Hello New user sorry if this is abit much for my first post.

With the upcoming review of the Arms Act by the Act Party, I believe it's an opportune time for us to come together and make our voices heard.

The Goal:

I propose that we, as a collective group of air rifle enthusiasts and industry professionals, submit a unified proposal to the government, advocating for changes to air rifle legislation. Specifically, I'd like to see PCP air rifles legalized for use without a Firearms License (FAL), with a potential limit on the Foot-Pound of Energy (FPE) to ensure safe and responsible use.

Rationale:

As many of us know, air rifles are an effective tool for pest control in rural communities, helping to manage feral cat and possum populations that threaten our native wildlife. 

Sorry if this has already been talking about I took a look around the forum and couldn't see anything feel free to add on to this.

If you have a Firearms Licence for PCP's, you can also buy and use rimfire and centrefire calibres that are much more powerful than PCP's.  So... limiting PCP power is pointless!

Accurate longer range air rifle shooting also requires PCP's with plenty of FPE.  Limiting them would impact our sport further.

As we have far too many limitations on our beloved sport already, why would you want to restrict us any further?!!! 

I find this suggestion ill informed and very odd!

Having a Firearms Licence for PCP's is a good thing. Use a Springer if you don't like it!

So, I get that your suggesting opening up sub12FPE PCPs to those of legal age to own spring air rifles.

But I think the only thing that would do would implement a blanket 12fpe airgun law for all air rifles - spring & pcp like UK.

The UK is a very different market, this will just lead to cats walking around with missing eyes, people finding possums bleeding to death because people dont understand the power required for efficient kill

I dont really want that, so for that reason i'm out..

Correct this is what I was more thinking about but perhaps raised about a 12fpe limit owing to larger pests being here perhaps more like 25-35fpe.

One would hope a restriction on springers would not be put in place at the same time.

A big problem with imposing energy limit is that energy is not a reliable measure of how deadly an airgun is.

.177 springers have killed people but 12 ft-lb in 9 mm may not even penetrate.

Deadliness comes about from penetrating deep enough to reach vital areas.

Penetration is proportional to the product of momentum and sectional density. Not energy.

High velocity with low mass is an expensive way to create momentum,

that's why 12 ft-lbs arrow will out-penetrate a 12 ft-lbs .22 pellet, despite similar diameter.

We do not see PCP pistol crime. We see thugs using hammers, or else illegal firearms.

PCP pistols are living proof that there is no requirement to restrict PCP power limits.

My 2 cents worth...

My view is that the current system is, in general terms, fit for purpose - although I don't agree with the compulsory registration of individual guns due to potential for data breaches (probably more of an issue for the powder burner owners than air gunners) and would also like to see administration of the regulations undertaken by an independent authority.

I don't see that the introduction of a 12ftlb limit for unlicensed gun owners would achieve anything of real value but would instead give rise to confusion, potential gun tampering and inconvenience to owners by way of compliance checks to ensure that the 12ftlb limit isn't exceeded.

I believe that restricting PCP rifle ownership to licensed gun owners was a sensible move as they are potentially every bit as lethal as a normal firearm.  Our system, with intensive background checks and firearms training processes, goes a long way to ensuring that licensed owners are sensible and trustworthy individuals. 

Springers and CO2 guns should be left as they are currently.  The mechanical limitations of their designs in terms of outright power negates the need to impose an arbitrary limit and the introduction of even more more legislation and regulations to ensure compliance.

The real problem for the airgun industry is the up-front cost.  Even the cheap PCPs are expensive in relative terms, as are the good quality springers.  I don't see that this is likely to change and so making sub-12ftlb PCPs available to the general public isn't going to fix that problem.

Good post here is my basic understanding:

Personally I would allow PCP's up to say 30 ft/lb, and leave the legislation alone for spring operated guns as they tend to be self-limiting for mechanical reasons (I don't think you're gonna get a 50 fpe springer).

Interesting to note the legislation as it stands does not apply to multi pump guns (example my Sharp Innova) which does not require a FAL but can get up to 18-20 fpe.

Interesting to note the legislation as it stands does not apply to multi pump guns (example my Sharp Innova) which does not require a FAL but can get up to 18-20 fpe.

I dont buy into the 10pfe either. heck, my TX200 which is made in the UK is 18FFE off the shelf. i had to get a low power kit for it.

The .30 Hatsan puts out 30 FPE off the shelf.