Petition

Or contact the IAA and see what they can do for you.

Just to add besides from how it affects myself, this will decimate the sport of target shooting, take guns from farmers the length and breadth of the country, close down gun clubs and probably many firearms dealer shops and remove in many cases 1000's of euros worth of firearms and money spent on security systems without compensation of any kind.

As the OP posted visit www.sportscoalition.org for info and updates.

I never actively participated in airsoft but own a few AEG's and GBBs and would hate to see these go too.

We're all in this together.

Thanks again.

TheDoc wrote: »

Through consultation process' down the years, many people from the airsoft community, be it retailers, site owners, players, collectors etc. have actually advocated for the registration and licensing of retailers.

Especially during a phase during the airsoft boom where shops were springing up left right and centre, and most concerning airsoft equipment being sold in stores that weren't actually airsoft specialists.

Not to mention Airsoft has been a legally recognised sport now for some time.

Appreciate your advocating we are in this together, but in actual fact the Airsoft community for a long time has taken the stance of having clear seperation with the real steel community, to try eliminate the association between the use of equipment in our sport that is non-lethal, and the equipment in yours that is.

I can understand the separation of airsoft and real firearms but bear in mind they want to ban all but olympic standard pistols. Why ? an olympic standard pistol does exactly the same thing as a regular .22 rimfire pistol. same ammunition, same velocity etc. They want to ban it because of how it looks. My .22 Hammerli xesse looks less like a so called "combat" pistol than any airsoft Glock, 1911 etc.

Now what do you think they might go after when they get rid of real steel pistols ? Its a slippery slope.

Hi Folks, I thought id chime in on this as while I havent posted in a long time I feel current situation that were in deserves it.

To begin, Ill start by saying that I am one of the few center fire pistol owners left in the country. I am also one of the semi auto center fire owners and in fact all my firearms fall into the restricted category.

Back in 2008 when firearms legislation changed the shooting community was fragmented enough with different shooting associations fighting for there corner that no new center fire pistols could be licensed from 2008. There was also a ban on practical or dynamic shooting as it was a relatively new sport and AGS deemed it to be too much like combat shooting.

Its worth mentioning that the pistol ban was a reaction to the unfortunate gangland murder in limerick city where a case of mistaken identity saw an innocent man murdered with an illegal firearm. Unfortunately the centerfire pistol owners was far to small a community within a community of shooters to do anything about it.

We now fast forward to our scenario.... After years of not consulting with shooting bodies, A Garda appointed working group was given over a year to produce its bias un-factual dribble of a document to support AGS agenda of ridding law abiding firearms owners of there possessions. On publication of the document they gave interested parties only a few weeks to read/understand the document in full (some 60+ pages) and submit proposals ! All this while the country is primarily concerned with the Irish water saga is clearly there attempt to push this through with the least amount of opposition.

How does this affect the Airsoft community:

As a community I understand your wanting to disassociate yourselves with real steel however you are in a community withing a bigger community. The working groups statistics of firearms stolen includes replica firearms..... consider yourselves guilty by association and now in the firing line !

While some might welcome the registration of Airsoft dealers ( I as a shooter recommend some of the proposals by the working group that disallow people with certain convictions from holding a firearm) do you think it will stop there ?

We already know the easy at which a replica firearm can be bought and it is fair to say that it has happened where someone with malicious intent has used a replica firearm for illegal use. It has been reported in the news to such events so do you think that this is not noticed by AGS ?

-Do you think that the department will listen to calls to allow Airsoft up to 2 KJ as some dealers I have talked to has said they would like to see ?

-Do you think youll have any say in a consultation process should the Government/DOJ or AGS want to bring in mandatory bright colours like in the uk ?

-Do you not think that in several years your sport that ye have worked so hard to build would not be prohibited .... like mine ?

Bearing in mind that practical/dynamic shooting is prohibited because it resembles combat.... Whats to stop a ban being brought in that prevents people dressing in military dress and practicing or conducting games where you can use military tactics and shoot at humans or humanoid targets because its deemed that its training terrorists.... seems far fetched ?

I can assure you, while you sleep soundly at night AGS still consider dissidents as a threat and still use them as an excuse to refuse firearms. Do not think they will use the same excuses to severely restrict or prohibit your sport.

How else will this effect you ?

I shoot alot of classic rifle and there are shooters I see who have (British) lee enfleld .303, (Russian) mosin nagants 7.62x54R etc but no one has the German mauser 7.92 mm because it is classed as restricted.

Should you someday decide that you want to buy the real version of a pistol/rifle/shotgun that you have... you wont be able to.

Should you be a law abiding citizen thats current/ex army/RDF, part of a re enacting group or historical enthusiast that wants to shoot a gun that you never have before, experience what it was like to fire the gun that your grand father used in the war ..... you wont be able to !

You may think this is scare mongering but.... in 2008 Joe Soap farmer didnt care brecause he wasn't affected by the pistol ban. He had a .22 bolt action or single side be side shotgun...... He is now in in danger of loosing not only his guns but others around him too and that will only increase in Vermin hurting/killing his animals or attacking his crops.

Six years ago Joe Soap Farmer wouldnt stand up and look at the scenario now..... in another 6 years will it be Airsoft ?

andy_g wrote: »

Or contact the IAA and see what they can do for you.

I had not thought of that.... thank you, I will be on to them in the coming days.

TheDoc wrote: »

Through consultation process' down the years, many people from the airsoft community, be it retailers, site owners, players, collectors etc. have actually advocated for the registration and licensing of retailers.

Especially during a phase during the airsoft boom where shops were springing up left right and centre, and most concerning airsoft equipment being sold in stores that weren't actually airsoft specialists.

Not to mention Airsoft has been a legally recognised sport now for some time.

Appreciate your advocating we are in this together, but in actual fact the Airsoft community for a long time has taken the stance of having clear seperation with the real steel community, to try eliminate the association between the use of equipment in our sport that is non-lethal, and the equipment in yours that is.

I hope I addressed most of the issues raised TheDoc.

Mark#1 wrote: »

Interesting.

Where can I read the new proposals?

Mark, they can be viewed on the Oireachtas Committee on justice website:

http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/mediazone/pressreleases/name-25313-en.html

If AGS and the Dept. of Justice believe for a second that this proposal will rid the streets of Ireland of Armed Criminals then they have to be as thick as two short planks and that would an insult to the planks.


As is typical in this country, its the people who prefer to do things by the book who end up having to take it up the a£$e because of a minority of idiots who F#k things up for everyone else.
I wouldn't mind, but there is a healthy number of members of AGS and the Defence forces who play Airsoft and use shooting ranges. Are they acting irresponsibly along with everyone else? No, I didn't think so.


Personally I have no problem with some form of Airsoft ID system which you must carry when going to or returning from sites or generally transporting RIFs. Simple enough to set up I would think.


At the end of the day, whether using a RIF or a Real Steel, the criminals will still do what they do and the change in the current laws relating to Airsoft or live ammunition shooting will have ZERO affect on them and anyone who believes it will, is delusional.


I am signing the petition to protect my hobby and the interests of others and to try and prevent this Nanny State from stomping all over our sport instead of getting on with the real job of dealing with the criminals in our country.


[rant over]