VCRA - Travelling with airsofts

ASI Casper

From reading a few threads on here, there seems to still be a great deal of confusion over this. I know the VCR Act itself, along with the other NI firearms laws that affect airsoft, is pretty confusing, but as it's all UK law it doesn't affect ROI. The only part of major concern to most of you and the part that there seems to be a lot of confusion over is travelling into NI ( or mainland UK ) with replica guns.

The specific part that causes the problem is this:

(1)A person is guilty of an offence if—
(a)he manufactures a realistic imitation firearm;
(b)he modifies an imitation firearm so that it becomes a realistic imitation firearm;
(c)he sells a realistic imitation firearm; or
(d)he brings a realistic imitation firearm into Northern Ireland or causes one to be brought into Northern Ireland

That's a direct quote from the law itself.
As many of you may know or have heard, there's a 'defence' for airsofters written into the regulations. And bear in mind that it's a defence to the law and not an exemption to it.
Some of you may have heard that you need to have 'UKARA membership' to be entitled to this defence. And that you have to be a member of a UK skirmish site and attend 3 times in not less than 2 months in order to become a member.
It's a common misconception that this is required. UKARA membership is ONLY required if you wish to purchase an airsoft gun from a UKARA retailer. That membership scheme is there to protect the UKARA retailers from selling to people who aren't legitimate airsofters as it would be the retailers breaking the law. The scheme is not there to protect their customers as buying is not illegal under the VCR Act. Besides which, anyone in the ROI can still purchase from a UKARA retailer ANYWAY as those retailers can still export to ROI. It's only importing that's a problem.

So now you're wondering how ROI players with their own gear can gain entitlement to the defence in order to legally cross the border in order to attend regular skirmishes or events in NI ( or Britain ).

Well, lets look at the defence:

Defences to an offence under section 36 of the 2006 Act or under paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to that Act
3. — (1) It shall be a defence in proceedings for an offence under section 36 of the 2006 Act or under paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to that Act for the person charged with the offence to show that his conduct was for the purpose only of making the imitation firearm in question available for one or more of the purposes specified in paragraph (2).
(2) Those purposes are—
(a)the organisation and holding of permitted activities for which public liability insurance is held in relation to liabilities to third parties arising from or in connection with the organisation and holding of those activities;
(b)the purposes of display at a permitted event.

That's it. That's all there is to it. You are entitled to the defence as long as you are bringing your airsoft gear across the border into NI ( or Britain ) only for the purpose of attending an airsoft event or site that has 3rd party public liability insurance.

As further evidence of this, a member on ASI contacted the Home Office enquiring about it. The following is the reply he received back in September 2007 which is before the VCRA even came into effect:

Dear *name removed*,

I can now inform you that while realistic imitation firearms does
include airsoft guns, the Government has accepted that these are an
intrinsic part of airsoft skirmishing and provided a defence for the
offences you listed in your email. This means that the Violent Crime
Reduction Act will not impact upon your current rights to attend
organised airsoft events outside Northern Ireland. However, you should
note that an important aspect of this defence is the requirement that
third party public liability insurance must be held for the events. This
is included as a means of ensuring that the defence is limited to
genuine, organised airsoft skirmishing.

If you have any more questions then don't hesitate to get in touch.

Regards,
Martin Adams
NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE
Criminal Justice Reform
& Delivery Division

Another ASI member, this time one who is resident in ROI, also contacted the Home Office back in March in order to seek clarification about an event in Wales he was attending:

I was onto the Home Office myself awhile ago about bringing aeg's over from Ireland.

This was part of the reply:

'If you wish to bring into Great Britain a realistic imitation firearm for airsoft skirmishing you would need to show that you intend to participate in an airsoft skirmish and provide supporting documentation, such as a letter of invitation from a recognized skirmishing site, or provide proof of membership of an approved Association of British Airsoft site.'

