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"Throw down your weapons and prepare to be judged!"
The law is a fairly important thing with Airsoft. It's a reasonably controversial pastime so we have to be seen to be the Good Guys. As such I thought I'd see if I could drop a few words of wisdom down here. Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on T.V. Likewise I'm not a forensic or ballistics scientist, so if the law turn up and drag you away, don't expect "Hatchet said it was okay" to be much of a legal defence. That said here's my advice. Most of it's just common sense.
Airsoft is currently legal in the U.K. Hurrah! Despite some woefully misguided peoples' attempt to change the situation in the belief that stopping us from firing plastic pellets will somehow stop the IRA from having guns (Newsflash, AK-47's have always been illegal, but that doesn't seem to stop them). However, this does not mean you can go around "packing heat" and shooting anything that moves. Oh no. Such an approach will soon see the arrival of PC Angry and his MP5. Unlike your MP5, his fires real bullets and if you are hit you get to go to the big Safe-Zone in the sky.
For those of you that haven't been paying attention, this means that you should keep weapons locked safely away when out and about. If you are seen carrying one of these then the public are quite likely to call the cops, and the cops will duly arrive in about 3 minutes flat and treat you as if you are carrying a real gun. Shouting "Blimey lads, it's the rozzers, scarper!" is probably not the best thing to do at this stage. Even if you do exactly as you're told and don't end up getting shot, expect to be dragged off to the local nick and face an intensive grilling, probably involving confiscation of your Airsoft gun. For those of you that think this might be amusing, you're very much mistaken, as you'll soon find out. So, best not go there at all.
This also means that you should only play in designated areas. These are usually on private land and the organisers will have a good working relationship with the local constabulary. Messing about in your back garden is usually okay, depending on where you live. Obviously if your house backs on to Buckingham Palace, Number 10, or other such locations then you should probably play it safe and avoid this one.
The only things you should be firing at when playing are other participating players that have the relevant safety equipment. Shooting passers by is not a good idea. They're liable to call the police or come over and beat you soundly about the head. I know I would. Likewise shooting birds and animals is out. Not only is it cruel, but depending on the birds or animals you may actually find yourself in some serious trouble (£5000 fine sort of trouble). Be advised that animal lovers also play Airsoft, and they've all got guns too...
If you're plinking (shooting targets in your backgarden or similar), then wear goggles. Not a legal requirement, but ricochets happen. It's also important to bear this in mind; Are any stray rounds going to go into your neighbour's garden? Likewise watch your target background. Setting up your targets in your garden but directly in front of your neighbours greenhouse is unlikely to make you popular.
In summary then:
With the basics out of the way, we now move on to the limits on the weapons themselves. This is a pretty hot topic amongst airsofters, and usually spawns a mass of ill-informed opinions whenever the subject is brought up. This isn't helped by a large number of retailers propagating incorrect information. The current situation is this:
All airsoft weapons have a maximum limit of 1.35j or approx. 380fps with a 0.2g BB.
The common misconception is: Fully automatic weapons are limited to 1j (328fps with a 0.2g) and sniper rifles can go to 500fps with a 0.2g (except the PSG1).
Now, before you all write in and tell me I'm wrong, let me explain how this works. A firearm is described as "A lethally barrelled projectile weapon" or similar. Lethality in this case is defined as "anything that will cause a greater than trivial injury". Now, forensic testing (as recognised by the Home Office Select Committee) has determined the limit for this to be 1.35j. This means that if you push it above this level, it becomes one of two things:
If it is a single action weapon (i.e. a Sniper rifle), then it becomes a Low Powered Air Weapon. This is totally legal to hold without a license, but if you fire it at anyone then you are breaking the law (Yes, this does mean anyone using one at 500fps is currently breaking the law).
If it is a fully automatic weapon (this includes fully auto weapons that are set to single shot mode) then it becomes a Section 5 firearm. This is a Very Bad Thing. In the eyes of the law, this is the same as you walking the streets with a real steel assault rifle, and carries the same prison sentences. Now, while I don't yet know of anyone who's gone to jail for tweaking their gun up to 400fps, bear in mind that it could happen, and do you really want to be the test case for this one?
Before you all rush out and upgrade your guns to 380fps (or downgrade in the case of sniper rifles), it's worth noting that most playing sites stick to the self-imposed limit of 330fps for full auto, and 500fps for sniper rifles, so you'll just end up with a gun you can't use. It's also worth asking yourself why you need to upgrade. If you're playing in woodland then fair enough, but a 380fps full-auto burst at close range (for CQB, etc.) is going to hurt.
People within the Airsoft community are currently looking into getting these limits clarified (and possibly increased), so that we know where we stand and can present ourselves as responsible players who are trying to act within the law. Paintball players are also technically breaking the law, as the power that they put out is significantly more than 1.35j (Lennard Manseck wrote telling me "Assuming that the paintball is 3g, and tournament velocity limits are 300fps (which they were at the Crystal Palace pball tournament), that's around 9.2 J."), but it is accepted by the law, as everyone knows the risks and agrees to them when they play. Hopefully we'll see a similar sort of thing with Airsoft.
So, here endeth the lesson. Play it safe!