defence is it is down to individual legal interpretation.

 

So, if you believe you have a valid defence for manufacturing a RIF (which repainting it or removing the two-tone paint actually is) then you can go ahead and do it. If it was deemed that you did not have a valid defence the CPS would then have to consider if a prosecution was in the public's best interests.

 

The Home Office have issued guidance regarding airsoft - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-violent-crime-reduction-act-2006-commencement-no-3-order-2007-firearms-measures

 

In realistic terms nobody is really going to know that you have done it, and if you are at a skirmish (a permitted event) then you have your defence there.

Ah. I never found these regulations before, i always thought that there was no explicit defence for us airsofters, but there it is, under the RIF regulations 2007. So i guess that UKARA is in fact a good way of proving your entitlement to a defence, along with a record of all your previous skirmishes, future bookings etc.

 

Thanks for that

[Russe11]

The law is a grey area. I would say that no, one skirmish doesn't prove a defence. I'm sure that if you did remove 2 tone, no-one would bat an eyelash though.

I personally removed the 2 tone from my 1st gun after 3 games. I was going every week at the time so it was a while before I got UKARA sorted.

[Chock]

As I understand, UKARA is not a defense, but a very convenient and widely accepted way of proving a defense. Airsofting itself is the defense, right? So:

Is it legal, having attended a single skirmish, to strip any paint off a two tone IF to restore it to an RIF?

Is a photo of you airsofting and receipt details of a site booking enough to prove your defense? I thought yes, just checking as to not bring the sport into disrepute. Thanks in advance

 

Actually, UKARA is more a case of being a very convenient way for retailers to provide a defence for having sold a realistic looking weapon to someone, and for us, as buyers, to more easily prove we are legit when buying a RIF; so yeah, it's bugger all to do with the law.

 

If you have been at an airsoft site often enough to have filled out the forms for a UKARA, then the mere fact that you have been there often is actually enough of a defence, even if you never filled out the UKARA application, since you could simply ask the proprietors of the site to vouch for you (and in fact, the UKARA scheme is simply an organised way of having airsoft sites do this for the benefit of the retail trade), but the CPS could simply check any airsoft site's records, and if they found your name on the site's books a few times, then it would be apparent that you were at least attending airsoft events regularly. If they found your name listed once, then I doubt they'd take that to mean you were a regular airsoft player, any more than going to one footy match would make you a diehard supporter of a club. Thus the law is, as always, open to interpretation and often the plaything of some clever wording from a barrister for the benefit of a jury.

 

So the very fact that a UKARA application expects you to have been to three airsoft events, minimum, and these over a period of at least two months, is intended to prevent someone who is merely looking for an excuse to own a RIF from simply rocking up to an airsoft site, throwing fifteen quid at them to attend a game - making that payment a matter of record - and then never going airsofting again. We may not necessarily like the UKARA system, but it was at least fairly well thought out in terms of preventing that sort of abuse of airsoft sites, in not providing an easily-abused excuse for any idiot to simply go once, buy a RIF and then be a d*ckhead with the thing.

 

And beyond merely having a RIF, it's particularly important to have a credible defence for having 'manufactured a RIF', as the act of doing this is specifically mentioned in the Violent Crimes Reduction Act as being a bit suss unless you have a legitimate reason for having done so. Simply having attended one airsoft event is hardly an ironcast defence for this, and I personally would not want to rely on that. Whilst it should be borne in mind that it is still the burden of the prosecution in any court case to prove any intent upon the defendant's part to commit a crime, the better you are able to substantiate your legitimacy, the safer you are from bogus accusations of criminal intent. Thus the possession of a RIF alone does not mean you are going to hold up an armoured car in your local high street any more than having a kitchen knife in your kitchen means you are going to stab someone down at the local boozer, however, going to the extent of making a RIF, and then of course possessing that RIF after you have made it, is two boxes ticked, and that means making an accusation stick will be a little bit easier, as it shows you were 'planning' to do something, and the CPS love sh*t like that, because the word 'planning' always sounds devious, although you should bear in mind that the law is not trying to catch you out, if you are legit and can prove you are, then it's all good. It just makes good sense to ensure you can easily do that, and acting responsibly helps us all.

 

Just go to a few games and get the UKARA. It's not that much of a pain in the arse to do.

[SuicidalBarrelRoll]

UKARA ain't on for me, I'm 15 but thanks, I'll go to a few games then strip

[BrightCandle]

UKARA ain't on for me, I'm 15 but thanks, I'll go to a few games then strip

 

In which case you seemed to have missed the bit that being under 18 you have no defence for purchasing or converting an initiation firearm into a realistic imitation firearm. The whole point of the legislation was to keep realistic looking weapons out of the hands of minors.

[DX115FALCON]

 

In which case you seemed to have missed the bit that being under 18 you have no defence for purchasing or converting an initiation firearm into a realistic imitation firearm. The whole point of the legislation was to keep realistic looking weapons out of the hands of minors.

 

Ninja'd me again :L

[Longshot]

Let's clarify a few things, especially in relation to the last couple of points:

 

1, the law (as opposed to advice on the law, which is what the commencement effectively is) doesn't mention "regular" or "airsofter" anywhere. It says that to have a defence against prosecution for manufacturing a RIF you need to be manufacturing it "for the acting out of military or law enforcement scenarios for the purposes of recreation" at a place "for which public liability insurance is held" (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/2606/contents/made). In other words, technically you don't even have to have played airsoft at all in order to be manufacturing a RIF "for the purpose."

 

2, there is no age applied to the laws regarding manufacture.

 

3, none of this really matters as long as (as has been advised) you don't act like a dick with your IF or RIF. As far as anybody has ever been able to show in all the many years I've been involved in this hobby (and a fair few of the people who try are super dooper 'we're all being watched all the time!' conspiracy theorists) there seems to be literally 1 person who has ever been charged with manufacturing a RIF, and that was just added on to the list of other things - like threatening to kill people - that he was already in court for, and he did not get five years as a firearm offence for doing it. Actually I don't think he got any sort of repercussion at all from doing it.

[SuicidalBarrelRoll]

 

In which case you seemed to have missed the bit that being under 18 you have no defence for purchasing or converting an initiation firearm into a realistic imitation firearm. The whole point of the legislation was to keep realistic looking weapons out of the hands of minors.

There aren't any age restrictions on manufacturing if a defense is owned, Ian's Guide to Noobism point 7

[DX115FALCON]

There aren't any age restrictions on manufacturing if a defense is owned, Ian's Guide to Noobism point 7

Don't think so. I just wanted to be safe, hence my MP5K is still green.

*PS: props on reading the guide!

[SuicidalBarrelRoll]

Don't think so. I just wanted to be safe, hence my MP5K is still green.

*PS: props on reading the guide!

Responsibru! Regular I would take to mean playing at least 3 games, a good number

[team flex]

UKARA ain't on for me, I'm 15 but thanks, I'll go to a few games then strip

I will just suggest this. Why not buy some magpul furniture etc, and leave the two tone on until you get to a skirmish and then put it on, in a safe area, where you will be allowed. It is what I do, albeit before so I could get stopped but I skirmish a bit. Just a thought,

[SuicidalBarrelRoll]

I will just suggest this. Why not buy some magpul furniture etc, and leave the two tone on until you get to a skirmish and then put it on, in a safe area, where you will be allowed. It is what I do, albeit before so I could get stopped but I skirmish a bit. Just a thought,

Seems an unnecessary investment, if I skirmished regularly that would be defense enough, I'd just strip off paint and be done with it

[team flex]

Of course, but that's airsoft for you