So as long as you have the relevant documentation it should be no problem. You would then be able to use the defense, if needed.
They did say to contact customs as well, just to make sure they themselves dont need anymore documentation.

And from the UKARA themselves:
http://www.ukara.org.uk/node/99

We were asked to find out if Irish Republican players could visit sites north of the boarded and play and buy RiFs, or would they need to register at an Northern Ireland site in the method of 3 games in not less than 2 months and the reply I have below is from the NI Firearms office (NI HO).

We are further checking to see if the same ruling below will apply to all other EU counties as regards to entry to the UK

"I think that the airsoft defence could be met by the player/importer producing evidence of a booking at the properly insured site but he would do well with to check with the HMRC or police that he might be likely to encounter at the point of import that this would do the trick for them."

Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but that makes it pretty clear to me. Essentially, all that is needed is a letter of invitation from the site you are going to.
They mention also contacting the police / customs you're likely to encounter on your route. Well, I don't know if they've noticed, but the border between NI & ROI is not quite what it used to be. The only way you can tell you're actually across is when the road markings and signs change.
That said though, if you can gain further proof to smooth things along in the extremely unlikely event that you are actually stopped, then do it. For example, if your local site in ROI has a membership scheme, it would be wise to have your membership card with you. It might also be wise to have the phone number of the owner of the site you're heading to.
Or, if you head up to NI sites / events regularly, gaining membership at those sites would be sensible. It doesn't cost anything extra.

The defence entitlement is only eligible when attending a site / event that has 3rd party public liability insurance. So how are you supposed to know if they have that? Well, asking would be one way... however, UKARA already list all their registered sites on their website, and as those skirmish sites obviously have to have 3rd party public liability insurance in order to be part of the UKARA scheme, it's simply a matter of checking there.
At the time of this post, all NI skirmish sites ( SG-1 Combat Games, Predator Combat Games, FRV Airsoft, Battlefield Sports, Greenzone Combat, Mid-Antrim Paintball and even Foxtrot 58 Airsoft ) are listed there with the exception of one, Crumlin Combat Games. And to my knowledge, they too have insurance ( although don't quote me on that ), they're just not a UKARA member site.

Finally, I should point out though, in the extremely unlikely event that you are stopped on your way to a site / event in NI and you can NOT provide any evidence ( letter of invitation or site membership ) there and then at the roadside that you are entitled to the defence, then yes, you may well be detained further or have your gear confiscated for a while. You'll have noone to blame for that but yourself.
And if you're NOT actually entitled to the defence and can't prove otherwise in a court of law, then you're in deep deep trouble. Again, nobody to blame but yourself.

So now there should be no lame excuses about 'confusion' or 'grey areas' surrounding the VCRA. It's all there in black & white.
There's nothing to stop you attending any regular skirmishes or big events at any sites anywhere in the UK as long as you have at the very least, a letter of invitation. And after you've been to any place 3 times, you'll have site membership also.

Hope this has cleared things up for some of you.

Dr_Pepper

No1. Thanks for this, i have sent it onto the IAA Committee for confirmation as they are currently in dealings with the Home Office on this.

No2. I would be extremely wary of giving legal advice, especially stating

There's nothing to stop you attending any regular skirmishes or big events at any sites anywhere in the UK as long as you have at the very least, a letter of invitation.

However again i thank you for bringing this to us in the hope that it can be clarified for all our members so we can visit sites in the north.

ASI Casper

It's already clear. It's there in black & white. IAA will be told the same thing everyone else has.

NakedHedgehog

It's already been confirmed a few times - this has been an issue for us (ROI players) that go up to NI or across to big games in the UK since VCRA was enacted, so it's something we've made damn sure about.

It's not really legal advice, it's stating clearly what to do to avoid problems.
1. have a letter of invitation from a legimitate and 3rd party insured airsoft site
and
2. let customs know you're coming just in case

Obviously also make sure that your AEG is definitely within the legal limit and don't bring it over with intention to sell it there.

Thanks Casper for posting this.

