Only 665 of the 62,000 gel blasters in SA have been handed to police so far
Police have confirmed 665 illegal gel blaster guns of the 62,000 owned by South Australians have been handed in to police.
SA News
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Nearly 700 gel blasters have been handed to authorities since the devices were declared an imitation firearm by police in early October, despite an estimation of around 62,000 existing in South Australia.
Gel blasters were declared a regulated imitation firearm on October 8, and police say 665 have been surrendered since and 183 people have made applications for a firearm’s licence to keep theirs.
Chris Sinclair, treasurer from the Gel Blasters Association of Australia is filing a class action against the new laws, and has raised $19,000 so far to support legal costs.
Mr Sinclair said he is concerned more people will apply for a standard firearm’s licence with the new laws.
“A lot of people are actually going to start going for real firearms (licence),” Mr Sinclair said.
“I manage all the pages … I see everyone saying ’Well I’m just going to get a gun.
“That’s not what we wanted at all.”
Almost 30 people have applied to vary their existing firearms licence.
Three businesses have applied for licences. All applications are pending, and the Firearms Branch said the application process for gel blasters is a priority.
Mr Sinclair said the industry was willing to co-operate with SA Police but were taken by surprise when they were declared as a firearm without warning.
“People who do the wrong thing with them are going to do the wrong thing with something else, whether it's a knife or it's a baseball bat.
“There’s laws to deal with the behaviours of these people … it’s just the police aren't actually policing them effectively.
“A gel blaster cannot kill anyone, they’re more dangerous if you throw it at someone than if you actually shoot someone with it.”
It comes as multiple businesses protested the new laws last month as they had to shut their businesses with a couple of days warning.
Owner of the Special Unicorns Gel Blaster Club at Aldinga, Derek Bawden, said after months of deciding what to do they have stepped away from their site due to ongoing costs.
“We’ve weighed up options like nerf ball or laser tag but none of it is going to be fruitful or viable … so we’ve shut up shop.” Mr Bawden said.
He said of the hundreds of Special Unicorn members, around 90 per cent have indicated they will get a full firearms licence.
“If you have to go through all that effort, they’ve just said ‘I’ll get a real licence’.”
