UKARA Explained
Firstly we are not UKARA, we are a game site who have registered to be a part of the UKARA programme. The official UKARA Website can be found here: http://ukara.org.uk/

We have numerous enquiries every week about Airsoft "licenses" and UKARA, from emails, phone calls and even UKARA applications wrongly being sent to us in the post, therefore we thought it would be good to put an easy to follow post up in order to let people know what UKARA is, what it is for and how to go about obtaining it.

WHAT IS UKARA:
There is no "UKARA licence" or "License" in Airsoft. UKARA is a database of players of whom all have a legitimate reason for purchasing a Realistic Imitation Firearms (RIF's) from a retailer and who attend regular games at various participating game sites across the UK. Each player is registered to a specific game site (the one they play at regularly and made the original application to be added to the database). Game site owners keep a record of every player at every game and note the game dates they attend at their game site.

WHAT IS UKARA FOR:
It is actually a criminal offence to sell a Realistic Imitation Firearm (RIF) to anyone and therefore all retailers (and even individual sellers) potentially face hefty fines or even prison sentences if they sell Realistic Imitation Firearms (RIF's) to someone that does not have a reasonable defence or meet the legal criteria to buy one, therefore the UKARA system was born by retailers to help them identify who meets the legal criteria to buy and who does not and has helped tremendously by keeping our sport safe and above board. These defences and criteria also apply to second hand sales so if you are selling a second hand Realistic Imitation Firearm ensure the purchaser has a legitimate defence to buy or meets the legal criteria (try asking for the name of their regular game site).
Defences and legal criteria can be found below:

Selling of RIFS (see section 37)
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/38/part/2/crossheading/imitation-firearms

Transporting RIFS to and From Insured and Organised Airsoft Games
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/2606/regulation/3/made

UKARA registration is different to a game sites own membership system. (For example our game site membership gives you a discount on what you pay to come and play but does not automatically qualify you for a UKARA active status on its own if you do not meet the criteria required).

HOW TO OBTAIN UKARA ACTIVE STATUS
Once a player who is over 18 years old completes 3 games over a 3 month minimum period at the same game site (it needs to be the same site for all 3 of the games) that player can then apply to that game site owner by a face to face meeting to be registered for active status on the UKARA database (this will need 2 forms of ID to be shown to the owner and a form to be filled out in person there and then). One of two things can happen from here on in...
Either A) The game site owner adds that persons details as "active" on the UKARA database and that player will be issued a UKARA Number and an active status will be attached to that number, the Database will then automatically send the player (and game site) an email to confirm this and the UKARA number.
Or B) The game site owner will stamp the application form and ask you to post it to any UKARA partcipating retailer, on receipt the retailer adds that persons details as "active" on the UKARA database and that player will be issued a UKARA Number and an active status will be attached to that number, the Database will then automatically send the player (and game site) an email to confirm this and the UKARA number.
This active status then allows that player to purchase Realistic Imitation Firearms (RIF's) from any UKARA participating retailer when they give the retailer their UKARA number, the retailer checks the number against the database and if active they can sell the RIF. There is no licence or membership card to show a retailer with UKARA, just the number and either being active or inactive on the database.

Should you not attend games regularly (specifics of this differs from game site to game site) then after 12 months of your initial activation of your UKARA number it may not be renewed and will be placed as inactive or even expired. To renew your active status you just need to play regularly at the game site you originally applied for it at. Likewise should your circumstances change, you move house, change your email address etc, you need to tell the game site owner you are registered as active with about the change, they can then update the database with your new details.

WHAT UKARA ACTIVE STATUS WILL NOT DO FOR YOU
UKARA literally only applies to the purchasing and selling of Realistic Imitation Firearms (RIF's) and not the actual ownership of one, anyone over the age of 18 can legally buy or sell a two tone (blue / green etc) Airsoft gun (Imitation Firearm or IF) without the need for any UKARA registration or breaking of any law. However if you are seen in public brandishing an Airsoft gun or Realistic Imitation Firearms (RIF's) two tone or otherwise having a UKARA status being active will not stop you from either being shot by armed police units or being prosecuted and doing prison time, therefore always act safely and with the interest of the unaware general public in mind when transporting Realistic Imitation Firearms (RIF's) to and from a game site.

Although game sites differ at most of them any colour gun can be used or played with at their games be that realistic looking, two tone or otherwise, most game sites including ourselves also offer rental guns that you can book for the day to play with.
An active UKARA status is NOT NEEDED to play at a game site, anyone can play with any Airsoft gun as long as they are over the age of what the game site insurance covers them for (for example with us that is anyone 11 years old or above).

Hope this has all helped to clarify what UKARA is all about and please feel free to share if you think it has been some use.


Hope to see some of you at a game soon ;)