Can I import a gun-shaped console controller from the United States into the UK?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 30 Jul, 2023
- |
IMHO the problem here is that the UK law forbids importing imitation firearms. Quoting from the Guide on Firearms Licensing Law found on Gov.uk:
Section 36 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 makes it an offence for a person to manufacture, sell, import or cause a realistic imitation firearm to be brought into Great Britain.
As it turns out, an imitation firearm is:
any thing which has the appearance of being a firearm (other than such a weapon as is mentioned in section 5(1) (b) of this Act), whether or not it is capable of discharging any shot, bullet or other missile
Taken together, these two statements would make me think that you cannot import a gun-shaped console controller into the UK.
For completeness sake, note that your friend is likely to be prosecuted under Section 170(2) of CEMA 1979:
Section 170(2) of CEMA 1979 covers the import “smuggling” offence in so far as a person knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion or attempted evasion relating to goods (namely firearms) that are subject to any “prohibition or restriction.” The prohibition upon the importation of firearms is contained in Article 1 of the Import of Goods (Control) Order 1954 (SI 1954/23) which was made under section 1 of the Import, Export and Customs Powers (Defence) Act 1939.
Realistic toy guns are banned in the UK.
Based on the information on that page, it seems quite likely that this would qualify and therefore be banned. The penalty for trying to import it could be up to a £5000 fine or 6 month prison sentence.
This mainly hinges on whether this gun is considered “realistic”. In the U.S. an orange tip on a gun is sufficient to mark something as a toy, but here is the relevant guideline from UK.gov (emphasis added):
an imitation is to be regarded as distinguishable if its size, shape
or principal colour is unrealistic for a real firearm…An imitation firearm which
is principally coloured bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright pink,
bright purple, bright blue, or which is transparent should…be regarded as unrealistic
In addition, the controller is styled similar to a real gun and is of sufficient size (longer than 70mm) to qualify as realistic under the regulations.
Beyond that, I would not ask a friend to bring something that is likely to attract the attention of security. Even if it were technically allowed, surely this is likely to attract attention and add extra hassle to travelling.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
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