IAA MPB Position so far
Hi All,
There are many things being thrown around about what the bill will or will not do, our document should clear up parts of that but there is still ambiguity and much concern about certain parts. We welcome the legitimisation of Airsoft this Bill provides, but there is still a way to go before we will be happy with its wording and implementation.
Let us try to highlight part of our position. These are the high-order issues as we see them.
We have received overwhelming expressions of unhappiness with the issue of personal imports of Airsoft devices from the community as a whole. We realise that there are many collectors and specialised skirmishers who may wish to purchase items unavailable in retail stores. While most retail stores we know of are able to make special orders, we feel that there should be some compromise when it comes to individuals purchasing what are essentially toys or sporting equipment. There are also some clarifications to be made with regard to personal sales of used equipment and repairs. Personal sale and repair of items that have no restriction on ownership should not be restricted.
We are not happy with S.35(9B) (Superintendent permission for sites) in its current form. We believe that sites do not pose any form of threat to the community and that the planning acts combined with existing trespass law is sufficient to remedy any issues arising in this area. As we outlined in our MPB document, we have already encountered issues with superintendents attempting to close a site for no reason but their own. This is completely unacceptable, and at the very least we will be lobbying for adjustments to this section so all rules of fair procedure and natural justice apply. The committee anticipated a section of the bill containing broad ranging powers that require no oversight, to this end we conducted research in similar areas of legislation on how the implementation can be tempered and also kept in line with standard procedure of the government.
There is a lot of speculation that the minister can simply ban us, or restrict us to two-tone or clear plastic guns at the drop of a hat stemming from this bill, S.35(9G-9H). This is not the case, a consultation process with the Garda Commissioner must be followed and any such order may be voided by the Dáil. The IAA will be strongly pushing for better security for us in this section, including an automatic voiding instrument for all restrictive measures that are not ratified by the house. We will also be seeking a meeting with the Garda Commissioner to clarify our position.
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