Petition to simplify the Firearms Act and make the FCP permanent

Steve

Hi guys, have a read of this if you've a spare moment and consider signing the petition if you feel it would help Airsoft.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056439274

Feel free to discuss the relevance / implications to Airsoft here if you wish.


Personally, I think it's a good thing but I'll leave it up to you to decide

TheDoc

Looks more directed towards the shooting community.

Signed simply because of the hassle that lot go through and as you say how complex, and in my opinion unfairly biased it is in this country to obtain a license.

In relation to Airsoft, don't see the aid unless there is something I'm looking over, but afaik the law with airsoft is very clear for me, not so sure about the opposite side of the table though.

Sparks

TheDoc wrote: »

Looks more directed towards the shooting community.

Not so much - the idea of the restatement is just to have one firearms act, rather than the 19 acts, 60+ SIs and two EU directives that we have now. So it'd be easier to read the rules we're all expected to play by (and by all I mean the shooting community, the airsoft community, the paintball community and the crossbow archers, all of who the Firearms Act applies to in one way or another).

As to the FCP, well, if there was an official direct line of communication between (say) the IAA and the Department of Justice to discuss the RIF stuff that applies to Airsoft in the Act, wouldn't that be a good thing for the sport overall in the long run?

SNAKEDOC

i do think that this is more for the licencing side of things. when purchasing a real firearm in this country there are too many hoops to jump through where as if the law was made more user friendly and there was an intermediary body at hand things would run more smoothly. Where airsoft is concerned the law is straight and narrow thankfully. 1 joule is 1 joule and thats that and in my opinion it makes things so simple. no separate regulations regarding make and type and type of cert and what charge is due. and background checks. If airsoft was like that i would not be bothered.

Witcher

Well if the FCP's lifespan was extended, it could benefit airsoft indirectly. I think the ISSF shooters would like to see the limit raised to 7.5 joules which would benefit them and possibly airsoft too. It probably won't bring as big a change as that, however a rethinking of the legislation surrounding firearms might at least change the governments attitude to them and prevent knee jerk reactions to anything shaped like a gun which would certainly help us out.

Sparks

...140 signatures so far, more needed...

Sparks

...160 signatures...

Sparks

...180...

Steve

How many do you need for it to be useful?

thermo

10,000

Sparks

thermo wrote: »

10,000

Well. That'd be brilliant; but I think even 1,000 would be something worth sending in.

Sparks

We're up to 201 signatures at the moment...

Inari

I think that this alone shows how fractured, fragmented and small we, the proverbial gun-hobbyists, are in the grand scheme of things.

This needs to be a real petition at this stage, where people are canvasing for signatures. Besides, real signatures are always taken more seriously than internet petitions anyway. Might be worth drafting up a petition and distributing it among Real Steel gun stores, shooting clubs and ranges, airsoft sites and retailers etc, as well as people on the street where possible.

That might generate our 10,000 signatures

Sparks

Sluggish climbing at the moment, only up to 215.

Gordy6040

Maybe I'm missing something here but I don't see the connection to airsoft at all. In my opinion airsoft is not part of the "shooting community", its a game and it would do itself more favours if it was seen as such.

Witcher

Gordy6040 wrote: »

Maybe I'm missing something here but I don't see the connection to airsoft at all. In my opinion airsoft is not part of the "shooting community", its a game and it would do itself more favours if it was seen as such.

It's about changing the negative attitude towards anything gun shaped in this country. A knee jerk reaction is the biggest threat to the survival of airsoft right now, centrefire pistol shooters effectively lost their sport at the whim of Dermot Ahern because he didn't like them, it could happen to us just as easily no matter how much people think airsoft is 'safe'. This petition doesn't offer protection from that but it could lead to politicians becoming more educated on firearms and RIFs.

Gordy6040

Hi Blay
I get that the biggest danger to airsoft is an over reaction on the governments part, completely agree with you there. If the perception gets reinforced that airsoft is linked with any kind real firearm then that is a bad thing. Does that make sense?

Sparks

Gordy6040 wrote: »

Maybe I'm missing something here but I don't see the connection to airsoft at all. In my opinion airsoft is not part of the "shooting community", its a game and it would do itself more favours if it was seen as such.

That sounds terribly familiar

However here, there is a connection, because both the airsoft and the shooting communities are governed (? constrained? what's the verb for "this law applies to you"?) by the Firearms Act, as amended. That's it, that's the sole link, but it's that exact spot that this petition is dealing with.

Gordy6040

Ah, I see this is an old discussion.
Is the word you are looking for "curtail"?
Anyway, i've read the law and it seems we are all in the same boat anyway for some reason .
I'll sign your petition and maybe we all move foward as one - as the mobile infantry would say.
Good luck with your campaign.

Sparks

...246 signatures at the moment. I think at this stage, if we get it to a nice round number, we'll send it off instead of waiting for a large percentage of the 400,000-odd people this affects...

dinko4gr

would signatures from foreigners play a part in it ?

Sparks

Not so much, I would think, since it's about Irish legislation.

dinko4gr

figured since we are not allowed to have a license. and licenses from foreign countries are only accepted temporarily for shooting events. oh well wish you best of luck with the petition

scooby2011

im not a 100% on the firearm laws but i would like to see it go down the route of the uk laws i know it seems strict but i think it would be far better in the long run i think you should have to be registered at a site to buy an airsoft gun and if not you get the multi coloured version..atleast this would divide genuine airsoft players/retailars from people who buy/sell them on a street corner and would incourage more players to play on sites where they will be shown how to use them responsibly i know it would be bad for retailers but if it gets banned it would be alot worse atleast this might help cut down the risk non - airsoft players are putting on the sport/hobby

TheAlkaline

signed