Is Airsoft Legal in the UK? The Law Explained

Yes. Airsoft is legal in the UK. In Great Britain, an airsoft gun under set power limits isn't classed as a firearm, and you don't need a licence to play or to own one. The law controls three things instead: realistic imitation firearms, who can buy an imitation gun, and carrying one in public. Northern Ireland has its own rules.

This guide covers each of those in turn, then what the law says about self-defence and how Northern Ireland differs. It describes the law and links to it. It isn't legal advice.

Do you need a licence for airsoft?

In Great Britain, no. There's no licence to play airsoft, and no certificate to own an airsoft gun that stays within the legal power limits.

The "UKARA licence" players talk about isn't a licence either. UKARA is a database run by airsoft retailers. It lets a shop check that you're a genuine skirmisher before selling you a realistic-looking gun.

Scotland licenses air weapons under the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015. The Scottish Government's guidance says airsoft guns within the legal power limits fall outside that scheme, so they don't need an air weapon certificate.

When an airsoft gun counts as a firearm

Section 57A of the Firearms Act 1968, added by the Policing and Crime Act 2017, says an "airsoft gun" is not a firearm for the purposes of that Act. To count as an airsoft gun, it has to meet two tests:

• Ammunition: it's designed to fire only small plastic missiles. The law defines these as spherical, made wholly or partly of plastic, and no more than 8mm across.
• Power: it can't fire above 1.3 joules if it fires more than one shot per trigger pull (automatic), or above 2.5 joules for any other gun.

A gun that goes over those limits is no longer an airsoft gun in law. The Firearms Act then applies to it in the same way as to any other air weapon or firearm.

The legal limits aren't the whole story at a game. Each site sets its own power limits and checks guns before play, so read the site's rules before you go.

Realistic imitation firearms and two-tone guns

Most airsoft law is about realistic imitation firearms, or RIFs. Section 36 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 makes it an offence to manufacture, sell or import a RIF, or to modify an imitation so that it becomes one.

A RIF is an imitation that is "indistinguishable, for all practical purposes, from a real firearm" (section 38). An imitation isn't realistic if its size, shape or main colour is unrealistic. The 2007 Regulations list the colours that count: bright red, orange, yellow, green, pink, purple or blue, or transparent material. Guns in those colours are what players call "two-tone".

How skirmishers can buy RIFs

The 2007 Regulations give a seller a defence when a RIF is made available for "permitted activities" covered by public liability insurance. That includes "the acting out of military or law enforcement scenarios for the purposes of recreation", which is an airsoft skirmish. UKARA is how a retailer checks that a buyer does skirmish.

Owning a RIF isn't one of the section 36 offences. The offences fall on making, modifying, selling and importing. Repainting a two-tone gun so that it looks real counts as modifying it, and is an offence.

Age rules for buying an airsoft gun

You have to be 18 to buy an airsoft gun. Section 24A of the Firearms Act 1968 makes it an offence for anyone under 18 to buy an imitation firearm, and an offence to sell one to them. That covers two-tone guns as well as RIFs. UKARA also only registers players aged 18 and over.

Buying and playing are different questions. Minimum ages for playing are set by each site, not by these Acts.

Carrying an airsoft gun in public

Section 19 of the Firearms Act 1968 makes it an offence to have an imitation firearm with you in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. It's up to you to show that you had one. The section doesn't depend on the gun being loaded.

"Public place" is wide. Section 57(4) defines it to include any highway, and any other premises or place the public can get into, whether or not they pay.

A realistic airsoft gun looks like a real one to anyone who sees it, including the police. It belongs in a closed bag or case on the way to a game, and out of sight in between.

Can you use an airsoft gun for self-defence?

No law gives airsoft guns a self-defence use. Carrying one in public falls under section 19, above. Section 16A of the Firearms Act 1968 adds a separate offence: having an imitation firearm with intent to make someone believe that unlawful violence will be used against them or another person.

We don't give legal advice. If you're worried about your safety, contact the police. An airsoft gun belongs at a site, or on private land where you have permission to use it. It doesn't belong in a bag or a car for protection.

Northern Ireland has different rules

Several of the sections above don't apply in Northern Ireland. The airsoft exception in section 57A, the public-place offence in section 19 and the intent offence in section 16A extend only to England, Wales and Scotland.

Northern Ireland has its own firearms law, the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004. It has no airsoft exception like section 57A. Under Schedule 1, an air gun can be held without a firearm certificate only if it can't fire above one joule, which is far below the Great Britain limits.

The RIF rules do apply there, under Schedule 2 to the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, with the same skirmishing defence in the 2007 Regulations. UKARA registers players across the UK. Before buying, upgrading or carrying an airsoft gun in Northern Ireland, check with the PSNI.

Find a site near you

A site is where airsoft is meant to be played. Airsoft Fields checks its listings against the UKARA and BAC registers every night. On 28 September 2026, 165 of the fields we list held UKARA registration.

Search by postcode or town to find an airsoft field near you.

Sources

• Firearms Act 1968, section 16A (intent to cause fear of violence), section 19 (public places), section 24A (under-18s), section 57 (definitions) and section 57A (airsoft guns)
• Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, section 36 (RIF offences), section 38 (meaning of RIF) and Schedule 2 (Northern Ireland)
• The Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 (Realistic Imitation Firearms) Regulations 2007, regulation 3 (defences) and regulation 7 (unrealistic colours)
• The Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004, Schedule 1 (exemptions)
• Scottish Government, Air weapon licensing in Scotland: guide
• UKARA: ukara.org.uk