Dr_Pepper

ASI Casper wrote: »

It's already clear. It's there in black & white. IAA will be told the same thing everyone else has.

Thats great but naturally they will need to get it from them directly rather than via a 3rd party. I think you took me up completely wrong, i was infact thanking you for this as it cuts down workload as they only need verification now and its off to Predator for me!

ASI Casper

I think you're picking up my reply wrong too. I just mean that it's impossible for the IAA to be told anything different other than what others have already been told when they ask. But I'm well aware some will want to hear it coming from the IAA themselves, so that certainly won't do any harm.
Will also give you an opportunity to 'get your foot in the door' with UK customs / home office and introduce yourselves. I'm sure there's likely other issues you'll need to chase up with them and seek clarification on from time to time.

I just feel there's so many new players entering into airsoft on practically a daily basis in ROI now that many of them may have missed the boat with the whole VCRA thing entirely. Whilst others never picked it up right in the first place.
Helps to have it pointed out to them and drummed into them. Wasn't actually aware the IAA were looking into this or I'd perhaps have left it and let them post when they get a reply.

kdouglas

I have been in contact with the Home Office and HMRC about the VCRA on behalf of the IAA.

(1)A person is guilty of an offence if—
(a)he manufactures a realistic imitation firearm;
(b)he modifies an imitation firearm so that it becomes a realistic imitation firearm;
(c)he sells a realistic imitation firearm; or
(d)he brings a realistic imitation firearm into Northern Ireland or causes one to be brought into Northern Ireland

I haven't had time to look up the differences between the NI and UK VCRA, but as far as I was told by the Home Office in the UK, it is an offence to buy, sell or import, they specifically said import, not bring into the country. Perhaps this is slightly different for NI.

Anyway, the information I was given by the Home Office was that as long as you weren't buying, selling or importing, they didn't have any reason to stop you once you were in the country with them. HMRC also said that travelling from ROI to the UK/NI with any goods is not classified as importation, merely the tranport of goods within the EC so the VCRA (for the UK at least) does not affect us bringing them into the country.

This was all done by phone, I have since written to HMRC in the UK and am waiting on a reply in writing to confirm the above. I will also have to review the UK VCRA to ensure that it does specifically list importation and not "bringing" into the country.

ASI Casper

The differences between the UK & NI versions of the VCRA, at least for the parts that concern RIFs, are to all intents and purposes: zero.

And both specifically state 'he brings a realistic imitation firearm into'. The word 'import' is only used in a heading in the relevant part.

The quotes I've used in my initial post are exactly that. Direct quotes from the statute law database that I've lifted verbatim.

The mainland UK version reads:

36 Manufacture, import and sale of realistic imitation firearms
(1)A person is guilty of an offence if—
(a)he manufactures a realistic imitation firearm;
(b)he modifies an imitation firearm so that it becomes a realistic imitation firearm;
(c)he sells a realistic imitation firearm; or
(d)he brings a realistic imitation firearm into Great Britain or causes one to be brought into Great Britain.

So strictly according to the letter of the law, due to the poor wording and insular geographical extent of it, it technically also makes it illegal to travel from NI to Great Britain with RIFs and vice versa, unless one is entitled to the defence.
So essentially, NI airsofters have been in the same boat as those in the ROI all along.

Gatling

so basicly casper and kdouglas have its not a problem teams /players traveling from down here and upthere traveling to events either side of the border ,as long as we have a letter stating membership or invitation to an event:D:D:D:D

Spetzcong

Yeah this cleared things up a little for me, basically as I understand it, there should be no reason why a ROI airsofter wouldn't be able to avail of the specific defense that a UK airsofter would be entitled to for bringing a RIF into NI, but we'd need to make sure that we had enough evidence to prove that we are genuine airsofters and that the reason for bringing a RIF into NI was for the purposes of playing a game of airsoft with it, if we were stopped. So a letter from a site, and anything else that the PSNI or customs might want from us.

weeder

excellent work ASI

CrazyRabbit

So bringing your gear up north to play would be fine so long as you don't sell it (which would be importing)

Nice to hear.

