1 Joule is more like 30 fps for a paintball, its 328 fps for a 0.20 gram airsoft pellet and paintballs are alot heavier.
Paintball and the law
- Thread starter Tom
- Start date
Anything over 1 joule in the north constitutes a firearm as well, which would technically include airsoft guns shooting anything heavier than .2g at 328fps.
I think if you visit your local garda station they can issue you a permit to own a paintball marker. Or as I said previously, you could do what most people do and just not wave it about in post offices
the 'power' generaly in the UK are 6 & 12 ft lbs
These are within air weapon definitions and if exceeded require a licence, which you won't get without good reason
6ft lbs for pistols
12ft lbs for rifles
12ft lbs equates to a little over 300fps for an 'average paintball'
So a paintball pistol in this case would probably be illegal
Arguably full paintball guns do not equate to a rifle and would be a pistol
There was a court case which established 300fps for paintball so we are safe there
** this does not take into account the differing Scottish & NI laws, and I'm ignorant with regard to Southern Ireland laws
These are within air weapon definitions and if exceeded require a licence, which you won't get without good reason
6ft lbs for pistols
12ft lbs for rifles
12ft lbs equates to a little over 300fps for an 'average paintball'
So a paintball pistol in this case would probably be illegal
Arguably full paintball guns do not equate to a rifle and would be a pistol
There was a court case which established 300fps for paintball so we are safe there
** this does not take into account the differing Scottish & NI laws, and I'm ignorant with regard to Southern Ireland laws
12 ft/lb came out at 330 fps back when I knew how to do the maths. I hope the new guidence does clarify things a bit since at the moment different parts of different acts and CPS guidence and case law all seem to contridict each other with regards to exactly what a paintball marker is.
Following the UKPSF conference today word is going around about the status of First Strike, (as non frangible/potentially non frangible along with One2One and Reballs)
In effect the UKPSF, and should a court case take place with UKPSF consultation that FS, One2One and reballs would be considered non-frangible, and therefore under the firearms act a paintball gun firing one would/may be a section 5 firearm.
Further details will be officialy published by the UKPSF soon
https://www.facebook.com/UKPSF?fref=ts
But a statement has been made by Andy Sables of Fat Bobs who was there
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ypcse/?fref=nf
The first strike thing....
Paintball guns are legal to use in the UK (and are not classed as firearms) due to the frangible nature of the ammo we use... i.e. Paintballs.
Should a player be injured by a paintball gun, one of the first thing that any investigation would look at would be the ammo used at the time of the incident. If it was to be deemed frangible, then all would be fine and the paintball gun would be classed as a paintball gun.
If the ammo was deemed non frangible, then the paintball gun would be classed as a firearm (section 5).
In the event of an incident, the powers that be would look to the paintball industry itself for advice (This is quite normal in any industry and I found this out when writing the UKPSF Air Safety policy), basically the government look to the particular industry for advice as they are the experts.
The UKPSF is considered by the Home Office etc as the governing body for UK paintball, and it is to the UKPSF that they would look to deem if a paintball was frangible or not.
Until today, the status of the First Strike / One 2 One / reball was a grey area, however the trade members of the UKPSF decided that First Strike / One to One and reballs were not frangible and posed enough of a risk to paintball as a whole to be considered "Non Frangible". This is now the official line of the UKPSF and it WILL be the official line of any court who look to the UKPSF for guidance in the event of a court case.
Therefore as of today, the official status of First Strike / One to One and Reballs is "Non Frangible", making any marker that fires them "Firearms".
The fact that a site or organisation is not a member of the UKPSF is irrelevant.
It is clear that in the interest of preserving paintball from unforeseen circumstances, a line in the sand had to be drawn, this line came on the wrong side of First Strike. In the same way as you cannot legally fire ball bearings, rubber balls, poison frog darts and harvested testicles at each other, the UKPSF has ruled with the full backing of the paintball industry, that First Strike cannot be fired at each other within paintball.
