Airgun import experiences - via personal baggage route

[dev]

[quote="Rahul";p="31983"]Hi Kanwal,

The drama started on 9th of Nov 2007, when i landed to Mumbai Airport with the beauty. She is Umarex 850 Airmagnum .177 CO2 AirRifle with multiple 8 shots-bolt action. '

Could you post a pic of this please? Isn't this a semi-auto?
So you have a paintball refillable cylinder is it...possibly a nine ounce one?

Dev

[Rahul]

hi,

Thats true Abhijit. This is something new which they have introduced for AirRifles. Even many custom officers were clueless about the exact rule. Finaly they confirmed that though earlier it was possible to get an airgun as part of checked baggage, now its 99% impossible to clear an Airgun without a proper rifle shooting club membership. And one thing for sure, they released my AirGun in just one hour when i produced my membership id.

yes Lawman, i confirmed for CO2 cylinder. Its tough to get 88 gm which is required for this airgun, but its possible to get 8 and 16 gm, with some adjustments i can use it for my airgun.

sure Sid, i m desparate to read something positive from u and i m sure u can do it. Best of luck.

Hi Andi, i m not an expert but can suggest u few things based on my latest experience.
1. In any case Customs will detained ur airgun at airport for Police NOC as the part of d procedure.
2. Rifle shooting club membership is a procedure. It requires either references or some training in d same club before u become a member which takes time. So its better to visit all reputed shooting clubs in ur area. And i m sure they will guide u BEST on the situation. Please visit them once and they will clear all ur doubts.
3. Dont forget to share ur experience once u get your airgun best luck.


I would like to suggest few more things which helped me alot to save time.
1. Please take photo copies (XEROX) and make sets of all necessarry documents when u visit Customs or Police Comm Office or rifle shooting club for membership.
2. Dont forget to carry extra passoport size photographs of urself.

Delay for an hour or a day can make things tough. I hope u got my point.

hi Dev, Please chk "http://www.umarex.com/index.php?id=prod ... 30623f5fb0" for further details.


Thanks & Regards
Rahul

[andy_65_in]

Hi Rahul what i want to know is that in case my brother gets an air rifle along is HE required to furnish a rifle club membership or lets say can i furnish the same if i land up when i recieve him. sorry for the funny question.andy

[Rahul]

Andy,

As per my knowledge the PASSENGER flying with airgun should be a member of rifle shooting club. Or u can say the passenger name comes on detaintion receipt who got AirGun in Checked Baggage. So its a baggage and not a parcel so loggicaly its not possible to clear someone else baggage with ur membership card even though he is ur brother. Again i m not sure. But the Club can guide u.

Now as per my info the rule is, the passenger with detaintion receipt requires Rifle shooting club membership only when he comes to release the weapon. Even the Police issues the NOC against the Custom Officer's name who escorts airgun to Police Comm Office. So till releasing the AirGun ONLY the detaintion receipt comes against the Passenger name. And ur brother can apply for a rifle shooting club once he reached to india.

As i mentioned in my earlier post that club membership is a procedure and takes time. So please visit them personally and try to get information and help from them as this situation is quite familier to them.

Regards
Rahul

[Hunter]

Hi Rahul,

Glad that I could be of some help to u!

Take care.

[andy_65_in]

rahul thanks for the advice. will visit uttarkhand airle association soon for this purpose. already looking for any Uttarkhand rifle association member in the IFG for some guidance in this regard.best wishes.andy

[advitiyas]

hey congrst for ur new gun, what's net price for it?

[striker]

hello friends
have any body of friends have airgun carrying experince through chennai airport custums from abroad . pls stat ur experience.

cheers
striker

[sudhaiob]

hello striker
chennai is no go for import of air rifles as the customs confiscate the entire lot, in fact no dealer in Singapore or middle east will sell you the weapon if he learns you are to arrive in india via chennai. i believe that kochi airport is the least hassle free airport in south.
regs
sudhaiob

[striker]

hai sudhaiob
how is it possible for custum officers to cease our airgun when we carry it as our baggage .friend do u have any personal experience in chennai airport .bcos my friend is going to come from uk with a airgun for me in april.

cheers
striker

[Bhargav]

hai sudhaiob
how is it possible for custum officers to cease our airgun when we carry it as our baggage .friend do u have any personal experience in chennai airport .bcos my friend is going to come from uk with a airgun for me in april.

cheers
striker

well i am not sure but yes you should check your local airgun laws before importing anything. If the laws don't permit or you need a special permit then yes .. customs can confiscate the weapon. But if by law you are ok to have them, then you can import it by paying due duties.

I think you should contact any local import agent in your area.

Thanks.

[mundaire]

There is NO ban of imports of air-rifles through baggage route. This is by default as the ban on the import of firearms does not include airguns which have been exempted from the provisions of the Arms Act and are therefore not legally considered as firearms in India. As such there is not separate notification to the effect allowing/ disallowing the import of airguns through personal baggage. Due to this fact in certain cases the customs officials may ask you to get a certificate from the relevant police department that the gun in question is indeed an airgun and not a firearm (if you read some of the previous posts on this thread you will be able to browse through several such first hand accounts).

The problem of course is that people are not aware of the rules/ laws AND the wide discretionary powers given to the inspecting customs officials - which allows them to confiscate goods if they are not entirely satisfied as to the legality of the matter. Once the goods are confiscated most people do not bother to go through the whole song and dance of having them released, preferring in stead to let the matter lie....

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[Hunter]

Hello
I had earlier wanted to bring an aer rifle from Singapore through a friend and he went to Hock Ann Pte Ltd in Singapore to enquire, he was told that entry through Chennai airport was not possible and he refused to sell unless there was a letter from the customs and the police stating that there was no ban on import of air rifles. My enquiries at various sources also reveal the same mentality at Chennai, maybe we should do something about it.
Regs
sudhaiob

Hi All,
Just to clarify the above ,my dad has just got back from Singapore and he spoke to Bob from Hockann pte.,and was advised the following,he needed to have a confirmed ticket on either Jet or Indian or Air-india,he needed a club-card for any reconised shooting club and with this in hand he(Bob) could apply for a police permit(which costs approx 85 sgn dollars)for transport of the airgun to the airport/loading on the flight.He said that the Singapore police also would send an accompanying letter to the DGCA( why,beats me????)/customs, informing them that an airgun was loaded on the flight.Btw I requested my dad to pick up an HW77k or HW97k for me,but Bob only has the HW77 in stock.No purchase was made finally.
To sum it all up I think Bob will only sell to people travelling to selected ports in India(Bombay in my case).

[jimmy]

Dear friends,
I tried getting a HW 57 .177(I dropped my plans for a .22) in my suitcase from london on Air Austria , but I wasn`t allowed as they wanted a separate case for the gun. So I postponed my flight for the next day.The next day I was told that the customs would be closed when the flight would land in Vienna so I should just leave my gun in London.Finally I just tore my ticket and bought a new virgin atlantic ticket.The virgin guys were really helpful.At Delhi I went against Ranjeet`s advice & did not declare my gun to customs as it`s value was less than 25000 and nobody had marked the gun case.Finally I am home with my gun.The only thing is while packing the gun in my suitcase the first time I had removed the trigger guard and now to my dismay I have lost the screws.I really feel like a stupid now.Any help guys?

[Bhargav]

Now that all airgun imports are made duty free so i guess that would ease up the process with the customs. Now anybody can import any airgun and he does not have to be a pro shooter at the national level thats a good news.