We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.
Membership Benefit Update- Legal Advice.
After discussions with Law Express we are now pleased to announce that we have come to an agreement for Law Express to provide their Legal advice services to AOBA members at preferential rates. Law Express is the UK’s leading legal advice and online information specialist.
Law Express are able to provide advice on a number of situations be it personal or business. Below is a list of issues that Law Express can help with.
Areas of Personal law covered include:
Family law – divorce, separation, children, domestic violence and mediation
Consumer law – purchase and hiring of goods and services, credit, and problems related to holidays
Bereavement law – advice on making wills and what to do when someone dies
Motoring law – contesting fines and penalties, your legal obligations as a vehicle owner, buying and selling cars, parking tickets, speeding, and other offences and penalties,
Property law – buying, selling and renting property, rights and obligations as a neighbour/tenant
Employment law – basic statutory rights as an employee, the disciplinary procedure, redundancy and dismissal, illness, misconduct, and health and safety
Tax information, inheritance tax guidance, issues relating to self-employment, VAT and National Insurance
The Personal Law site can be accessed by clicking here.
The areas of Commercial law covered include:
Company law – Directors’ rules & responsibilities, shareholders issues, AGM’s & EGM’s
Commercial law – contract disputes, intellectual property, commercial debts, supplier issues
Employment law – obligations of the employer and procedures involved with making redundancies and dismissals, dealing with grievances and disciplinary issues
European law – how the EU regulations effect businesses and employers in the UK dealing with Europe
Tax information – Corporation tax, VAT
Commercial Site can be accessed by clicking here.
The service is available in two methods, first by an online website which is available to all, non members included with links to the service available from the AOBA website. Secondly by a telephone service available to members only. The cost of the telephone service is set at £29.95 for personal or business use (Normally £35 and £45 respectively). Members will be required to quote their AOBA membership number to verify the right to access the service at the lower rates. Those who are not members of AOBA are more than happy to utilize the service, for details on cost please visit Law Express.
All fees are to be paid directly to Law Express from the Player wishing to access the service. All complaints in regards to Law Express must be sent to Law Express directly. Retailers and Site Operators who also sign up to AOBA will be able to access the telephone service at the lower fee. Details on how to do so will be forwarded upon confirmation of sign up.
The AOBA website will be updated within the next 48 hours to reflect this news. Unfortunately at this time Law Express are unable to assist in matters around the Violent Crimes Reduction Act, however we hope this may change in the future.
Law Express Limited is regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of regulated claims management activities; its registration is recorded on the website http://www.claimsregulation.gov.uk Their authorisation number is CRM5919.
Your right to privacy is respected and Law Express will treat all information relating to you in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Data Protection legislation.
Painting of Imitation Firearms.
Recently we was contacted to obtain clarity on painting Imitation Firearms.
The following is correspondance from the Home Office, which offers some clarity on the subject.
“The risk with players buying imitation firearms and then modifying them to make them realistic in order to skirmish lies in the fact that there is a chance such behaviour may undermine the defence. Ministers agreed to the defence on the basis of representations made by airsofters in which it was claimed that realistic imitations were necessary to suspend disbelief – something vital to maintain the realism required for airsoft skirmishing. Indeed, it was also suggested that the more realistic airsoft guns were superior to their coloured counterparts (and thus the defence was necessary to some degree to maintain the quality level of hardware). Accordingly, if airsoft were played by vast numbers who had bought coloured imitations which were then modified to become realistic imitations (rather than airsoft guns which were manufactured as realistic imitation firearms) it would bring into question whether the defence remained necessary. So, while in theory it would be possible to claim a defence where an imitation firearm was modified so that it became a realistic imitation for the purposes of skirmishing, in terms of best practice and in order to protect the defence skirmishers should buy and use realistic imitation firearms once they have met the criteria outlined in the circular (i.e. played 3 times in 2 months, etc)
We understand that some sites provide realistic imitation firearms (manufactured specifically for airsofting) for hire and would suggest that those wishing to try airsofting for the first time could make use of those – the act does not prevent people from hiring realistic imitations for such purposes.
It was also suggested that serious skirmishers steered clear of coloured airsoft guns as these were not deemed serious for committed skirmishers and indeed not ‘proper’ airsoft guns and thus not ones which would meet fulfill the airsoft defence.”
Registration Forms. – Fixed.
We are pleased to announce the registration forms are now fully functional and ready to be used.
Sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Registration Forms
Further to our recent issue with the registration forms it would appear the issue was not resolved and remains an issue.
If you have used the forms recently please contact us via email to discuss your registration.
We will update as soon as we have secured an alternative registration system for Sites and Retailers.
Lindsey Airsoft.
The above Site Operator has officialy signed up with The Association of British Airsoft. Any players wishing to join the Association from this site, when membership launches, will now be able to join without the need of obtaining insurance documents from their site.
Information about Lindsey Airsoft, taken from their website.
“Lincolnshire’s premier Airsoft Venue. The site in Manby near Louth has over 80 acres of rough battlefield for you to explore – rough terrain, open fields and a 300 room building which can lead to some real action-packed fun!
Tackle hills, craters and lots of mud – you may want to commandeer a military vehicle; a Landrover or a Bedford 4 ton truck to help acheive your objective!
Remember to beware of snipers, ambushes and enemy forces! If you are new to the sport or even an existing member of a club, Lindsey Airsoft is ideal for you.”
Bristol Airsoft.
The above Site Operator has officialy signed up with The Association of British Airsoft. Any players wishing to join the Association from this site, when membership launches, will now be able to join without the need of obtaining insurance documents from their site.
Information about Bristol Airsoft, taken from their website.
“Established in february 2008 as FCS Bristol “The Courthouse” and consists of 2 levels of play.
Although we have a new name the staff are all the same. So rest assured the high standard of marshalling has continued and if
anything has only improved.
The courthouse as the name suggests was up until the 1990’s a working crown court for bristol. Its made up of 2 levels of unique gaming area:
The Basement is a winding maze of corridors, holding cells and
various themed rooms. This is connected by 5 sets of stairs to the ground floor.
Each of the 4 Courtrooms on the ground floor has access to the Basement area by these stairs and at least 3 other entrances making for an exciting ‘No Bottle Neck’ game play.”
Site Operator and Retailer Registration Forms.
Following our mailing to Site Operators on the 5th and 5th November.
Errors where found in the registration form causing any submissions to be invalid and not be sent through.
We apologise for any inconvenianceand ask anyone who may have registered before 7pm on the 6th November 2009 to resubmit their registration as this would not have been received.
Further to this it would appear their was an error in the Retailer form causing the same issue.
This has now been corrected.
We ask anyone who has not received correspondance from us with 14 days of submission to contact us.
Website Update.
We have just completed the embedding of Airsoft Maps on to the AOBA website.
From each of the sections of the website it is possible to now access an Airsoft Map.
Players Area – Full UK Map (Retailer/Sites)
Retailer Area – UK Retailers
Site Area – UK Game Sites.
“Clicking on a site will allow you to find out more information about the site, get driving directions from your location and even send all the details (including GPS co-ordinates) straight to your mobile phone!” (From Airbana)
This map is provided free of charge by Airbana Maps. Follow the link to obtain your own free Airbana Map for your website.
We thank Airbana for their continued support.
Pre Registration Newsletter #2.
Our second newsletter was sent out yesterday (22nd October 2009)
If you did not receive it, then you can view it here.
http://www.aoba.org.uk/players/newsletter2.php
Don’t forget to sign up to pre-registration to receive future newsletters with updates on pre-registration. (Joining the Facebook group does not sign up up automaticly)