Police keeping eye on ‘dangerous’ toy guns
POLICE have urged wannabe warriors to play safe with ‘gel blaster’ toy guns.
Cairns officers have responded to instances of holiday duellists who could not resist the urge to brandish their plastic “pew pews” in public. It is understood that several instances occurred on the Cairns Esplanade.
Gel blasters – also known as hydro blaster or gel ball firearms – are toy guns that resemble service military weapons including M4, Steyr AUG and SCAR rifles.
The blasters fire gel ammunition that is hydrated in water and intended to burst on impact. Protective eyewear is recommended when playing with the lookalike toys.
Gel blasters are on sale at a Cairns shopping centre and from online retailers. A Queensland Police Service spokesman said the majority of gel blaster owners in Cairns had been playing by the rules.
“Everyone is being pretty sensible,” the spokesman said.
In the weeks before Christmas, the QPS released a reminder that carrying replica firearms – including gel blasters – in public was illegal.
“Basically, you cannot carry weapons in public or even have them in your bags while you are in public places,” a QPS spokesman said.
“As for replicas or toys that look real, you cannot have these out in a public place as they may cause fear to others (and this is an offence). Keep your toys at home and only play with them in safe private areas.”
Earlier this month Townsville police arrested two men over an alleged drive by gelblaster shooting at Dean Park.
A 24-year-old Rangewood man and a 21-year-old Rasmussen man were charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and dangerous conduct with a weapon. It is alleged the men drove past Dean Park about 9pm and began shooting a group of indigenous people with the toys.
While it is legal to own the toys in Queensland and South Australia, they are banned in NSW and Victoria. They are also illegal in the Northern Territory under the Firearms Act NT.
It is understood the toys are also banned in WA, Tasmania, but considered imitation firearms in the ACT.