If you have not read about the ongoing petition to legalise the importation of airsoft to Australia, here it is again. The campaign is being pushed hard and the Australian airsoft community are calling on all airsoft players worldwide, especially where airsoft is legal, to sign the petition. It is not required that you are a resident of Australia to sign.

Click here to sign the Petition and below are details of Petition Number EN0367:

Petition Reason

The Sport of Airsoft is enjoyed worldwide with limited regulatory restrictions. The Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 controls importation of Airsoft (soft air) devices to Australia. The Regulations require only the Police Certification Test to be satisfied to import paintball markers or imitation firearms. However, the Regulations impose stricter, disproportionate, non-evidence based controls (i.e. official purposes / specified person test, etc.) on Airsoft devices, based on their appearance, even though they are no more ‘real’ looking than imitation firearms. Furthermore, Airsoft devices shoot plastic pellets that hurt a lot less than paintballs, having an average kinetic energy of ten times lower. However, the Regulations impose stricter controls on fully automatic firing Airsoft devices, in comparison to paintball markers capable of producing more damage. The Regulations also require Airsoft devices to satisfy Safety Tests. The tests are aimed at preventing accidental discharge of firearms causing serious injury. The tests are disproportionate to be applied to Airsoft devices based on the flimsy materials of construction, limited energy of an Airsoft pellet, and the higher forces created by the test than the energy of a shooting Airsoft pellet.

Petition Request

Amendment of the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 as follows: -    Importation of Airsoft devices of any appearance should only require the Police Certification Test to be satisfied; -    Importation of Airsoft devices of fully automatic firing capability should only require the Police Certification Test to be satisfied; -    Airsoft devices of all types of propulsion should be exempt from the Safety Tests; -    Airsoft devices should be exempted from having a unique serial number.

Here is a poster of the campaign as designed  by Dmitry Sergeev from Perth, Western Australia:

Top Photo: Parliament House Canberra, Australia (Source: Wikipedia)