TargetTalk

New zealand has changed the laws for owning PCP air guns.
quote from New Zealand Herald dated 15 oct 2010:
Police national coordinator of firearms control, Inspector Joe Green said the law change meant police would have better control over who had access to the rifles which were "capable of causing serious injury or death".

"Classifying these air rifles as specially dangerous will ensure that the airguns that can cause the greatest harm, and those that are generally sought by the criminal community, are subject to the firearms licensing regime," Mr Green said.

Unfortunately they have not made any effort to look in to setting a maximun power level. Air pistols are not effected and can be owned by anyone over 18 years of age.

This has come about after a Police officer was murdered with a high power air rifle (an FX monsoon I think).

I don't know whether Target Shooting New Zealand (who administer smallbore and air rifle shooting) made any effort to lobby for ISSF style air rifles to be excluded form this law change.

In Australia, toy rifles that fire corks are classed as firearms.

No wonder the world is in such a mess seeing how the politicians work.

All air guns and BB guns are classified as firearms in New Jersey. They can only be purchased by Firearms ID holders and the transfer must go through an FFL. Air pistol purchasers must go through the same permitting process as cartridge pistols.
In my own township, archery equipment is under the same restrictions as firearms, so I cannot practice with my bow in my backyard unless I create an approved rifle range. Not only that, I can't shoot my bow at an approved range at times not approved by the township - i.e. not before noon of after 6 PM or any time on Mondays.

j-team wrote:Unfortunately they have not made any effort to look in to setting a maximun power level.

Which is rather sensible since that wouldn't work.
If criminals are currently buying them, winding up the power and using them in criminal acts, then simply setting a legal upper limit wouldn't stop criminals buying unlicensed normal power air rifles, and winding them up illegally. Even Anti-Tamper can be circumnavigated without too much hassle by a semi-skilled user.

If they're willing to commit murder, it's unlikely they will be too concerned about a technical firearms offence.

Whether licensing will have any effect on crime whatsoever remains to be seen. Any airgun can be over-powered - not just PCPs, and I'm sure unlicensed cartridge firearms are available to the determined criminal, if not as readily as airguns.

Hemmers wrote:

j-team wrote:Unfortunately they have not made any effort to look in to setting a maximun power level.

Which is rather sensible since that wouldn't work.

FYI, in Germany, there is a maximum power limit (7.5J).

Below 7.5J, it is free, above you need a permit. All match rifle shooters can then freely buy a 10m match rifle.

This rule exists since a long time and it works.

Three months ago I wrote to the Minister of Police responsible for this law change, pointing out that PCP rifles used in ISSF shooting were low powered single-shot airguns. I indicated that she should consider copying the German 7.5 joule limit as it had become the default standard for several European countries and that virtually all ISSF grade PCP air rifles being produced today (German or not) are proof-marked to show that they are at or below the 7.5 joule limit (the "F" in the pentagram symbol). This would have made identification of rifles in this class relatively simple. I also pointed out the illogicality of restricting low powered PCP single-shot air rifles, but not high-powered springers. I got a polite letter in return thanking me but I could tell that her mind was already made-up. What made it more frustrating is that the Minister is from a farming background and would have grown up around firearms and air rifles (ubiquitous on NZ farms) and I have little doubt that her actions were based on political expediency rather than logic.

I'm glad someone wrote to the Minister. I didn't even know such a law change was being considered until it was a done deal. Who is going to institute a judicial revue, I wonder?

Hey, don't tell the moronic legislators that ISSF air pistols are also PCP, and you can get repeaters!

Hemmers wrote:

j-team wrote:Unfortunately they have not made any effort to look in to setting a maximun power level.

Which is rather sensible since that wouldn't work.
If criminals are currently buying them, winding up the power and using them in criminal acts, then simply setting a legal upper limit wouldn't stop criminals buying unlicensed normal power air rifles, and winding them up illegally.

As pointed out by other posters, there are certain rifles that are designed to be low powered target rifles, these are not easily modified to be high power. Your comment about "winding up the power" would possibly apply to the de-tuned 12 ft/lb field target/hunting rifles that exist in Britain, these usually have an FAC version which makes them easy to modify.

As you say, we have such a limit in the UK, whereby an air rifle with a muzzle energy over 12lbf-ft must be on a Firearms Certificate, same as a cartridge rifle, and some air rifles are designed to be easily modified up to such a level if a customer comes in wanting something overpowered and has the right bit of paper (Air pistols must be below 6lbf-ft, and can't go on ticket above that because then they would be the same as cartridge pistols - which are prohibited).


However, fundamentally, you still have the same PCP cylinder (or spring/piston assembly for springers and SSPs).

Whilst the default setting of an ISSF-style air rifle/pistol will by default be below 5ft-lbs or 7.5J, that doesn't mean it can't be tuned up. It's not designed with that in mind, and you won't maybe get many shots out of it at a much increased power level. It can be done however. If man can make it, man can modify it. It's not as convenient as for some air rifles aimed at the hunting market, but if you have criminals with a dearth of black market cartridge firearms, and things like the Monsoon have been put on-ticket, they will still go and get what air rifles are available to tune up.

Of course the biggest issue then is cost - match air rifles are much, much more expensive than the rifles aimed at the hunting market, so they won't really be wanting buy 9003s to to tune up!
That will also create a gap in the market - people wanting plinkers but not willing to buy either match guns, or get a certificate. Someone will start downtuning things like the Monsoon for that market, and you just end up in the same situation.

We don't have so much of sort of issue in the UK and Europe because there is an adequate black-market providing cartridge firearms to those who want them. As various invesitgations have shown, "Buy the ammo, rent the gun" is a well-established business model on the UK black-market.

At the end of the day, we could go round in circles discussing this.
If criminals want a firearm, they will get it, whether they buy it, steal it, smuggle it in across the border or just make it themselves (not a particularly onerous task for someone with a lathe and basic machining knowledge).

Bringing in any restrictions on a specific type of airgun because a police officer was killed with one is fairly bone-headed. It's being seen to do something, whilst ignoring the larger picture - the nut behind the butt and his/her criminal activities.

Unfortunately, plenty of crims here have cartridge guns too.

The problem with the PCP rifles not requiring a license was that when a drug raid (or whatever) was executed, the Police could not lay any specific firearms charges if they found a PCP rifle at that location. That's the reason they became favoured by crims. Nothing to do with the lack of other firearms or being able to tune them up for more power. There was no power limit in NZL. So no-one neded to tune up an FX monsoon to get more power, they were all the full power versions already!

We also had the 9mm and .45 Korean PCP rifles coming in without need for license or even import permits.

It was a case of technology getting ahead of the law. Now the law has caught up, with a poorly thought out solution.