As founder of the Dutch Airsoft Association NABV it's great to see our UK fellow airsofters are ramping up! There has been a substantial update to the UKARA player system in the UK. From 5th July 2016 players will be able to complete their UKARA player registration forms electronically! Welcome in the digital era :)

New player registrations can visit http://www.ukaradatabase.co.uk/newplayer/index.asp and add their details on-line. Players then select the site they want to allocate their details to. Sites will then add the qualifying dates and make a note of the ID provide.

The reason for the change is mainly so that the retailers no longer need to descipher email addresses and post codes from players hand writing. The ukara lookup system relies heavily on email addresses and post codes for looking up player details and it is at times very hard to work out what has been written on the forms.

The benefit to the site is that they (the site) will no longer have to post or take forms to retailers and sites / players will not have to chase retailers asking why forms have not been added to the system. Sites and retailers will still accept the paper forms if players do not want to complete the on-line form. Please NOTE your SITE may still prefer to use the paper system. Some sites have been asking for years why they cannot add their own players to the system, it took a while but we got there.

There are about 40,000+ players registered on the UKARA database. With over 170 sites supplying members and 60 retailers using the system.

UPDATE on UKARA activities

UKARA have been very active lately working on various issues. We have employed an ex Deputy Chief Constable as a consultant to help fight the Airsoft cause with the Lethality testing. UKARA and the Consultant attended numerous meetings in London with the Law Commission and the Home Office. UKARA instigated the Forensic Science Service testing that proved that 6mm bbs are not lethal at 328 fps (1 joule). The Consultant Spoke on the platform of the Law Commission Symposium. He has also written numerous reports and emails arguing and reasoning for the exemption for Airsoft to the 1 Joule lethality level limit. Mainly due to his work we achieved the exemption for 6mm RIFs, we are still working on 8mm RIFs.

UKARA and the Consultant have also attended meeting and written reports and emails regarding the EU restrictions on RIF sale and ownership, with this help and from UKAPU and the Airsoft Trade Body , Rifs are almost certainly being removed from the EU legislation. 8mm bbs were not included in the 1J exemption allowed 6mm bbs in the Police and Crime Bill 2016.

UKARA has also taken on the funding and commissioning of lethality testing of RIFs using 8mm bbs which is costing many £1000's, this is paid for from the fund that UKARA keeps from the subscriptions of the airsoft retailers in the UKARA scheme.

The fund will be used at any time that the hobby is under threat from the establishment and needs the help of paid advisers to further our cause. This fund has been and will continue to pay for the consultant who is working with and advising UKARA. The fund pays for the upkeep and development of the UKARA databases, Hosting Space and Domain names.

The fund also pays for:
- part time administration of the UKARA system which involves, 
- vetting retailers to make sure they are proper retailers, 
- checking that airsoft sites have insurance, 
- dealing with site insurance renewals,
- helping players chase and sort out their player registrations
- dealing with insurance company queries
- dealing with daily questions from UK Boarder Force
- dealing with daily complaints about Airsoft and questions from the public about Airsoft.

UKARA database is registered with the data protection agency ICO Registration ZA031959.
UKARA is used and signed up to by UK Boarder Agency who have their own portal with access only to verify players eligibility to import.

Best regards,
Graham (UKARA)
Frank (UKARA Chairman)