Gel blaster amnesty: police warn to surrender your devices or be criminally charged weeks before the amnesty ends

Police have warned gel blaster owners time is running out to hand in the banned toys, but thousands of owners are holding out in hope of legal win.

Simon Lloyd from Tactical Edge Hobbies with a 98K kids gel blaster. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Hundreds of thousands of gel blasters will be declared illegal firearms in coming weeks, with owners facing criminal charges for possessing them without a licence, as new police figures reveal less than 2000 have been surrendered in the amnesty period.

Gel blasters, which fire gel pellets, were declared a firearm by police in October, after Commissioner Grant Stevens said the weapons now meet the definition of a firearm following a ballistics assessment.

Gel blaster guns. Picture: SA Police

It comes as representatives from the gel blaster community urge people to hold on to their weapons, while legal action to reverse the decision to class the toys as firearms is underway.

SA Police froze international imports of the devices in June, but announced about 30,000 gel blasters were brought into the state in 2019, and believe there are up to 350,000 of the devices currently in the state. The amnesty period ends on April 7.

Since the commencement of the amnesty period on October 8, 1481 gel blasters have been surrendered to police. Just over 300 applications have been made for a firearms licence for use of a gel blaster, and 81 applications have been made to vary a current licence to allow for use of the imitation firearm.

Police say no application has been declined a licence for a gel blaster, but five people have withdrawn from their application after “suitability issues” were identified.

Six businesses have applied for licences relating to gel blasters, for either sale or field operations.

A police spokeswoman said anyone possessing a gel blaster firearm without a licence, or who is in possession of an unregistered gel blaster after the amnesty ends will be committing an offence under the Firearms Act.

“Anybody possessing a gel blaster after April 7 will need to have applied for a firearms licence and applied to register their gel blaster by that date,” the spokeswoman said.

“People that have applied for a firearms licence, or variation to a current licence, prior to April 7 will be able to retain their gel blaster firearm until their application has been processed and finalised.”

Owner of Dover Gardens store, Tactical Edge Hobbies, Peter Clark, who slammed his doors shut due to the new laws last year, is currently challenging SA Police on the new regulations in the Supreme Court. The final hearing day is on March 26, days before the amnesty ends.

Mr Clark said most people would not know of the new regulations, so would not know they will soon be breaking firearms laws.

Steven Gemmell, a gel blaster store owner protesting new licencing laws at Police HQ. Picture: Dixie Sulda

“I just think most people would think it’s ridiculous, having to register a toy,” Mr Clark said.

He remains confident he will be successful in reversing the gel blaster firearm regulations.

Gel Blasters Association of Australia treasurer, Chris Sinclair, urged gel blaster owners to hold on to their toys until the court action finishes.

“Wait until after the court case, hold on to them until the last minute,” Mr Sinclair said.

“At the end of the day, if police don’t have the resources to process firearms applications … they’re not going to have the resources to do 200,000 between now and the amnesty anyway, so you may as well ride it out.”

Police have made a submission to the State Government after consultation with businesses to amend the firearms regulations, and align the new gel blaster laws better with current paintball laws, and let businesses operate skirmish style venues.

A State Government spokesman said the government will consider SA Police’s submission.