Author: UKAPU News Desk

An announcement regarding UKAPU leadership:

To follow on from the news of our former chairman Matt resigning because well, he’s been doing this for quite some time – it has been decided by the committee that the new chairman of UKAPU will be the previous vice-chairman, David Weston.

As I progress from speaking from third person to first, I can gladly announce that there has been a small reshuffle within UKAPU, with the South West representative (Tim Haines) simultaneously becoming vice-chairman – as well as an introduction of a new person into the fold, Robbie Hutchison – he’s our new Scotland rep.

We’re still looking for other roles but we’ll post them up in the next week or so, hopefully.

I would like to inform our members (and non-members alike) that despite Matt no longer being chairman, UKAPU will continue to thrive, and will continue to work with other organisations such as the Home Office, UKARA et alia to reach a position where all skirmishers are 100% knowledgable and safe, when it comes to legislation.

With regards to patches, I do apologise for the time that it has taken to send some out, there’s thankfully a backlog of a couple of dozen that should be all sent out in the few days. I’d like to thank our donor members for their patience – we are a purely volunteer society that are doing this for the benefit of UK airsoft.

As an aside I’ve been looking for a picture to stick on here, because it’s probably a good idea for our members to know who the new chairman is. I was going to use a picture of me from the Airsoft Showcase last year… but you’ve probably seen them before so I found this glorious picture of me behaving “inappropriately” with a “tactical” AK74 instead. (Sorry not sorry, purists)

David Weston

UKAPU Chairman

A brief update from Europe:

The firearms directive that safeguards Airsoft across Europe has been published.

As followers of this page will come to realise, the changes can at least be described as “overwhelmingly positive” – airsoft replicas (or “airsoft devices” – as named in the directive) are now excluded from European firearms law. Quite different from how the directive initially was drafted.

The date where the directive must be implemented would be September 2018 – which, for those who are keeping a track of this Brexit thing – would mean that despite planning to leave the EU, the UK would still have to implement this directive.

Good news all around I’d say.

David,

Vice Chair (and Acting Chair)

As a result of the last few days, the threat level for “international terrorism” has been raised to critical, its highest level.

We at UKAPU would like to remind members (and skirmishers in general) that they should be as careful as one should always be – to ensure that your airsoft replicas are out of view of the public when going to and from events/shops.

Act responsible folks – hopefully like you already are!

David

Vice Chair (and Acting Chair)

Hi all, Matt Furey-King here. I’d like to announcing that I’m stepping down as Chairman of UKAPU. When I returned to the role as Chairman in 2015 my intention was twofold; to get the association back on its feet, and to make sure we had player representation throughout the Policing and Crime Bill passage. My return was only ever supposed to be temporary, the committee knew my intention from the start was to stand aside on the commencement date of the new law. So here we are.

I’m pretty disappointed that the PCA is still an open subject, that we still need to push the government for clarifications in order to find out how to comply with the new law. There’s some grey area which I think will one day spell real trouble for some poor airsoft player. As much as I’m dying to help with this situation, I have to call it a day and move on. Unfortunately other parts of my life have been suffering due to lack of attention, I’ve been so distracted by all this airsoft politics going on these last 2 years. My girlfriend Po Ling has been very accommodating but even her impressive patience with me is wearing thin! So it’s time to get my priorities straight. The way I see it I’ve done my bit and to be honest other people now need to step up to the plate.

I am massively proud of the work UKAPU has done. Over the last decade many hobbies have been restricted or eroded or banned in the UK, modern society doesn’t seem to have any room for people like us who like having fun in non vanilla ways. But airsoft has not fallen, we’ve stood our ground, we’ve not been bullied and suppressed, we fought back on every level. It’s really impressive, and we have a bright future if we make this unity and determination a core part of our identity as UK airsoft players.

You might be worried that UKAPU is going to disappear when I go, as most of our announcements come with my name attached. But the reason you see so much of me and not much of the rest of the committee is because I have been the associations figurehead, actually there’s half a dozen people working hard behind the scenes that you don’t hear about. I have a huge amount of confidence in the remaining committee and the association. We have 4000 members, a great reputation and a great future. Let me tell you, the committee have some fantastic plans for the next few years that will be a huge lift for airsoft.

David Weston, UKAPU Vice Chair, has taken command of UKAPU. Soon he will hold a management meeting and the committee will select a new Chairman, and it would not be appropriate for me to preempt that vote. But there’s some really great guys working for UKAPU at the moment and I have every confidence in them to lead the association forward. That said, I won’t be disappearing completely and will still be available to help and advise them, if they so wish. Of course I’ll be an active UKAPU member and you’ll all see me around at airsoft games, as normal.

