joules?

[Caveira]

Re: joules?

Airguns in the UK are subject to the firearms acts, under the Firearms (Dangerous air weapons) rules 1969 they are classified as low powered Air Weapons and as such they are restricted to a maximum power of 12 foot pounds force for a rifle and 6 foot pounds force for a pistol. Above 12ftlb a rifle is classified as a Section 1 Firearm and requires a licence called a firearms certificate, and a pistol above 6ftlb is again a Section 1 Firearm requiring a firearms certificate in the UK.
The definition of a firearm under the act is "a lethal barrelled weapon of any description from which any shot, bullet or other missile can be discharged" it further defines "lethal weapon" as "a weapon capable of firing a projectile with sufficient force to inflict more than a trivial injury i.e.. with sufficient force to puncture skin".
The Home Office consider the lowest level of muzzle energy capable of inflicting a penetrating wound is one foot pound (1.35 joules) hence guns producing less than 1ft/lb are not covered by the act and therefore not classified as air weapons or subject to any restrictions.

http://www.airpistol.co.uk/airgun_law.htm

The Violent Crime Reduction Act has brought forward new laws regarding the ownership, and purchase of air weapons, and this guide is designed to highlight some of the issues that may effect you when purchasing or indeed owning an air weapon.

* Section 31(1) makes it an offence for anyone to sell or transfer air weapons by way of trade or buisness unless they are registered with the police as a firearms dealer.
* OUR RESPONSE: Scott Country is already a Registered Firearms Dealer as we sell shotguns, rifles, cartridges and centrefire ammunition through the store in Castle Douglas, therefore you can continue to legally purchase air rifles, pistols and ammunition from us, with the knowledge that we are strictly following the law, and able to advise you accordingly.



* Section 32 of the 2006 Act requires that air weapons sold to an individual by way of trade or business must be handed over in person. This provision is modelled on the arrangements which already exist in Section 32 of the Firearms Act.
* OUR RESPONSE: When you purchase an air weapon from Scott Country, you can order it online and can collect it face to face at our store in Castle Douglas (carriage charge will be ommitted if a stock item), or we can have it sent to a Registered Firearms Dealer in your area where you can collect it. (Please note RFD's make a small admin fee for this service). Alternatively we may be able to deliver it to you in person if you live within the DG postcode.



* Section 33 raises the age from 17 to 18 at which a young person may have an air weapon. From the 1st October, an age limit of 18 will apply to:

Purchasing or hiring an air weapon

Having an air weapon without adult supervision

Selling or hiring an air weapon.

Making a gift of an air weapon or parting with possession of an air weapon.

http://www.scottcountry.co.uk/news_detail.asp?newsID=61

[-=256=-Swerve]

Re: joules?

Are you quoting Home Office guidance there?

The Home Office consider the lowest level of muzzle energy capable of inflicting a penetrating wound is one foot pound (1.35 joules) hence guns producing less than 1ft/lb are not covered by the act and therefore not classified as air weapons or subject to any restrictions

I'm already aware of the above, but HO guidance isn't law. Hence my point that the lower limit is implied but not explicitly stated in the relevant Act(s)

The important thing in England at least, is Case Law. There just isn't very much of it in place to provide absolute clarity therefore this grey area is currently inhabited by UK vendors selling guns that fire above 1.35j over the internet/post

[Caveira]

Re: joules?

Firearms Act 19681, 21, 2
(1968 c 27)

1“Lethal weapon” includes a weapon not designed to kill or inflict injury but capable of doing so if misused (Read v Donovan [1947] KB 326,[1947] 1 All ER 37, 111 JP 46 (signal pistol); Moore v Gooderham [1960] 3 All ER 575, 124 JP 513 (air gun)); R v Thorpe [1987] 2 All ER 108,[1987] 1 WLR 383 (revolver powered by compressed carbon dioxide); R v Singh [1989] Crim LR 724 (flare launcher). Nevertheless, an air gun as a species of weapon is not, as a matter of law, a lethal weapon; the prosecution must prove that fact, either by expert evidence or by evidence of someone who has seen the gun fired and can indicate not only that it did work but what its observed effect was when it was fired (Grace v DPP (1988) 153 JP 491, DC). However, air rifles which had been tested and classified as in normal working order and capable of killing small vermin or of being used in target practice were held to have been properly found to be lethal barrelled weapons.(Castle v DPP (1998) Times 3 April.)

dvc.org.uk/dunblane/fa1968.pdf

As you say, it is up to a court to decide, but when the HO have published clear guidance, do you suggest that we choose to ignore it on the basis that we may get away with it in court?



Definitions of Firearms and Air Weapons

(Archbold, 24.85)

A firearm is "a lethal barrelled weapon of any description from which any shot, bullet or other missile can be discharged" (s 57 (1) Firearms Act 1968), it includes:

* any prohibited weapon (see below in this guidance s.5 Firearms Act 1968), whether it is such a lethal weapon as aforesaid or not; and
* any component part of such a lethal or prohibited weapon; and
* any accessory to any such weapon designed or adapted to diminish the noise or flash caused by firing the weapon.

Lethality is a complex issue and although case law exists (Moore v Gooderham (1960)3 All E.R. 575), only a court can decide whether any particular weapon is capable of causing a (potentially) lethal injury and is therefore is a "firearm" for the purposes of the Acts.

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/d_to_g/f...NS_OF_FIREARMS

[-=256=-Swerve]

Re: joules?

I'm not suggesting anything fella, Neither am I advocating that anyone ignores any laws.

If we go back to the OP and consider his confusion, what I'm saying is that the lack of case law doesn't help resolve some of the situations that exist in airsoft right at the edge of the law as it is defined.

You have stated to the OP that anything above 1.35j is an air weapon and subject to the laws that govern air gun sales (age, face to face etc)

Yet at the same time the OP could go to one of several UK airsoft retailers and buy (for example) an A&K two tone Dragunov springer, which has a stock muzzle energy in excess of 1.35j. He would just need to prove his age to the retailer and then the gun would be posted to him.

All you can say is that the law wrt some airsoft guns operating within site common UK site limits is not clear - lack of case law is allowing some retailers to inhabit this grey area and that could turn out to be a bit risky.

All it might take is a dog walker walking along the boundary of a site to be hit and lose an eye to a stray bb from a sniper rifle....who then decides to prosecute.