And we thought MP05 being called a replica weapon was unreasonable

[UltraMarginal]

check out the story of this poor bugger in queensland

[Vector Prime]

Seriously? WTF!

Those guns are massively oversized - how the hell they could ever be mistaken for real guns is anyone's guess?

[gamblor916]

I've always wanted a pulse rifle...

[gantz]

Get out!!

What, do they think they may have been able to convert 'em into operating weaponry??

[GoktimusPrime]

"Realistic" looking scifi guns being considered as replica firearms has been around for a long time, guys. It's because joe-average doesn't necessarily know the difference between a real gun and a "realistic" looking fantasy weapon.

However I believe the Megatron permit also covers you for these kinds of weapons too, not just gun Transformers.

Moral of the story: Get a permit!!

Or for people living in regions where there is no legal process, like Queensland, petition Minister of Police and Corrective Services (Hon. Judy Spence) -- otherwise avoid buying replica weapons, or if it you do so it's at your own risk.

What, do they think they may have been able to convert 'em into operating weaponry??

That was the argument that was submitted to the NSW Police Commissioner when trying to legalise gun TFs. Masterpiece Megatron is not an operable weapon and can never be modified to become an operable weapon. However the rebuttal to that was that MP Megatron can - at a glance - look like a real gun. Tiby was taken to a facility where they keep confiscated firearms and they showed him a real gun that, at a glance, admittedly very similar to MP Megatron and it would be understandable that if someone flashed MP Megatron in your eyes you'd mistake it.

Also remember that when someone flashes a weapon in your eye, people tend to freak out (unless you're foolishly unafraid of being shot) -- and the mind under stress has trouble focusing and paying attention to detail (this has been discussed in detail several times in the Martial Arts Discussion thread). So what most people would see in a crisis situation is "a gun" being pointed at them; not noticing if it's a Walther P-38, Desert Eagle, MP-5 Navy, AK-47, M-16 or home-made pipe gun or whatever... most people just see "a gun" and feel threatened under immense fear. And the intentional creation of fear over one's welfare is the basic definition of assault - in this case arguably assault with a replica weapon.

[Hursticon]

Yay for the Dinosaurs and Archaic Remnants of Yester-Year that define, write and supposedly enforce our laws!
I love living in 1950-60's Australia!

[Doubledealer]

I imagine the guys reaction went a little something like this...

[jaydisc]

I've always wanted a pulse rifle...

Ha ha. Me too.

[UltraMarginal]

I understand the replica firearms deal especially for Megatron, but for HUUUGe pulse rifles that barely even look like guns, when there are so few.

the thing about this that really irks me is that there are so many toy guns out there that would quite suitably be used to scare and intimidate, that it seems to me the imitation gun ruling is supurfluous.

[kaiden]

moral of the story is that he should have gotten them orange capped. even rts legends megatron is so realistic! - he needed the orange cap to avoid confusion...