There are so many questions that come up when it comes to Gel Blasters and how they fit into the legal frameworks in Australia.
I am going to try to explain some of the facts that I know from the Past year of fighting with Customs, the Attorney Generals Department and also the Queensland police.
The first thing I will say is that the general police officer on the street will deem a gel blaster as being an illegal Firearm. From state to state this will vary in severity and from officer to officer, they will either be ok with them but still unsure, or they will freak out.
What is pretty consistent across the board is that in general, the police do not really know if a Gel Blaster is legal or not and this varies from state to state as well.
I sincerely do not believe this is the fault of the police or that the police are ignorant or anything like that. What I do believe is that the firearms laws in Australia are so convoluted and broad, that there is no body who really knows what the law is on certain items on any given day.
This is the reason that law abiding firearms owners are always complaining about the laws. It is not necessarily that semi Autos have been all but taken away. It is the fact that anytime you breathe the word firearm, someone comes out with a new useless law or someone is accused of trying to undermine John Howards gun laws.
The fact is, there are several pieces of legislation that govern what a gel blaster is according to the law. One of them is the customs (prohibited) import regulations and the others are each state and territories firearms act. So we are looking at 9 different pieces of legislation and 9 different definitions of firearm and 9 different interpretations of the way a product appears. There is also 9 different ways that replicas are treated under all of these acts.
I am no expert on the laws of each state or territory; however, I am fairly well versed with the Customs Import regulations and the QLD firearms Act.
The Customs import regs is clear, a fire arm is a device that discharges Shot, Bullet or other projectiles. Most people would think that the word öther" can mean anything. However, the courts disagreed with this and ruled that other must mean something similar to Shot or Bullet. (You can read my previous post for more details on this). Of course gel balls are not ammunition and therefor a blaster is not a firearm.
Customs are now saying that a gel ball gun is an imitation firearm. They are not negotiable on this and they require an import permit to release the goods into the custody of any citizen of any state. This is the Law and they are correct.
QLD police is a less difficult one. A firearm must be able to cause Death or injury according to the QLD firearms act. As a gel ball is unable to cause injury it is deemed as a toy and therefor is legal in the state of QLD. There is literally no more to it than that. .
I would argue that Airsoft does not meet the definition of a firearm in the state of QLD simply because it is unable to Cause injury! Before you start disagreeing with me on this point think about the precedent set in our case vs Customs. Other cannot just mean anything, just as the word "injury" cannot mean just anything. It is called the ejusdem generis rule.
From state to state you will find that the definitions differ. I would love to hear from anyone who has any further information regarding each states legislation and how they think Gel blasters would be categorised.
I am definitely sure that in WA, Gel blasters are definitely not classed as a firearm as their definition is almost identical to the customs definition. The replica issue I really don't have a clue about.
At the end of the day, gel blasters are Legal in QLD and you need a permit to get them through at the border. If the police catch you with one in your car in QLD they may try to ping you, but you will not be charged with an offence for possession of these products.
I am going to try to get a State by state post up on this blog as I get more information on each of the definitions. Brad from Armoured heaven is getting close to testing the NSW laws so that one will be worth keeping an eye on.
Don't forget to follow us on Facebook. Next week I will do an article on airsoft and the differences between them and gel ball. I will also talk about how I believe we can make a huge step into legalising Airsoft.
Thanks for reading,
Regards
Tactical Edge Hobbies
33 comments
Jarrod
Join the airsoft gun petition and help get them (airsoft guns/blasters) legalized!? Then you could possibly increase profits and get more customers!?
Corey Tindall
are they legal in canberra???
plz reply!
Chunt
Do I need to show id in SA stores to validate what state I am from to purchase a blaster?
Bernulf
Illegal in Tassie.
Jay
Do you need an importers licence to import them from overseas into Queensland
James
Are they legal in Tasmania and do you new any kind of lisence
Matthew
How about South Australia, is it true that they are legal in SA?
TKC
Brock – No, and there are some significant court cases pending in NSW where people are being prosecuted under the Firearms Act under ‘appearance laws’. DO NOT import into NSW.
Brock Hooper
Are gel blasters legal in nsw
Don
If a manufacturer made a quality gel blaster (like Vector V2), that wasn’t a replica of any existing firearm, wouldn’t that make it all a lot easier? I like the current guns and they are cool and all but also want to be able to play freely and purchase parts etc.
I dunno, it’s frustrating..
CHRIS CHAPMAN
CAN YOU TELL ME IF THERE LEGAL IN VICTORIA ??
IM HAPPY TO DRIVE TO QLD IF YOU CANT SEND THEM VIA THE POST
Sebastian Allen
Just wondering what is the legal age of purchasing a gel ball blaster in QLD. As they are deemed a toy can a 10 year old buy them of the shelf.
Craig
Meg, you will also need to read the Prohibited Weapons Act, point 30. “Imitations Firearms”. It is the only point that carries not a description. So that is complete unhelpful but it is one angle the NT DPP will prosecute the Durack case.
Craig
To answer Meng’s question concerning the legal status in the Nothern Territory.