I wonder if a group was heading up, could they just get one letter confirming the groups attendance at the game, or does each person need a separate letter?

Tigger

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

So bringing your gear up north to play would be fine so long as you don't sell it (which would be importing)

Nice to hear.

I wonder if a group was heading up, could they just get one letter confirming the groups attendance at the game, or does each person need a separate letter?

photocopies?

kdouglas

ASI Casper wrote: »

The differences between the UK & NI versions of the VCRA, at least for the parts that concern RIFs, are to all intents and purposes: zero.

And both specifically state 'he brings a realistic imitation firearm into'. The word 'import' is only used in a heading in the relevant part.

The quotes I've used in my initial post are exactly that. Direct quotes from the statute law database that I've lifted verbatim.

The mainland UK version reads:


So strictly according to the letter of the law, due to the poor wording and insular geographical extent of it, it technically also makes it illegal to travel from NI to Great Britain with RIFs and vice versa, unless one is entitled to the defence.
So essentially, NI airsofters have been in the same boat as those in the ROI all along.

Now that's interesting alright, I probably should have done some more reading in the actual wording of the VCRA itself, but the person I was in contact with in the Home Office (who seemed to know a good bit about the VCRA) specifically said it only applies to importing/selling/manufacture. The wording of the actual act saying "bring into" means that it does infact apply to us and that both HMRC and the Home Office gave me wrong information.

However, the reason why the whole issue of import/not importing came up with them in the first place was that I rang them to ask was a UKARA membership card required or would a letter from the site we were attending suffice. They then proceeded to tell me, it's not importing so you dont need either. Based on this, I will now have to go back to the NI Office and the Home Office and get them to confirm a letter from the site or some form of proof that you are a skirmisher is sufficient, which is exactly the question I tried to get answered by them in the first place.

kdouglas

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

So bringing your gear up north to play would be fine so long as you don't sell it (which would be importing)

Nice to hear.

I wonder if a group was heading up, could they just get one letter confirming the groups attendance at the game, or does each person need a separate letter?

Selling does not imply importing and vice versa. Importing something doesn't have to be for the purpose of selling it on. But in this case, the Act specifically says "bring in or cause to bring in" so the whole import/not import point is invalid.

As I said in my above post, I now need to get back onto the NI Office and the Home Office and get them to confirm that, as Casper has said, a letter from a registered site to say you are attending or some other form of proof you are a skirmisher is sufficient to invoke the specific defence.

Unfortunately talking to someone who can actually give an answer is easier said than done.

Lemming

Another question to perhaps raise, although it's unlikely to raise it's head very often in a given year is the scenario of travelling to events on the continent via road through Britain.

Obviously you have booking information to confirm you arrived in and are exiting the country through specific routes in a short time-frame with the purpose of heading elsewhere for skirmishing, but you're not skirmishing in the UK itself. I ask since one of my original thoughts for travelling to Berget 6 was via rental coach or good-old-fashioned car road-trip

gerrowadat

kdouglas wrote: »

Selling does not imply importing and vice versa. Importing something doesn't have to be for the purpose of selling it on. But in this case, the Act specifically says "bring in or cause to bring in" so the whole import/not import point is invalid.

As I said in my above post, I now need to get back onto the NI Office and the Home Office and get them to confirm that, as Casper has said, a letter from a registered site to say you are attending or some other form of proof you are a skirmisher is sufficient to invoke the specific defence.

Unfortunately talking to someone who can actually give an answer is easier said than done.

FWIW, I've always taken 'import' to mean to bring into the country in order to leave it there, although certain agencies (the DHS in America, for example) take 'import' to mean to bring into the country at all, especially when it applies to cash money.

So yeah, I'd attempt to get the exact use case (bringing an aeg into NI for later removal) confirmed in writing.