Originally posted by Fat Bob's Paintball
They said that paintball guns were classed as air guns at one time, but to be legal they must not be capable of firing over 12 foot pounds. Paintball guns are adjustable so can fire over 12 foot pounds. Because of this paintball guns are now regarded as leisure equipment (toys) and so it makes no difference whether it's single shot or fully auto.(they are legal)
So the logic goes: An air rifle does not need a firearms license as long as it is limited to 12 foot pounds. If it
exceeds this limit, suddenly it's not a firearm at all, but a toy.
Does that sound likely to you? Not really. (Aside: Apparently minors in Kansas City, Missouri, are not allowed to purchase cap pistols, although they may buy shotguns freely. God Bless America.)
No, paintball markers
are firearms under UK law. As long as they are operated within the limits of the definition of an air rifle, they do not need a firearms certificate. As far as I can tell, if they fall outside these limits, they are plain illegal. Note that the definition of an air rifle
specifically limits operation to pump action or semi-automatic, i.e. one trigger pull causes no more than one projectile to be emitted. I never understood why people claim this to be a "legal grey area" - it seems quite clear: turbo, burst and full auto all cause more than one paintball to be fired for each trigger pull, so these modes are all illegal in the UK.
Now what is a grey area is the fact that most paintball markers can be adjusted to fire over 12ft.lbs. By the letter of the law this would seem to make them illegal, but Bobby is nice enough to let us carry on as long as we
use them within legal limits. At the moment, the same logic applies to electro triggers, we just have to be good children and not fiddle with the illegal modes, and nobody will come and spoil our fun.
At least for now.