Up to 350,000 gel blasters are in South Australia – now police are close to finalising their position on what to do about them
They’ve been used in robberies, drive-by shootings and even attacks on children. Now it’s emerged that nearly 30,000 gel blasters were brought into SA in the year before an import freeze – and can still be sold without a licence. TAKE OUR POLL
Police & Courts
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Nearly 30,000 gel blasters were brought into South Australia in the year before police froze imports – and police believe the total number of the realistic-looking firearms in SA is as high as 350,000.
Police documents reveal between March 2019 and March 2020, a total of 29,000 gel blasters were imported into the state from overseas.
This was despite SA Police’s firearms branch classifying gel blasters as firearms, following a December 2019 ballistics test that showed the devices used compressed air to fire pellets.
In June, SA Police acted by suspending all international imports, but it is still legal for people to purchase the guns without a licence.
Since the import freeze, there were at least 2295 gel blasters awaiting approval for importation.
Letters from senior officers sent to the government – obtained by Labor MP Lee Odenwalder – show there have been at least 155 gel-blaster related incidents since November 2018.
In the most recent case, the passenger of a car was arrested for allegedly aiming a gel blaster at another road user on the busy Augusta Highway on Tuesday.
In May, Brandon Agostino allegedly shot three pedestrians with gel pellets at Northgate and Lightsview.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said between 65,000 and 350,000 South Australians have gel blasters in their possession.
“These people have bought these devices in good faith, so we are just working through the process to make sure that no one is too much disadvantaged by whatever the decision is made.
“I think we are very close to formulating a final position, which we will advise the minister about.”
In a letter dated May 18 2020, Mr Stevens wrote to then police minister Corey Wingard, saying gel blasters could cause “eye injuries, welts and bruises to the skin”.
“And appearance in criminal activities can cause mental harm and anguish to victims,” he wrote.
“SAPOL has examples of a service station console operator being shot by a gel blaster, a supermarket employee shot and children being shot while in playgrounds and walking along the footpath.”
In the letter, Mr Stevens also detailed examples of offenders posting images of themselves posing with gel blasters on social media.
In a separate letter in March, Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams wrote: “Regulation is problematic as actual determination is based on the merits of each individual items”.
“The ongoing evolution of gel blasters since inception means that there is a variance in models that mean not all will meet the definition of a firearm,” she wrote.
Mr Stevens said police were receiving advice from other jurisdictions and the Federal Government on what steps to take in terms of legislation.
“We don’t act without proper advice and some times these things do take a period of time to work through,” he said.
“And we need to recognise there’s an industry here that’s going to be adversely affected by the decision that classifies these items as firearms and we are sensitive to that as well.”
Simon Lloyd from Tactical Edge Hobbies told The Advertiser in June that enthusiasts were frustrated by the opaque nature of the police declaration that gel blasters were a firearm, especially considering they use the same technology as Nerf guns.
Mr Odenwalder said it was worrying that gel blasters could be enhanced after market to fire more solid projectiles.
He commended SA Police for conducting tests and providing updates to the police minister’s office.
“(The government) needs to bring regulations to parliament urgently – to give some certainty to those people who legitimately run businesses and engage in gel blaster use as a sport, but most importantly to ensure that our community is safe, and our police are safe,” he said.
Police Minister Vincent Tarzia said he was pleased that police were close to finalising a decision.
“The State Government has been very proactive on this issue, seeking updates from SA Police over many months as they work towards finalising their position on the classification of gel blasters,” he said.