The Airsoft ban., Solving your problems! Options

[GIJOE94]

You can blind someone by driving your middle and index fingers into their eyes. It's not that these "weapons" are dangerous, it's that certain areas of the human body are essentially weak.

I agree with Dave on this one!

[The Lord]

The reason they are getting banned isnt because they are dangerous, its because they look like something that is.

[Blackbuck]

Exactly although people will just pain their real guns bright orange now.

[D@V£]

To be honest, if you hold you hand into the pocket of a trenchcoat and have a menacing enough look you can convince someone you've got a gun.

Or... you can make them think you're having a good time... which would probabley scare them even more...

[Elliot Carver]

I disagree, it is very much possible. Just replace some parts by real ones (about 99,9% ) and it'll work

Thats what was done JdB. The plastic outer housing of the AEG shattered. The case was proven that it would be cheaper to buy a real gun than to buy an AEG and convert it. At the end of the day anything can be a gun given enough time and money.

I have to be honest when i say it is a senciable thing the governent is doing here. Takeing all the fake guns off the streets will reduce gun related crime. Its just that im loosing my beloved sport lol...im hypocritical...dont forget everything else gun related is going too. After oct 1st all gun related anything is banned unless your a licenced professional. So reinactments, airsoft, museam pieces, filming even the toys. Its all illigal.

See the govenment wont do the same for drugs becuase theres too much money to be made from fines that and the majority of the voting public are users.

meh is what i say ... im facing having to take my guns on sept 30th down the garden and destroying them with a sledge hammer before burning them.

[Wittmann]

Welcome to my world, but last time we did this it was a double barrel shotgun that had been in the family 3 generations (My grandfather didnt think to transfer ownership to my liscenced father...) and a .22 semi automatic that was my fathers favourite rifle. You may face destroying your sporting tools, we had to destroy heirlooms and precious possessions. Meanwhile illegal semi autos can still be found if you have the contacts and the money. It does nothing.

[BigglesTrevor]

its not just the fact that BB guns are dangerous, it dosnt matter if you can blind somone with an index finger, that a completly stupid argumant, you can blind somone with pretty much anything, its just partiucular easy with a BB gun when its fired at somone not expecting it. Dave your trying to argue realistic BB guns shouldnt be banned becuase there injuries are "petty", but thats half the point, its the intent of people to use the voilently and to commit crimes. I also find your rock argumant childish, thats simply not realistic, whereas making BB guns bright colours so a imitation weapon is clearly visable is. A crackhdown on anti social use of airsoft weapons is also realistic. If somone kills somone with stones what are you saying? dont try to stop that beahavior it in the future becuase there just to many rocks? of course your not, so why not try stop BB gun crimes when there is actually somthing you can do to cut it.

[D@V£]

My rock arguement simpley isn't realistic?
It was based on a real news article. You can close your eyes, put your fingers in your ears and sing a happy song if you really want to, but it won't change the fact that this ban has been poorly thought out and will probabley increase the amount of violent crime rather than decrease it.

I think the government needs to take a long hard look at the real influences for violent crime.




Of course, that's not what this ban is about, is it? We all know full well the real reasons the government wants us to stop getting our hands on these.

[BigglesTrevor]

gun culture is on the increase, i dont see how any move like this can be bad. BB fans, aswell as people who collect blank firing weapons, simply have to swallow there tongues and admit were not living in the britan we were 10 years ago. Sure its not the reason for voilent crime, but it sure as hell is a method. There not real firearms, but how the hell is somone else supposed to know that.

[D@V£]

Biggles.

We can't own rifles.
We can't own pistols.
We can't own the basic shotgun without a liscence that's going to set you back a good bit.
We can't own knives over a certain length
We can't carry knifes around.
We can't even slowly knocked off our attackers with carbon monoxicide anymore.
And soon we won't be able to own anything that look remotely like any of the above.

That sort of narrow's down what we can use to defend ourselves, doesn't it?
And don't even try and tell me we can use the police for that. You're one of these people who seems to think the police was established to protect us. That simpley isn't the case. The police exist soley for the purpose of enforcing the law. They are tools of the government, nothing more, nothing less. A government, that to be frank, has the support of less than a quater of the people.



You said we're not living in the Britian we were 10 years ago. I say we should still be living in the Britian we were 50 years ago. The fact is the government has been using legislation to curb our liberty for far too long, and it seems no ones going to stop them. Are we going to have this exact same debate when the government makes it legal for policemen to kill on sight?

[Elliot Carver]

The topic is loosing touch here. Yobs on the streets with a steel ball bearing gun is very different to an airsoft player. The sport of airsoft is played by professional law abiding people who mostly originate from law enforcement or military backgrounds. It is a regulated sport governed by strict rules and procedures. Im fed up with people and the media making us look like a bunch of teens shooting old ladies and kittens with ball bearings.

