Do you need a gun licence for a gel blaster?

The short answer, with caveats

No, you do not need a licence for a gel blaster in Queensland.

Most of the time. With a few exceptions. And do not assume the position travels with you if you leave the state.

Those caveats are the whole of this article.

Why Queensland is different

Queensland firearms licensing generally is covered in our guide to gun laws in Australia, which sets out the licence and permit to acquire system.

As gel blasters became popular, and separately airsoft, which is regulated differently and should not be confused with gel blasters, the states had to decide how to treat them. Every other jurisdiction chose a licensing approach.

Queensland did not. Instead it ran an education campaign built around the acronym STOP, encouraging people to think through the issues before buying or using one:

• Safety. Understand how a gel blaster can injure someone.
• The legislation. Know the relevant law, which Queensland Police identify as the Criminal Code, the Weapons Act 1990 and the associated regulations.
• Offences. Know which offences can apply to gel blaster use.
• Penalties. Understand what those offences carry.

Reasonable excuse

A gel blaster is classified as a replica weapon in Queensland.

So while no licence is required, you do need a reasonable excuse to possess one. For most people that means membership of an association that provides recreational activities involving gel blasters, and those associations are themselves subject to restrictions.

The less common alternative is holding a collector’s licence where the gel blaster forms part of the collection.

That distinction matters. "No licence required" is not the same as "no requirements at all", and possession without a reasonable excuse is an offence.

How you may and may not use one

As with other replica weapons, you cannot carry a gel blaster about and use it as you please. Under the Weapons Act 1990 (Qld) and the Weapons Regulation 2016 (Qld) you must not:

• use a gel blaster in a way likely to cause death, injury or alarm to another person;
• use one in a way likely to cause unlawful destruction of property;
• discharge one in, near or towards a public place without a reasonable excuse;
• carry one exposed to view in a public place without a reasonable excuse; or
• possess or use one if you are under 18.

The word "alarm" in the first of those does a lot of work. You do not have to hit anyone. Causing alarm is enough.

The penalties are not trivial

A significant share of reports Queensland Police receive about people carrying firearms in public turn out to involve replica weapons.

That is the whole problem. To a member of the public, and to an officer responding at speed, many gel blasters are indistinguishable from real firearms. The penalties reflect that:

Penalty units are indexed on 1 July each year, so check the current value rather than relying on a dollar figure quoted in an older article.

Crossing a border changes everything

Queensland standing alone on licensing creates a practical trap, and it is the single most common way people get into trouble here.

Every other state and territory requires a licence for a gel blaster. So be careful about:

• buying a gel blaster in Queensland and taking it interstate; and
• sending or exporting gel blasters from Queensland to another state.

If there is any prospect of taking one across a border or using one elsewhere in Australia, check the law where you are going before you travel. Living twenty minutes from the New South Wales border, as many Gold Coast residents do, makes this more than theoretical.

Before you buy one

1. Make sure you have a reasonable excuse to possess it, which for most people means joining an association.
2. Work out how you will transport it lawfully, concealed and secured.
3. Understand how the device works, and how and when it can cause unintended injury or damage.
4. Know the specific circumstances in which you can lawfully discharge it.

If you have been charged with an offence involving a gel blaster or another replica weapon, see our page on Weapons Act offences.