Airsoft players of Europe - this is it! This is the big push, this is where you can save airsoft in Europe or let it be crushed. As you probably already know, the EC has presented a proposal to amend the firearms directive. There's some really heavy handed stuff in the proposal, but the worst for airsofters is that they want ALL REPLICAS to be classed as firearms. This is going to make most airsoft replicas prohibited, make the few remaining ones licensed, and this will kill airsoft. This is how we fight it:

TASK 1: SEND LETTERS NOW! On the link below is a pre prepared letter which you can copy and send to your MEPs. Search on-line, find your MEPs email addresses, copy and paste this letter (and modify it however you like).

TASK 2: SHARE THE HELL OUT OF THE PAGE! Make sure your friends, everyone you play with and interact with knows about this draft letter, let the shops know, the sites, the forums, everyone! Too many people are in the dark about this sudden and huge problem.

TASK 3: TRANSLATE! We've started with the English version but within a week I would like to see the post available in all of the 23 recognised languages of Europe. If the letter is not available on the page in your language, translate it and email the translation to us ASAP [email protected] and we’ll add it to the site.

It would really help if you posted the replies you receive on this page https://www.facebook.com/groups/455851477935788/ or email them to [email protected] so we can see how things are going and spot supporters in particular committees.

Don’t forget to insert your name, and add your MEPs name. Don’t forget to add your address to the top if you are posting a letter.

Here’s the link to the letter:

http://www.euroairsoft.org/index.php/additional-documents/operation-mep

Dear INSERT MEP NAME HERE,

As a constituent, I would like to raise my concerns regarding the recent proposal to amend the so called firearms directive. Specifically Proposal COM(2015)750/F1, on Page 17 where it is stated

(13) in Annex I to Directive 91/477/EC part II is amended as follows:

(a) point A is amended as follows:

………

(iii) In Category C, the following points are added:

“5. Alarm and signal weapons, salute and acoustic weapons as well as replicas;”

I am a hobbyist who enjoys ‘airsoft’ events in which opposing teams compete in military and law enforcement scenarios. These events require the use of relatively low powered airsoft replica firearms. These events are a commonplace, well-regulated and physically demanding team activity with many positives for the individual and society. There is also an industry surrounding the airsoft hobby which employs many people. The classification of replicas as category C firearms would destroy my beloved pastime.

If replicas became category C firearms it would mean that manufacturers, retailers and owners of these replicas would be subject to all the obligations of the directive. This disproportionate measure would mean that replicas would become restricted or illegal firearms in most countries due to local laws restricting automatic firearms and limiting magazine capacity. At best, some countries would allow some replicas to be serialised, held on a certificate and registered. Other parts of the proposal would simultaneously make internet sales illegal and ban firearms of military appearance. In essence, the vast majority of airsoft replicas would be banned and the few remaining ones would be heavily restricted or licenced to the point where it would not be worth the hassle of obtaining or owning one. The airsoft hobby would soon cease to exist and the industry would collapse (which would have been highlighted if the normal economic impact assessment had not been bypassed in the case of this proposal). Inevitably, many replicas would remain uncontrolled out of ignorance to the drastic changes, turning the owners into criminals.

The vast majority of replicas are in no way convertible to fire real ammunition. They have the appearance of a firearm on the outside but the type of replicas we use for airsoft do not have any components which would be useable in a firearm. No justification has been presented in the text of the proposal for the inclusion of replicas in the scope of the directive. Member states have not expressed any major problems relating to public order caused by the use of replicas nor have replicas been implicated in terrorist acts.

In fact, after an extensive study in 2010 (COM(2010)404) the European commission itself recommended that “replicas, with their various characteristics and purposes, should not be included in the field of application of Directive 91/477/EC (Firearms Directive), especially as those which can be converted to a firearm and therefore treated as one are now covered by Directive 2008/51/EC.”

I also believe that the category change will be impossible to implement. Most replicas do not have a serial number, and some are children’s toys. Replicas can be produced from almost any material by any person, for example by carving wood into the shape of a gun. I don’t think it would be possible to register and control such a broad category of items. The cost of serialising and registering all replicas would be enormous, as would be the compensation costs for confiscation of the many replicas which would become prohibited. By EU estimates there are hundreds of millions of replicas in Europe. The governments of Germany, Czech Republic and Austria have specifically objected to the reclassification of replicas, and I do not believe that the Police force will find the measure sensible, achievable, enforceable or a good use of resources.

I support sensible controls, such as ensuring that readily convertible replicas, alarm and signal weapons are classed as firearms. I support robust mandates to ensure standardised irreversible deactivation of firearms across the EU. What I don’t support is heavy handed curtailing of law abiding citizens pastimes under the guise of preventing terrorism.

Please seek the amendment of the proposal COM(2015)750/F1 so that replicas will not be classified as firearms by being added to Category C (Firearms subject to declaration) of directive 91/477/EEC.

Yours Sincerely,

YOUR NAME HERE

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Matt Furey-King
President
European Airsoft Association