A Wagga businessman has welcomed proposed law changes that will see paintball guns no longer considered firearms.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Project Paintball owner Dwayne Nicholls said industry representatives had been in talks with state politicians to wind back restrictions on the sport, which included paintball “markers” falling into the same legal category as assault rifles.
“At the moment they’re prohibited firearms, like an AK-47 (assault rifle) or a bazooka,” Mr Nicholls said. “Your rifles and shotguns that people get for pest control and hunting have less restrictions than a paintball marker.”
Shooters Party MP Robert Borsak was among those leading the charge for paintball reform, which would see relaxed licensing and easier access to paintball markers, no longer listing paintball projectiles as ammunition and allowing children as young as 12 to play the sport.
Under existing state laws, the minimum age to shoot paintballs in NSW is 16, while other Australian states allow people as young as 10 to play paintball. Anyone under the age of 18 needs parental consent to play and cannot buy their own marker. The proposed legislative changes follow a review of NSW’s firearms rules, which recommended moving paintball regulation to the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation.
But Gun Control Australia chairwoman Samantha Lee opposed the changes, saying paintball markers were real guns and needed the same laws as other guns.
“This a dangerous slippery slope we are heading down,” she said. “Paintball guns include single-shot, repeating action, semi-automatic and fully automatic models, propelling pellets at velocities topping 200 miles per hour. They are real guns and like all real guns the same laws should apply.”
Mr Nicholls said a paintball couldn’t kill anyone, but wanted to see tough penalties for the misuse of paintball markers if the changes went through.
“We’d like the changes sooner than later, but we want it done correctly,” Mr Nicholls said. “People who do the right thing shouldn’t have to go through so much trouble, but if someone misuses (paintball markers) it should be treated seriously.”
The changes are expected to take effect in early 2019.
Stephen Mudd
Stephen Mudd is a journalist for Fairfax Media west of the great divide. He loves music, dogs and travel.
Stephen Mudd is a journalist for Fairfax Media west of the great divide. He loves music, dogs and travel.
