Sapol just declared gel blaster as regulated imitation firearm, which mean owner are require to have firearm licence to keep it or surrender to police if you don't.
owner are given 6 months of amnesty period to do or.
my question is, if i surrender my blaster to the police am i going to get registered in their database as an offender or any such?
Amnesty should mean it's not counted as an offense.
If possible sell it to someone who has the licenses.
Australia sure knows how to suck the fun out of everything.
More that irresponsible users know how to suck the fun out of everything.
Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real
Just because something is capable of irresponsible behaviour doesn't mean that it is generally. Unfortunately we live in a nanny state that polices the minority that punishes the majority.
because people want to blame someone, and if nothing is done the first shout of anger is aimed at the government.
We've made this situation ourselves, after decades of demanding the government 'do something' all the time.
Then go out and fine the irresponsible users.
They are using examples of people firing real looking weapons as an excuse to ban all gel blasters.
Its as ridiculous as banning all hair dryers if someone went around scaring people with a hair dryer made to look like handgun.
The issue is weapon replica being use to intimidate. It has as much to do with gel blasters as it does hair dryers.
We appear to agree it is the irresponsible users that have caused the 'issue'.
My point was that "Australia" (whatever that means) didn't.
@GG57: It is the same Australia that people use as persuasive techniques.
Example - "that's Un-Australian".
@[Deactivated]: I think that "un-Australian" is just some marketing term thought up as a brain-fart by some politician's spin doctor.
no, there was a long period of this being ok and the government didn't really care.
Then the idiots started waving around gel blasters that looked so real people at the other end of it couldn't tell.
Then the idiots started shooting randoms for fun.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/wannabe-gangste…
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/west/men-allegedly-used-…
Some of the gel blasters are so realistic that the average person won't be able to tell the difference, especially when it's being aimed at them.
I like paintball, and I like the gel blasters, and I like nerf guns - they are all fun. However I wouldn't run around the local shops shooting randoms with paintballs and nerf guns rarely look realistic. Gel Blasters need to be used on ranges, paintball style fields etc and not in public - the idiots doing that are the reason for these laws.
This is why we can't have nice things. (profanity) idiots shooting people in public ruining it for the rest of us.
Some of the blame has to go on gel blaster makers as well. I've looked at buying one in Queensland (where they're still legal for the time being - on private land) and it's nearly impossible to find one that's not modelled to look like an actual gun. You don't have this problem with Nerf guns because no one is confusing them for actual guns.
That's the whole point of gel blasters and airsofts is that they look and mimic real guns though.
And that's why they'll get banned.
I thought the point of them was that you could use them for sport - like paintball but a bit less risky.
Welcome to the NSW fun Police state.
When you hand it in (if you decide to do so), make sure it is disassembled, and that it is covered up, so no-one innocent is 'scared' etc and reports you.
The other option is to obtain a Firearms license, buy a gun safe etc all for the sake of a 'toy'.
I'm not for the over-legislation of everything, but out of interest, how do you think this should have been handled?
From the reports I've seen, there seems to have been use by some owners that has caused injury, used them to commit crimes, etc. Coupled with that is that some of the 'toys' look very similar to real guns. I suppose that makes it a public safety matter.
It seems to me that a few irresponsible people ruin it for everyone else.
Exactly right. Some are very plastic, however you can upgrade them with metal parts.
Obviously, they would need to be stored safely, or our of sight with a barrel lock.
In NSW, you cannot obtain a firearms permit if you had an AVO issued, for 10 years.
No need to hand it in. Send it over to me in Vic. I'll take it off your hands!
Until Vic decides to outlaw it too.
Then I'll throw it in with all my real firearms. And no one will find it in there! :p
I went to the shooters club this week after finally getting my licence and all the big kids started bullying me because of my blaster!!!
They kept shouting "Gel boy! Gel boy!", "He's not even shooting .177!" 😭
As I was running out I fell over and got all wet because I dropped my soaking bowl!!! This is the worst birthday ever!
Happy 56th birthday by the way. ;)
Heh, I can shoot gel strings with my blaster
When I was a kid we had cap guns and potato guns to play with. Both got banned because they were dangerous.
I bought a gel blaster for my 95 year old aunt who is in aged care and has dementia. She shoots the staff if they forget to wear PPE.
The point of an amnesty is that you don't get recorded as an offender for handing it in.
However, if you're concerned, just destroy it yourself - it's just made of plastic. Smash it with a hammer and put it in the bin.