Taking guns to events outside Ireland?

Irishmaster

Hi, when people say that they go to uk sites or elsewhere in europe with their guns to skirmish how to they transport them on the plane? Are you allowed case the guns and check in for the baggage to be placed below deck? What if i buy a gun abroad how do i bring it back?

Puding

most people travel to the uk by ferry, just follow the 1 joule law, pack all rifs in secure bags or cased ( not a good idea to use bin bags and sports bags ) travel in normal cloths and be sensible when packing your car don,t have stuff showing like fully loaded vests ) you can print off you ticket and most events these days will have a letter you can print off, never needed them myself but always good to take, never had to do anything special on the ferry , customs are not stupid on either side and know what airsoft is

Planes are a little more of an issue, most of the budget airlines will not take aegs and gbbs but the larger carriers out of Dublin will take them, normally checked in as sporting goods you would need secure lockable hard cases to travel, your best bet is to check out last years berget thread , it has a wealth of info on air travel , will try and find the link

you can buy rifs abroad , you just need to make it conform to Irish law when bringing it back into the country

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055933077&highlight=travel+airsoft

gerrowadat

http://irishairsoft.ie/?page_id=932

Irishmaster

Thanks for the info! Just checking some online sites and they say that only some airlines allow rifs. Anyway thats nice to know just in case some day i decide to buy a gun abroad!

everest1980

I have a question about bringing an aeg and gbb pistol to the UK. I have read the guidelines on the irish airsoft association website and it says that as long as i am visiting a skirmish site and can prove i am returning to ireland with the equiptment that it is pretty much fine. However I am moving to London for at least 2 years and Im pretty sure that wont qualify me as returning to ireland with the airsoft guns any time soon. I was wondering if you had any information on this and could advise me on how to bring my gear over with me for this time period. Very thankful for any advice you can give me.

Puding

as far as i know there is no problem, the ukara mainly apply's to importing or buying items when you live within the uk, if your moving to the uk then your ok to bring rifs with you taht you already own, lemming would be one of the best talk to about this as he has just moved to the uk

Firekitten

As the poor dear isn't awake yet, I'll reply for him.

The VCRA (Violent Crime Reduction Act) pertains (in relation to the airsoft bit of it) to the purchase, import, and sale, of replica imitation firearms.

You already own these guns, so its all grand. However, I'd get a letter from your local site in Ireland saying you're a regular skirmisher, just to be on the safe side, though its not really needed. Going on the ferry, the checks are pretty lax, most ive had from port police and gardi has been curiosity. If they ask, explain you're moving over here, thats about it.

Then again... the Holyhead Port police are on first name terms with Lemming, and after the 9434848th time they checked him, he just gets waved through with the cursory 'got anything that goes bang for real?' 'nope' 'ok see ya again' routine :P


Once you live in the uk, buying new guns is a paticularly difficult process, unless a site member. but then its easy.

Hope this helps.

Lemming

Firekitten wrote: »

You already own these guns, so its all grand. However, I'd get a letter from your local site in Ireland saying you're a regular skirmisher, just to be on the safe side, though its not really needed. Going on the ferry, the checks are pretty lax, most ive had from port police and gardi has been curiosity. If they ask, explain you're moving over here, thats about it.

Not sure about how you're travelling over everest, but if you're flying there are two things you need to know; don't use ryan-air, and airport security and HMRC are not so lax about airsoft passing their way. You will most definitely need to have your homework done and to keep a calm head if/when you happen to deal with someone who just hasn't a blind clue, but has either a swipe-card or a badge.

Firekitten wrote: »

Then again... the Holyhead Port police are on first name terms with Lemming, and after the 9434848th time they checked him, he just gets waved through with the cursory 'got anything that goes bang for real?' 'nope' 'ok see ya again' routine :P

Closer to the truth than most people would actually think ... :P


You have a few options open to you - some of which depend on your method of transport;

The path of least resistance is to leave your stuff for a couple of months, rent & get a UKARA membership number. But you don't need a UKARA number to satisfy the VCRA import criteria.

