Matter of life and death
Concern over realistic gel blasters
A VETERAN of two wars has warned that someone is going to die if toy gel blaster guns are continued to be made to look like the real thing.
Former Army Corporal Dave Garratt, who did tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, said the gel blaster replicas were so realistic that at first glance he could not tell the difference between the toy and the weapon he carried in a war zone.
Mr Garratt, a solicitor and the director of Howden Saggers Lawyers, told the Bulletin he was recently in a shop with a friend who was picking up a rifle bag when he saw the gel blaster replicas.
“There were gel blasters on the wall which, at a glance, I could not tell from real weapons,” he said.
Mr Garratt said two of those toys included replicas of weapons he carried on duty.
“For me it’s quite scary,” he said. “We need more training for police officers for their own safety – someone is going to get killed.”
Mr Garratt said there needed to be something to clearly show the gel blasters were not real firearms.
“There are going to be some kids playing with them and the police are not going to know it’s not the real thing,” he said.
Gel blasters have been causing headaches for police across the Gold Coast for some time.
Nathan Paul Bell narrowly missed spending time in custody when he was sentenced in June this year for waving a gel blaster rifle at police in November 2020. His actions sent police rushing for cover and put part of Miami into lockdown.
In March this year, Ashley Mephan Graves was sentenced to two and a half years’ prison after he tried to rob people on Seaworld Dr, Main Beach in December 2020 using two different gel blaster guns.
Jason Robert Konow, in July 2020, stole $52,000 worth of jewellery when he robbed a Robina Cash Converters. He was sentenced in June last year to five years’ prison.
Most other states have outlawed the gel blaster weapons or required owners to have a licence to own and use the toy.
In February 2021, the Queensland government changed the laws to require gel blasters be kept in a locked cupboard when not in use, when transported be out of sight and requiring anyone who owned them to have a reasonable excuse which included being a member of a club or a replica weapons collector.
A licence is not required for a gel blaster in Queensland.
A Queensland Police spokeswoman said the growing popularity of gel blasters had led to a “significant increase” in calls due to people causing alarm in the community.
“With changes (to the law) like storing gel blasters in a sports bag with a bike lock and not carrying it openly in public, gel blasters are not likely to cause alarm in the community and enthusiasts can continue to safely use the device,” she said.
The spokeswoman said police are given continual training on firearms, weapons and gel blasters.
“In any situation, police officers and recruits are taught to conduct a continuous threat assessment considering the nature and level of the threat to determine the most appropriate, and minimal use of force option open to them to resolve the incident,” she said.
A spokesman for Police Minister Mark Ryan said: “The government continues to work closely with community stakeholders, including the Queensland Police Service, to develop crime prevention and community awareness strategies to minimise the impact of gel blasters within the community.
“Community awareness strategies have assisted in achieving a reduction in incidents of more than 95 per cent, according to QPS statistics.”