Originally posted by JoseDominguez
Sorry peeps, but under UK law, markers are currently completely ignored or considered toys......... not under firearms law at all...... otherwise ramping would be completely illegal 
as the law hasn't been changed.
There ya go. Read up on the recent case of "drive by" and how the courts viewed the use of a marker in "what would otherwise have been considered a serious assault". Still a "grey area" but markers are pretty much in the same boat as airsoft......... the only way you'd get done is because they look a bit like guns, using one to intimidate could land a firearms charge, but ONLY if it was used to intimidate and looked like a gun (you can face this charge using a carrot in a carrier bag).
So, Ollie is being a Smart arse, he's just a bit more informed on current info.
So, regardless of "opinion".... look up the recent paintball drivebye case, at no point was it considered a "firearms" offence. We've just spent a lot of time "under the impression" that markers were covered by the act. (Myself included, just believed the hype).
Airsoft, are considered toys, because they produce less than 1 Joule of energy and are not considered to be lethal.
An airweapon, for example, can kill a rabbit..or similar, and has killed people in the past, one just the other day.
People have mentioned in the past, the effect an electro marker, loaded with marbles could have....not lethal?
Markers are, by definition..an Airgun.
They use a self contained compressed gas source to fire a projectile....fact.
The law is open to interpretation, when presented in court.
The Judge, in this drive by case, (of which I am not fully aware), could just as easily, have thrown the book, at the indiviuals involved, but most likely chose, to term it as devilment, rather than to have these silly buggers, banged up, for Firearms offences.
Markers have not been ignored, more have developed, around the law...as I said, Co2 required a Section 1 FAC, when used with any air powered weapon, including markers.
Markers produce, near on 12ft/lbs of muzzle energy, at 300fps.
Technicly speaking, nobody under the age of 17 should be able to buy a Marker, as that is what the law states in reference to an air weapon of any kind.
The term Grey area..is very appropriate, as markers are in this grey area.
if an Airgun, produces more than 12ft/lbs, it is considered a Section 1 firearm...Fully automatic weapons, are Section 5, illegal, to private citizens...ramping, is a grey area..as, it isnt fully automatic, as described in law, but...it does produce more than one shot, per pull of the trigger...like wise, it isnt burst fire either, as such.
Ramping is not something, that could be easily classifide, as it has no bearing on firearms, as they were, when the law was passed...there is no reason, why any rifle, pistol or machine gun, should require the ability, to ramp shots, in the way that we do....ours ramp, as a means of making it easier to fire our guns, at a rate we require, to play a game...WITHOUT it being FULL AUTO...if, there was no legal bearing on Markers...then why are we not using full auto, capped at 15 BPS for safety?
Coz its illegal to have a fully automatic weapon...thats why.
Paintball Attacker Jailed For 12 Months
A participant in a paintball drive by in the United Kingdom has been sentenced to jail for 12 months. Dion Hunter, 23, was a passenger in a sports car when he fired several rounds at pedestrians and a bus.
pbnews.jpg
The attacker, Dion Hunter, was charged with "three counts of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence." Hunter plead guilty on all three accounts.
http://www.paintballstar.com/pn/modules.php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&topic_id=21&page_id=200
That one I assume?
As I suspected, the it was described as "witless tomfoolery"...they were lucky.
You can bet your bollox...if someone ever did, carry out a crime, using a marker like a shocker, and a marble loaded Halo...he wouldnt get told off, for his "witless tomfoolery"...and before anyone says, that "Dion" didnt commit a crime....shooting somone with something, who doesnt want to be shot, is assault, and hence...criminal.
Has anyone ever imported a marker, and been asked to provide a declaration, as to it's legality in the UK? Yep.
On a lighter note...
Meirion Davies, defending Hunter, said: "Nobody was going to be injured as a result of this witless piece of tomfoolery."
What is he...'kin Psychic? Twat...