OR

You can make sure you have IAA membership, and have a word with sites that you frequent & explain the situation to them so they are kept in the loop vis a vis receiving calls.

To add to that last suggestion; if you are perhaps travelling back and forth a couple of times before actually moving to the UK, see about booking into a local site for a skirmish day (or event if so fortunately timed), get a VCRA cover letter for bringing your stuff with you for said skirmish, and when you are there have a chat with the site manager/owner. They might be willing to give you a reference which might help convince any enquiring authorities as the source would be coming from within the UK. The other upshot at least would that even if the site decline to help, and assuming that you're flying; you would be on record as having travelled to the UK with airsoft kit for a skirmish prior to moving.

It's all about building up brownie points to wave at officious sorts when they come calling. If you're taking the ferry, it's a bit more relaxed (you may/may not get challenged) than travelling via airplane where HMRC will most likely take your gun(s) before they hit the carousel and pour over whatever pieces of paper you wave at them before releasing them to you and sending you on your way.

I would perhaps also get in contact with the UKAPU (UK Airsoft Players Union) to see what they recommend.

Oh, two other things;

for the love of monkeys declare what you'll be bringing when you book your ticket. If it's on-line, then call them up afterwards citing the booking reference. Don't turn up on the day at either a ferry terminal or an airport and then dropping the "good news" on these folks. You will be guaranteed pain. And secondly, check the small print for any airlines/ferries you travel with. At the time of this writing; I am aware of only Ryanair not permitting transport of airsoft, but check before spending any money. If in doubt, call and try not to sound like a raving loony on the phone.

damagegt

Just a quick question there.If i was to travel to lets say Scotland and play,could I pack a second gear box,not in a gun but was over the Irish fps limit then change it out in Scotland to meet there fps limit?

Lemming

damagegt wrote: »

Just a quick question there.If i was to travel to lets say Scotland and play,could I pack a second gear box,not in a gun but was over the Irish fps limit then change it out in Scotland to meet there fps limit?

You can do whatever you like in another country once you comply with their laws

damagegt

i understand that but would i have a problem bringing a complete gear box that would fire,lets say 380 fps out of Ireland or is illegal to even own a gear box that would fire over 380 fps in Ireland.

Inari

As long as there is no barrel, then the gearbox's power does not matter. You'd be fine

damagegt

Inari wrote: »

As long as there is no barrel, then the gearbox's power does not matter. You'd be fine

Thats perfect.Are you 100% sure?

Inari

That's the phrasing of the law. Think about it - there are lots of things that can produce more than 1j of energy output. What matters is the projectile (Which a gearbox doesn't have) and the barrel (also does not have)

damagegt

Well I was hoping it would be like that.But I know you cant buy or move around some real steal gun parts because "They could be used".Anyway thanks.

everest1980

Wow that was a lot of feedback! Excellent guys! Thanks a million! This is all proving to be more of an ordeal than I had expected. Looks like the best thing I can do is to undertake some groundwork like lemming said and not ‘drop the good news’ on anyone that might not share my enthusiasm for taking my gear with me. I have contacted the IAA and the UKARA about this and they seem to mirror some of the advice here. Overall there seems to be no definitive procedure that can be followed. One thing that standing out to me as a definite must do is to join the UKARA and to get a few rental skirmishes under my belt over there. In all it looks like this is going to be a bit of a project that I’ll have to put effort into over the next few months. So I’m going to follow your advices and cross my fingers for my gear.
Thanks again for all your feedback and information. I’m sure someone else will need information on how to get this done so Ill update the thread on how I get on with it all.

Lemming

Did you contact UKARA? or the UKAPU? Of course UKARA are going to tell you to join up to their scheme as they are a commercial (retailer-centric) organisation with a vested interest.