Letter to MP Regarding Proposed Legislation

[Troubledshooter]

This is the response I have just received to my emailed letter of two weeks ago.
In my original letter, I did not make one mention of replicas, deacts or toys, I specifically asked about the proposals regarding Air Guns only.


Dear Sir,

Thank you for your letter regarding the Violent Crime Reduction Bill. I understand your concerns. The Liberal Democrats support the ban on the manufacture and sale of realistic replicas as long as the government can satisfy us that a legal distinction can be drawn between replicas and toy guns (this has been the problem whenever legal advice has been sought in the past).

The basis for the move is that crimes involving replicas have rocketed in recent years (66% increase in the last year) and the police are calling for restrictions on the grounds of public safety. There is clearly a need to do something in this area.

The Bill is framed so that existing collections of realistic replicas will not have to be handed in – but on the face of it collectors won’t be able to add to their collections unless they switch to less realistic items. This is still something we are questioning the government about but the minister did confirm that deactivated weapons will not be subject to the ban on manufacture, import or sale. We also managed to get the government to agree to the need to allow exemption for such things as TV, historical enactments, veteran’s exhibitions and theatres to continue to use realistic guns; but in theory this power might be able to be used to allow certain types of collectors to continue to acquire replicas.

We are still probing the governments’ intention on the question of airguns and paintball. We want people to be able to take part in their hobby. Yet, we did not support the Tory amendment to allow anything below 4 joules as this is still lethal.

My colleague Lynne Featherstone will continue to explore these issues in the remaining stages of this Bill to ensure that the new law will be a proportionate and effective response to the problem of the misuse of replicas.

Please do not hesitate to contact me on this or any other issue in the future.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Oaten MP

[Darren Petts]

deactivated weapons will not be subject to the ban on manufacture, import or sale

So what's the point in banning a plastic airsoft AK47 and allowing a far more realistic looking deact???

We also managed to get the government to agree to the need to allow exemption for such things as TV, historical enactments, veteran’s exhibitions and theatres to continue to use realistic guns; but in theory this power might be able to be used to allow certain types of collectors to continue to acquire replicas.

At least some good news though it's the first I've heard of it. I haven't seen anything official from the government.

[Lightyear]

4 joules - what does that equate to interms of ftlbs ????

[termin8R]

1 ft.lbf = 1.35582 Joules

so 4 Joules = 2.950244133 ft.lbf

[Lightyear]

A pea shooter then !!!

[termin8R]

Yes, but even these are still lethal - if someone has their mouth open when you fire it, the pea could go straight down and cause them to choke to death!

[wgmorgan]

Yes, but even these are still lethal - if someone has their mouth open when you fire it, the pea could go straight down and cause them to choke to death!

You joke about this mate but if someone got hit in the eye with one of these and they happened to be standing on the edge of a cliff, it could cause them involuntarily to step backwards, with tragic results.

I say 1.5 foot pounds is more than enough power for target practice (within the confines of a small cupboard).

[Lightyear]

You are right - it is more than enough because if you didn't have a light in the cupboard and you were accidentally holding the wrong end of the gun you wouldn't hurt yourself - so a very sensible restriction really !!!!

We shouldn't mock - they know what they are talking about and we could also hope that rats, rabbits and pigeons etc will play ball and roll over and play dead for a few seconds if we can get close enough to throw a pellet at them !!!

[Troubledshooter]

I totally agree with all the comments made, and it just proves that most MP's haven't got a clue what they are talking about, and this from the Lib Dem equivalent of shadow home secretary.
I will do my best to educate the man in my next email.

[Paul Dilks]

I'm sure you will join with me in my concern for the awesome power of some rubber bands..Only yesterday the postie delivered mail wrapped in one and it was only by exercising great care ( with eye protection of course! ) that I was able to avoid possible injury..My wife advised that it might have been safer to throw the package of mail in the bin, but I guess the "wild child" in me just overcame my usual caution and I just went for it..
I suppose I should have waited for a Corgi registered rubber band technician
insterad if being so irresponsible!