Where Can You Use an Airsoft Gun in the UK?

At an airsoft site, or on private land where you have the landowner's permission - those are the right places. Can you carry an airsoft gun in public? Not in Great Britain without lawful authority or a reasonable excuse, and it is on you to prove you had one. Northern Ireland has its own law.

This guide covers what UK law says about getting to a game, using one in your garden, and how Northern Ireland differs. It describes the law and links to it. It is not legal advice.

At an airsoft site

A site is where airsoft is meant to be played. Each site sets its own safety rules and checks guns for power before play (the chrono). If you are new to the game, our guide to what airsoft is covers how a typical day works.

On 1 October 2026, our directory lists 312 fields across the UK, 166 of them UKARA-registered - checked nightly against the UKARA and BAC registers. Find an airsoft field by postcode or town.

Can you carry 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 a reasonable excuse. The burden is on you to show you had one. The section does not require the gun to be 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 to do so.

Two-tone airsoft guns come up here because players sometimes treat them as outside these rules. The colour rules under the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 (VCRA) determine what counts as a realistic imitation firearm for the purposes of selling one. Section 19 uses a different test. The Crown Prosecution Service's firearms guidance says the test for whether a gun is an imitation firearm is "whether the thing looked like a firearm at the time when the defendant actually had it with him". So a two-tone airsoft rifle isn't automatically outside section 19. What counts is how it looked when you had it. Our guide to UK airsoft law covers the RIF rules and buying rules in full.

Ask the Police's guidance is direct: "All calls to police involving firearms are treated as if it is a genuine firearm..." That is the starting point for any public encounter, whatever the colour of the gun.

Getting to and from a game

The Firearms Act 1968 does not define what counts as a reasonable excuse for carrying an airsoft gun on the way to a game.

The Home Office's air weapons leaflet (April 2023) gives an example: a reasonable excuse "might include carrying a weapon to and from a shooting club". That example is written for air weapons, not airsoft. The same leaflet says qualifying airsoft guns "are not regarded as firearms", and it says "it is ultimately for the courts to decide" what counts as a reasonable excuse.

Our view - and this is not a legal claim - is that a closed bag or case to transport the gun, kept out of sight in the car boot, going straight to and from the site, is the sensible approach. Never carry it on show.

Public transport operators set their own rules. Check with the operator before travelling.

UKARA registration is worth understanding before you buy a realistic-looking gun. You have to be 18 to buy any imitation firearm (section 24A of the Firearms Act 1968); our guide on age rules for airsoft covers the buying age and site age limits together.

Gardens and private land

Section 20 of the Firearms Act 1968 makes it an offence to be on any land - or in any building - as a trespasser while having a firearm or imitation firearm, without reasonable excuse. This applies in England, Wales and Scotland. That is why the landowner's permission matters.

Gardens come up because of a rule about firing beyond the boundaries of your premises. Section 21A of the Firearms Act 1968 makes it an offence to fire an air weapon beyond the boundary of the premises it is used on, unless the occupier of the land the missile crossed had consented. The Act does not say whether airsoft guns count as air weapons for this section, and we do not advise on it.

That does not make garden use straightforward. Neighbours and passers-by cannot tell an airsoft gun from a real one. As Ask the Police's guidance puts it, all firearms calls are treated as real - so the same police response applies wherever the call comes from. We do not say garden use is lawful, and we are not in a position to advise on it. Check with your local police force's firearms department if you want guidance specific to your situation.

A site is the right place to play.

Northern Ireland

The sections of UK law that cover public carry and the airsoft exception extend to England, Wales and Scotland only. Section 19, section 20 and section 57A of the Firearms Act 1968 do not apply in Northern Ireland. That does not mean Northern Ireland has no rule on carrying in public. Article 61 of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 makes it an offence to have an air gun (whether loaded or not) or an imitation firearm with you in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. Article 62 makes it an offence to trespass on land or in a building with a firearm or imitation firearm.

Northern Ireland has its own firearms law under the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004. There is no airsoft exception like section 57A in that Order. Our guide to UK airsoft law explains what that means for buying and owning an airsoft gun there.

If you are in Northern Ireland, check with the PSNI before buying, carrying or using an airsoft gun.

Find a site near you

Airsoft belongs on a site. We list 312 fields across the UK, all checked nightly against the UKARA and BAC registers. Find an airsoft field near you.

Sources. Firearms Act 1968, section 19 (public places), section 20 (trespass with firearm or imitation firearm), section 21A (firing an air weapon beyond premises), section 24A (under-18s), section 57 (definitions) and section 57A (airsoft guns); Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, section 38 (meaning of realistic imitation firearm); Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004, Article 61 (public places) and Article 62 (trespass); Crown Prosecution Service, Firearms prosecution guidance; Home Office, Air weapons: a brief guide to safety (April 2023), gov.uk PDF; Ask the Police, Q329 and Q334.