Read the Firearms Act NT and the Controlled Weapons Act NT. If we use Preliminaries a,b,c in the Firearms Act it would appear that gel blaster is not a firearm, contrary to a NT Police Media Release post Palmerston incident. If you know how a regular gel blaster works – watch Low Guido’s Chop Shop YT channel, and it is clear that gel blaster do not fit into ‘firearms’ a,b,c
Preliminary matters
firearm
means a device or part of a device (whether or not
assembled, operable or temporarily or permanently inoperable) that
is designed or adapted to discharge shot, a bullet or other
projectile
:
(a)
by expanding gases produced in the device;
or
(b)
by igniting combustible material; or
©
by compressed air or other compressed gases (whether
stored in the device or attached to the device in pressurised
containers)
That would bring us the Controlled Weapons Act as well as the possibility of gel blasters being a replica or imitation (which has different meanings compared to SA) but what actually defines a replica in the NT Act is vague. But, anyone would be an idiot to have these in the front yard or local park. A big no no, even in Qld or SA.
It would be also helpful for you to get a copy of the Department of Home Affairs Notice No 2017/43 which also states that gel ball is harmless.
You can email firearmsregistry@pfes.nt.gov.au and weaponsregistry@pfes.nt.gov.au asking them the legal status of gel blaster in the NT citing that gel blasters do not fulfill Preliminary matters a,b or c. I have drafted such an e-mail. But read both Acts first and really do your homework.
If you do e-mail them and they respond, please forward to my email cmp1969@gmail.com
Meng-fu Tsai
Hi there!
Resident in the Northern Territory, and wondering if they’re good around here?
Thanks!
Gel Ball Pro
To all the people not in QLD asking about shipping, The rifles come in about 15 pieces and are usually mostly plastic, some are nylon. It’s interstate shipping which is hardly screened compared to international and it would not look like a rifle on xray,if it was screened due to its material and the amount of pieces its in, I have imported several to NSW without a problem. As far as the replica problem yes a lot look like the real deal with no orange on them at all which is used to indicate a toy gun, some are covered in orange to make it obvious and some are clear which also makes it look much more like a toy. This doesn’t mean the quality is worse the manufactures simply recognise in order to avoid the replica laws they would release some that didn’t look 100% realistic however the orange plastic or clear ones can still be modded to change them to appear as a replica. If you have a gel blaster that is a replica don’t show it on social media or in public, when transporting take it apart into a few pieces so you don’t have what looks like an assault rifle in your car and assemble it when your ready to use it. Use common sense and you will be fine. Happy blasting all!
Henry Dorleans
Are they illegal in Nsw?
Zachary
Are all the products allowed in NSW
david glen foord
Beware fake AU sellers. they say aus stock and 1 week delivery, then ship from china, mongrels.
still waiting after 6 weeks.
I definitely recommend tactical edge, real aussies.
Travis Bowman
Form a posse , fly to Canberra then storm parliament fully loaded to the eye balls and launch a gel assault lol. Imagine their faces ? Diving behind wotever / whoever for cover. Then when it all settled and they realised , free red faces all round lol. Dreams r free.
Paul
What about Victoria
the truth sucks
what about nsw australia sucks what are they gonna do next ban nerf guns
Gabriel
What permit do I need to get them from customs and where do I apply or get one.
Adrian Ryder
Hi
I’m very interested in the gel guns but I don’t know if they are legal in W.A. or if they would pass through Customs
etc. are you able to tell me if I can legally get them in to W.A please.
Cheers
Adrian
18/09/18
stephen constable
you allow paintball,,gel balls? sounds stupid,,wot happened to you guys police state or wot hear in nz even 5 year old pay paintball play airsoft and gell ball,,,,sad to see wots happenin to your country because of the idiots in charge,,,we can own ak47s ar15s comon as,,you can go by a 50cal barrett for 7 grand,,,own lasers bullet proof vests kevlar helmets ,smoke granades, 9mm flash bangs,,wot has happened to your country sad as for you guys no longer the land of the free,
JB
G’Day,
FYI, to the best of my knowledge, if the Federal Goverment enforcers of a law (Border Force/Customs, AG’s), allow a product into the country, this always over rides all State and Territory laws and regulations. Any resident of a State or Territory (S or T) that is told they can not have a product that is legally imported and sold in another S or T, can then challenge this at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, in their home S or T. JB
.
Cameron
gel ball ammo is not considered a projectile or ammunition, dept of home affairs notice revision No. 2017/43
Therefore declassifies gel blasters as weapons, period. Only thing to worry about is states like NSW where they enforce imitation appearance laws, so steps would just need to be taken to make it look more like a toy.
bob
i would like to know the laws on the gel ball guns in New South Wales? Are they legal?
Garry
R they legal in NSW
Stuart
Would like to hear about the new trials and laws regarding this as my and a few of my mates are keen to get into this
Tim wilson
Hey mate just come across these and am interested in getting one. My only worry is I’m in tassie and it would have to be shipped, I have no idea if it would get to me or if I’d even be allowed to have it. Do you know the tas laws?
Scott Townsend
Would you consider coming up with something the size of a business card stating the exact legal defifinitions and why we are not breaking any qld laws owning^possessing a blaster thay we could whip out and show police if we are ever pulled up for one?
Steve
Thanks mate.
Good luck. At the end of the day these things are just toys and I cable of doing serious harm. Any injury would be insignificant to say the least and probably due to operator error. Good luck and keep us posted.
Regards Steve