Monthly Archives: August 2012

Airsoft Insurance

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Zero One Airsoft in conjunction with Ground Zero Airsoft have been working closely with FML Insurance for a number of months now in order to create an insurance policy specifically designed for Airsoft.

Most current airsoft policies are based on Paintball insurance, which as I’m sure you are aware, have restraints on them that are not suitable in the world of Airsoft. This is why we set out to build the first UK Airsoft specific insurance. The aim was to build a policy that slotted right into place without unnecessary change. FPS limits set at what they already are rather than a fictional figure that looks good on paper, face protection specifications that meet the way things already operate in the real world, pyrotechnic rules that encompass specifically what is used in the world of airsoft – including gas and blank devices, cover for beverage making facilities offered by most sites – and for structures if they are well built, cover for military vehicles and site/marshal vehicles operating on site, and so on… all whilst allowing the lowest premiums in the market.

Whilst we provided the necessary experience to develop the policy, we are not on any sort of commission whatsoever; we were aware through our customer base that some policies were becoming restrictive or not offering the proper cover, and we saw an opportunity to put something together that would benefit us all. It is important that we all have the best cover possible, without unnecessary restrictions, to ensure the future of your site and our sport.

UKAPU News

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Work has already begun on preparations for the 3rd UKAPU Annual General Meeting scheduled for November. At this meeting all members are given a vote to decide who should be voted in as a member of the UKAPU committee. While work has started on creating agendas and pulling together annual reports from existing committee members, there are things that you as a member can also prepare.

Firstly, if you have any topics you wish to add to the agenda for discussion by all members then these can be sent through and time will be allocated in the agenda for members to discuss whatever they feel is important. If you’d like to make a presentation to members on a particular topic then please do get in touch with our chairman or secretary via the website.

Another important part of the AGM is the committee vote. Every position is up for renewal at the AGM and any members aged 18 or over are welcome to stand for nomination. With this in mind, I’d like to inform members that our registrar, Hayden, is due to step down at the next AGM and will not be standing for re-election. We are on the lookout for a passionate and hardworking individual to manage member sign ups, registration and renewals. If you think you might have the time and dedication to take up this vital role then we would love to hear from you. Names are now being taken for members wishing to stand for election in the 2012-2013 committee so please get in touch with the chairman or secretary via the website if you would like to be considered.

If you have already joined UKAPU then we thank you – If you would like to join then annual membership costs just £5 and is available from our website www.ukapu.org.uk

Matt Furey-King – UKAPU Chairman

Ai Volume 8 Issue 4 – FIGHT LIGHT!

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Welcome to Airsoft International Volume 8 Issue 4!

Taking the RIF…

I had lined up a more positive and up-beat intro to this copy of Ai, especially as we have made it a bit of an “H&K Special” with three officially licensed guns reviewed inside, but something else has thrust itself into the equation and it’s about as welcome as a stripped piston in the middle of a firefight. I try not to focus on the immediate locality I’m in due to Ai’s far reaching readership, but I’m going to have to make an exception here since I think a hugely pertinent issue has been raised, and that issue is of theft. The unlawful taking of another person’s property.

Thanks to the power of Facebook we as a magazine are able to keep in touch with over 10,000 of you readers, but as individuals we are able to keep in touch with our airsoft buddies from all over. I was recently dismayed to read not one, but two reports of a fellow airsofter’s house being broken into and extensive lists of airsoft guns and equipment being taken and frankly, it disgusts me. Prior to now, I can only recall one instance of a theft of airsoft equipment and that was when an unattended M4 went missing after being left on the other side of a site for a while. This is totally different. Somebody house has been broken into, in TWO instances, and airsoft guns have been taken.

 

Whether the crime was perpetrated by another airsofter, we don’t know, maybe it was just an opportunist thief, but either eventuality is as disturbing as the next. I’d always put faith in the fact that airsoft players were a trust-worthy and honourable bunch where honestly would prevail above all other attributes but it seems that might not be the case. If, on the other hand, the guns were taken by a common burglar, we have a different problem to deal with, and that’s RIFs falling into the wrong hands.

As a self-regulating organisation, we owe it to ourselves to act with responsibility when it comes to RIFs getting into the hands of those that are not eligible to a defense, I’ve seen it recently in Facebook “for sale” groups and on forums where new players have attempted to buy guns and have been blocked by the vigilance of older, more experienced and knowledgeable members of the community. Now I’m not calling for vigilante action by the airsoft community, in fact that would be a terrible idea, but what I am suggesting is that we perhaps take a bit more responsibility for the security of our beloved replicas. Perhaps that sprawling heap in the corner of the garage isn’t the most secure storage for them, and maybe now is the time to start thinking of gun cabinets and locks, much like the rest of the firearms community is forced to use, to ensure that even if we do suffer a break-in,  realistic imitation firearms don’t fall into the wrong hands…

 

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