IMITATION FIREARM STATUS FOR GEL BLASTERS
GEL blaster guns banned in Victoria will soon attract the same tough penalties as imitation firearms.
Police say prohibition of gel guns is a critical community safety measure after their “regular” use in high-level crimes, including home invasions. Senior officers say there have been cases where those carrying the guns came close to being shot.
Penalties for possessing an imitation firearm are severe; a person not prohibited from owning a gun can attract a prison term of up to two years and those who are banned are liable for a stretch of up to 10.
Many people have bought gel blasters – which fire small waterbased pellets – from interstate and overseas on the internet.
Superintendent Dan Trimble said it was almost impossible to distinguish some gel guns from the real thing.
“People can’t tell the difference,” he said.
More than half of the gel blasters confiscated by police had been seized during the course of an unrelated search warrant, he said, with drug dealers often using them.