To cut a pretty short story even shorter, Solar has asked for my assistance to further develop the Eclipse. I know I'm not the only person he's contacted, although it's up to them as to if they want to name themselves.
I'm going to quote directly from the PM here to avoid any hamfisted paraphrasing on my part:
For me at least, this is an unmissable opportunity.Solar wrote:I know that the UK is a bit of a stickler with airguns and all, but do you think it possible for you to receive an eclipse launcher in exchange for some evaluation and testing?
Although, obviously there is a bit of a stumbling block in this process - as Solar points out, the UK is a bit of a stickler with airguns (to put it rather lightly), so getting it past customs is going to take some work.
You might think this is a dead horse, and I'm wasting my time flogging it. After all, "The UK bans everything."
If you do this, you underestimate me. Having let my brain bubble over the last week, I've come up with a number of possible solutions to this.
1) Firstly, but somewhat disappointingly, I could get back to Solar and say that although I'd love to get involved, it's not going to be possible. Not a great solution, but the simplest and most reliable of the solutions.
2) Just straight import it as a paintball gun. After all, paintball guns are legal in the UK, and indeed are exempt from certification as firearms:
3) Go for another clause of exemption. There are specific purposes under the law in this country that something is completely exempt from conventional regulation. These purposes include line throwing for ship/boat rescue, net launching for live animal capture, and use as signalling apparatus.Big Book O' Law wrote:It should be noted that the majority but by no means all guns powered by carbon dioxide which discharge paint pellets and which are used in adventure games are unlikely to cause serious injury, nor were they designed as “weapons”. As such, they should not be considered to be “firearms”.
i.e. Have it imported as either a pure net launcher, or some kind of "net capture/animal marking" launcher combination for the use of animal workers, both perfectly legal options:
The problem that could strike here is that although both 2 & 3 are perfectly accurate, they could be convinced it wasn't a paintball gun/net launcher.Big Book O' Law wrote:In the absence of a decision by a court, the Secretary of State takes the view that the following devices should not be regarded as firearms within the definition of the Act:
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e) net throwing guns which are devices designed for the live capture of birds and animals (but not those net throwing guns which are designed for law enforcement purposes);
I am confident that I could hit them solidly with the appropriate clauses for both of these points though.
Now, of course, any of you guys might have a better option than these, so if you have a sensible idea, spring it on me.
Just bear in mind that Solar's "Shark repellent launcher" idea has the failing point that there are no sharks around the UK.