That's my taking on the events surrounding First Strike, and in due course, there will be a statement from the UKPSF.
The decision is about the good of paintball as a whole and as an industry that employs hundreds of people and is not an attack on any individual, company or type of paintball.
As to the question from Ben Tanguay regarding the use of First Strike rounds at All the Fun of the Fair, the answer is that no, First Strike will not be allowed at All the Fun of the Fair, you will just have to make do with paintballs, RGP's and a new idea that I have...."Unleash Hell"
In effect the UKPSF, and should a court case take place with UKPSF consultation that FS, One2One and reballs would be considered non-frangible, and therefore under the firearms act a paintball gun firing one would/may be a section 5 firearm.
Further details will be officialy published by the UKPSF soon
https://www.facebook.com/UKPSF?fref=ts
But a statement has been made by Andy Sables of Fat Bobs who was there
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ypcse/?fref=nf
The first strike thing....
Paintball guns are legal to use in the UK (and are not classed as firearms) due to the frangible nature of the ammo we use... i.e. Paintballs.
Should a player be injured by a paintball gun, one of the first thing that any investigation would look at would be the ammo used at the time of the incident. If it was to be deemed frangible, then all would be fine and the paintball gun would be classed as a paintball gun.
If the ammo was deemed non frangible, then the paintball gun would be classed as a firearm (section 5).
In the event of an incident, the powers that be would look to the paintball industry itself for advice (This is quite normal in any industry and I found this out when writing the UKPSF Air Safety policy), basically the government look to the particular industry for advice as they are the experts.
The UKPSF is considered by the Home Office etc as the governing body for UK paintball, and it is to the UKPSF that they would look to deem if a paintball was frangible or not.
Until today, the status of the First Strike / One 2 One / reball was a grey area, however the trade members of the UKPSF decided that First Strike / One to One and reballs were not frangible and posed enough of a risk to paintball as a whole to be considered "Non Frangible". This is now the official line of the UKPSF and it WILL be the official line of any court who look to the UKPSF for guidance in the event of a court case.
Therefore as of today, the official status of First Strike / One to One and Reballs is "Non Frangible", making any marker that fires them "Firearms".
The fact that a site or organisation is not a member of the UKPSF is irrelevant.
It is clear that in the interest of preserving paintball from unforeseen circumstances, a line in the sand had to be drawn, this line came on the wrong side of First Strike. In the same way as you cannot legally fire ball bearings, rubber balls, poison frog darts and harvested testicles at each other, the UKPSF has ruled with the full backing of the paintball industry, that First Strike cannot be fired at each other within paintball.
That's my taking on the events surrounding First Strike, and in due course, there will be a statement from the UKPSF.
The decision is about the good of paintball as a whole and as an industry that employs hundreds of people and is not an attack on any individual, company or type of paintball.
As to the question from Ben Tanguay regarding the use of First Strike rounds at All the Fun of the Fair, the answer is that no, First Strike will not be allowed at All the Fun of the Fair, you will just have to make do with paintballs, RGP's and a new idea that I have...."Unleash Hell"
Reballs have long been clearly non-frangible.
People have the same choice on taking notice or ignoring
The news here is First Strike
Hmm, if something breaks and my understanding is that First strike do have a shell that can break, then by the definition of frangible, why aren't they frangible? Or is it because there's X% of the shell that cannot break? Or it's such a grey area to most folks that it would be a coin flip in a court of law and it's too much of a risk?
In my personal opinion first strikes are frangible - they break
I have no experience in one2one paintballs but they were looked into by a few when they became available and there were a few reported issues
http://p8ntballer-forums.com/threads/1-to-1-rounds.165242/
Reballs are non frangible
Frangibility is the key issue highlighted in act that's being referred to
By the letter of the law if deemed non frangible then we have the issue
The qualifier commonly used which is testable is lethality, and therefore the nature of injuries, broken skin etc. For reballs at appropriate velocity there's no lethality