All that said, UKAPU does have a high turnover of volunteers (voluntary associations tend to, peoples circumstances change and they often run out of free time to commit). The committee already has a few vacant positions and, unless they can fill positions and spread the workload, the association could go into a downward spiral. So PLEASE, if you are a self motivated and literate airsoft player and have some free time, give them a message on Facebook and volunteer for a committee position. Now is the time.

What’s next for me? Well, I’m pretty pissed off at the shambolic way the country is being run and politicians dreadful attitudes towards civil liberties in general, not just the liberties of airsofters. So I’m thinking bigger, I’ve made a step into the wider world of politics and I’m running in the upcoming Parliamentary election. I’ve been selected as the Green Party candidate for Kingswood in Bristol. Green Party may seem an unusual choice for a firearms guy but I’ve found it to be a really inspiring movement, the Greens are very far from being the stereotypes people imagine they are. Yes, they do currently have an anti-replica policy in the manifesto but they have no commitment to it and I’m confident I can get them to change it. They didn’t know about airsoft skirmishing or the VCRA when they wrote it. They asked me to help them rewrite it many years ago but I never had the time, so it’s partially my fault. If you are interested, there’s some information about me as a candidate here http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/matt-furey-king-green-kingswood-63236

Later in the year I’m aiming to put more time into my airsoft channel, Claymore Airsoft TV. I’ve got some fun content planned so please give it a sub or a like if you want to see what airsoft shenanigans I’m up to.

https://www.facebook.com/claymoreairsofttv/ www.youtube.com/claymoreairsofttv

I’ve got a few more Facebook posts I’d like to put up in the near future, if the committee will permit me, so this is unlikely to be the last time you hear from me. Huge thanks to all the people who have done so much to help me achieve my aims over the years, especially my fellow UKAPU committee members. I know UKAPU has a bright future ahead if all of you support the next leader of UKAPU in the same brilliant way you have supported me.

Kind Regards,

Matt Furey-King

UKAPU Member

Do you think the Home Office met these objectives last year? I certainly don’t.

These are excerpts for the PCA meeting between the airsoft representatives and the Government in March 2016.

Full minutes here https://www.ukapu.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/2016-03-11-Exemption-for-airsoft-HO-meeting-minutes-issuedfk.pdf

Matt

So, we’re finally here. The firearms provisions of the PCA 2017 came into effect today. From today onwards airsoft is defined in UK law (not including Northern Ireland) as 6mm or 8mm spherical pellets containing some plastic, fired from devices capable of less than 2.5J (or 1.3J if they are fully automatic)

This is a good thing on the whole, as we now know where we stand in firearms law. And without years of very intensive lobbying we would have been lumped with 1J, which is what the government have always been keen on, and other powerful interest groups were fighting for. We also now have recognition for airsoft as a legitimate activity in primary legislation. This is very significant for our future. It’s more than our brothers in the paintball community have. So things aren’t so bad.

The government has declined to clear up some big questions that have now been brought into focus, but UKAPU and UKARA will keep asking them for answers, and we’ll need your help to keep the pressure on.

All we can advise for now is that you try your best to make sure you airsoft gun is capable of less than the applicable limit. UKAPU aims to produce legal and technical guides, we want to advise and assist members as much as possible, in case the government never explain to us how to comply with the law they have created, law which doesn’t really make sense in the real world.

Bear in mind that the common site limits of 1.14J (350fps with a 0.20g BB) and 2.31J (500fps with a 0.20g BB) are not going to change.

Matt Furey-King, Chair UK Airsoft Players Union

Several members have been in touch to ask if provisions in the PCA 2017 have made it mandatory to carry imitation firearms (IF/RIF) or airsoft guns in locked cases. It seems as if many people are under this impression.

This in not the case. In regards to the law on transport of airsoft replicas, nothing has changed. You are not required by law to carry airsoft replicas in locked cases.

Of course when transporting airsoft replicas it’s good practice to carry them in a slip or case. It’s important to make sure that you never alarm a member of the public. People are very wary about firearms at present. So keep them out of sight and don’t draw attention to yourself. You could cause an incident, which could harm the whole airsoft hobby. A good quality slip or case will also protect your investment.

Matt Furey-King, Chair UK Airsoft Players Union