Airsoft is being banned because its a quick statistic. 10,000 fake guns taken off the streets etc. Why couldnt the government turn around and regulate the sport? Give us lottery grants to build better sites and use it to promote respect for firearms? Look at the sport of ice skating for example. When the government banned knives in public they didn't ban ice skating did they? You can still quite legally walk the street with a ice skating boot + 12" blade. If the government is at all interested in stopping gun crime why are they still allowing toy guns to be sold to children in the toy shops? Why are our children still allowed to pretend to "kill" each other with water pistols? Especially in this day and age if that kid took that water pistol into a newsagents...

Its politics. If the government actually cared they'd ban all smoking, all drugs, all guns, all knives, all spirits/alcohol (not wine) and all pornography/prostitution. Money is the only thing that stops them. Your right Trev, we're not living in the Britain we were 10 years ago ... 10 years ago you'd go to prison for dealing Exstasy, now you get a £1000 fine....

[BigglesTrevor]

believe me you still go to jail for dealing ecstacy. That is as much a quick statistic as 10,000 fake guns on the street.

Dave, The meaning of liberty is will to do what you want aslong as it dosnt effect (harm) anybody else. As soon as it does then getting rid of it is respecting true liberty.

[Wittmann]

Id say its actually reducing liberty by imposing one groups wishes over the other for a PERCEIVED greater good...for instance since we had semi automatic rifles and hand guns banned here gun crime has not been reduced as criminals have been able to procure these weapons, the only effect is gun related SUICIDE has gone down...while hanging et al has increased...

[D@V£]

Dave, The meaning of liberty is will to do what you want aslong as it dosnt effect (harm) anybody else. As soon as it does then getting rid of it is respecting true liberty.

That's a dictionary defination of Liberty. To be frank, you can't do much without harming others.

Example; Would you think it'd be against your freedom if the government stopped you buying anything made in china? You can't exactly say that they're produced somewhere were human rights are enshrined, can you?

The fact is, if people don't start standing up for their rights someone's going to take them away.
It's happened before.

[BigglesTrevor]

but thats just it, airsoft guns are not being taken away, they just arnt aloud to be as realistic as before. If you ask me thats a dam good compromise, seeing as they are banned in other countries. In some respects the airsoft community should be thanking the goverment there hobbie is being protected, it would have been easy to call an outright ban, i cant imagine the conservatives putting up any serious oposition. But just as usual, people jump on any oppertunity to shoot down the goverment in flames.

Example; Would you think it'd be against your freedom if the government stopped you buying anything made in china? You can't exactly say that they're produced somewhere were human rights are enshrined, can you?

they do stop us buying products from china, but for a different reason. The british goverments job is to rule on behalf of the British people , not the chinease, so that is an irrelavent argumant. They stop us buying products from China to protect british industries, therefor protecting the interests of British citizens (and the liberty of our nation).

[Blackbuck]

The whole point of Airsoft was to be as realistic as possible...

[D@V£]

Oh believe me Biggles, I would love to shoot down the government in flames

[Elliot Carver]

but thats just it, airsoft guns are not being taken away, they just arnt aloud to be as realistic as before. If you ask me thats a dam good compromise, seeing as they are banned in other countries. In some respects the airsoft community should be thanking the goverment there hobbie is being protected, it would have been easy to call an outright ban, i cant imagine the conservatives putting up any serious oposition. But just as usual, people jump on any oppertunity to shoot down the goverment in flames.

Let me clear something up ^^ After Oct 1st it will be illigal to own an RIF. If you are caught with an RIF you will be charged with possession of a class 1 firearm and you will go to court. What we are proposing is that professional airsofters will pay to belong to an airsoft club. They will have to use this site regularly and each firearm they own will have to be licenced. If arrested you will still be charged and go to court but the documents will be your defence.

Airsoft guns are being 'taken away'. The less realism argument suggested by the government was shelved last year by the airsoft commity. The government has been rude, deliberatly difficult and degrading towards the airsoft community from the outset. The Tories were the only party to take the side of the airsofters, for once.

[Blackbuck]

Agreed the Tories dismissed the act as a load of BS which is what it is. I think that in years to come maybe the softing community will be able to coem to better terms with a new government (get rid of labour) but for now under this one we haven't a chance in hell.

[D@V£]

I'm still opting for seperatism. 8 people in a van for every town hall and police station, acting in synchronis across the country. The fact is pretty much all our troops are overbroad somewhere. This could easily be pulled off and the entire country could be in new order within under an hour.

Maybe a few more than 8 for parliament mind... I hear they've got more than one armed guard there...