The defence that we all talk about

[Double 0 Jedi]

Am I correct in assuming that there has yet to be a case in English law concerning the “Defence” that airsofters cite as exemption from the VCRA. Does anyone know how much the police know about things like UKARA and so on and so forth. As you are being cuffed and stuffed into a police car will the cries of “I’m UKARA registered” or “I have site membership..” help you. I know Caveria did a very informative thread a while back about the best way to carry guns to and from a skirmish, but how much of a defence do people think they have. Has it yet been tested in a court of law that if, for instance, you fanny about in your garden with your RIF and the old bill turn up, charge you with the applicable offence and cart you off to the cells, how well will the “Defence” stand up in court ? Has anyone been charged under the VCRA regarding an offence with an Airsoft gun. The reason I ask is because I just had two police officers in my shop, in talking about what they had to inform me about ( an abandoned car in our car park) one of them noticed the site I was on on my pc, (Obviously Zero One) and we soon got chatting about airsoft. They have never heard of it, and when they asked how do people buy “these things” I mentioned the subject of having a defence against the VCRA, they laughed and said there wasn’t an automatic defence for anyone and that it was not a shield against prosecution just some thing that could be “taken into consideration” in the event of criminal charge. Any thoughts ?

[Tin]

Re: The defence that we all talk about

The 'defence' has nothing to do with use, missuse, garden use or otherwise. It is all to do with airsoft skirmishers being able to buy RIFs.

[BaggyPants]

Re: The defence that we all talk about

Typical noddies who know bugger all about the laws they are there to enforce. I gave up asking police officers about legalities a long time ago.

As posted above by Tin, the VCR act has nothing to do with ownership or use. You can't be arrested for having a RIF in a private place.

[gunslinger11]

Re: The defence that we all talk about

Interesting post mate. Suppressing they don’t know about Airsoft guns etc. My brother completed his police training a while back and was telling me about a unit he completed about identifying different weaponry and the threats they pose. Apparently that composed largely on airsoft guns and how they are used in criminal activity etc. in place of real guns.

[Johnno]

Re: The defence that we all talk about

You can have all the defences in the World for owning a RIF but if you act like a Nobber in public you will get your Collar felt and deservedly so .

[Double 0 Jedi]

Re: The defence that we all talk about

The 'defence' has nothing to do with use, missuse, garden use or otherwise. It is all to do with airsoft skirmishers being able to buy RIFs.

As posted above by Tin, the VCR act has nothing to do with ownership or use. You can't be arrested for having a RIF in a private place.

I used the garden thing just as an example and it's not really relevent to my point. The point is how much of a defence is the defence.

[BaggyPants]

Re: The defence that we all talk about

Well buyers don't need a defence at all. It is sellers who need to show that a relevent defence is applicable to sell.

[Tin]

Re: The defence that we all talk about

The defence is used to allow skirmishers (as far as we are concerned) to be sold Rifs. The membership schemes used to prove the defence allow retailers to ascertain that they are selling to a genuine skirmisher. I may be mistaken but you should never need to prove your defence to the police unless they arrest you at the point of purchase. IE they suspect somebody that is not an airsoft skirmisher is being sold a RIF.
The fact that you may get a site membership card/ukara number may allow you to show an interested copper the reason for you carrying a gun bag and may help get you on your way a little quicker.

[mrpugster]

Re: The defence that we all talk about

I recently spent some time putting in a firearms IT systems for a Police force, asking around they really aren't interested in such matters and didn't know that much about airsoft. As an example of how slow Police in general are to respond the firearms unit only recently took delivery of their own professional chrono so they could test FPS of air rifles themselves, before they had to send them off to be tested at £1,000 a pop....

[gunslinger11]

Re: The defence that we all talk about

As an example of how slow Police in general are to respond the firearms unit only recently took delivery of their own professional chrono so they could test FPS of air rifles themselves, before they had to send them off to be tested at £1,000 a pop....

WOW that is really slow, no wonder the country is out of money with ridiculous spending habits like that.

[Caveira]

Re: The defence that we all talk about

Not to mention, if you're in your garden, but in sight of a member of the public, you may still get a visit if they "felt threatened". How the police deal with it from there would depend largely on how you react to them.

My local force's firearms registration officer knew nothing about our defence until I told him a couple of years ago!

[V.A.K]

Re: The defence that we all talk about

Not to mention, if you're in your garden, but in sight of a member of the public, you may still get a visit if they "felt threatened". How the police deal with it from there would depend largely on how you react to them.

My local force's firearms registration officer knew nothing about our defence until I told him a couple of years ago!

cav that's because you live in the middle of nowhere.