Paintball laws in England

[ben_JD]

I searched through the forum but found nothing on this topic:

I may travel to England (London) in a few months and will need to know the local laws as they pertain to paintball. Specifically, may I have my own paintball marker, do I need to register/declare it, etc.

I will check with the consulate, but wanted to know if you all knew of anything in particular.

[Army]

Try this: [email protected]

This is Email for AGD Europe, and they should be able to answer your question

[Evil Bob]

Having just recently moved from there, and having owned several markers while there, I can answer this question for you.

The English, unlike some other European countries, can tell the difference between a marker and a weapon therefore paintball markers do not need to be declared or registered once you're in country with anyone.

In light of the recent events, I would contact your airlines well in advanced of the flight to find out if they'll allow you to transport your equipment, the entire airline industry is going through some major changes at this time and some airlines are being more radical in their approach to safety then others.

I'd also adivse purchasing a good lockable case to carry your marker and air system in and seperate it from the rest of your checked items. I've been pulled off of the aircraft on international flights before to open up my luggage. Seperating it means that you show them only what they need to see without having to dig through all your other stuff to find what they're looking for. This will save you and the airline personel time in the event you are asked to show someone your marker.

Additonally, if you have an electronic marker, make sure that it is set to single shot only regardless if you're playing only rec ball. The UKPSF recently declared that this is the only sanctioned mode to play with in the UK. There are some issues with government laws regarding this that the UKPSF are trying to avoid, basically anything that fires more then one shot per trigger pull potentially falls under an automatic weapons law.

Evil Bob

[ben_JD]

Thanks

I appreciate your quick response and will follow up with the airlines as well as the consulate to verify. I know that with the recent attack, the security issues associated with flying cannot be assumed or taken lightly.

[JanStah]

The UKPSF is the best place to ask about paintball related issues in the UK.

http://www.ukpsf.co.uk

The boss, Steve Bull, is a genuinely nice guy who runs a series of great tournies all over the UK. If you get a chance, I'd thoroughly recommend going to one.

Jan.