Check out this website, especially if you live in the UK… John Webster, a reenactor and builder of LPG gas guns, offers a great alternative to using blank guns. WTAC – Replica and Gas Firing Weapons for Re-enactors and Films. He builds some pretty impressive non-functioning gas weapons for reenactments, as well as tanks and other military vehicles.
“…These are gun fire simulators for use by WW2 re-enactors. They are built to sound like live guns but cannot fire projectiles and do not use blanks. They can be owned without any form of license in the UK and can be used in battle re-enactment at about 10% of the cost of using traditional blank fire replicas which cost more to buy and use. They are fired by using a mixture of propane and oxygen with electonics and valves built into the replica to control firing.”
Gas Guns in the UK
The LPG airsoft guns that were sold in Britain in the 1990s were realistic enough to be used in crimes, and that is the reason the law changed. The result is the Violent Crime Reduction Act and a licensing regime that treats a realistic imitation firearm differently from a toy, which is why buying a replica in the UK is more complicated than buying one in Kansas.
For a collector outside the UK the lesson is more general: the appearance of a replica is regulated in many countries, independent of whether it can fire anything. Australia, Canada and parts of Europe all have rules based on looks rather than mechanics, and a purchase that is legal in one country can be seized in the next. Check before you order, not after.
Common questions
Are gas guns still sold in the UK?
Realistic imitation firearms are controlled, and airsoft sales require a valid defence under the current rules.
Does this affect buying from the United States?
Yes. The destination country's rules apply, regardless of where the seller is based.
LPG gas guns in the UK – John Webster builds them! http://t.co/tjWZO1xp
For World War II reenactors living in the UK – check out this site… John Webster builds LPG gas guns (and… http://t.co/bGgwgXo1
For World War II reenactors living in the UK – check out this site http://t.co/8JZhu5sK John Webster builds… http://t.co/vx0JqoW9