QLD Gel Blaster Licensing Proposal 2026
In October 2025, Queensland State Coroner Terry Ryan handed down his findings from a 2021 inquest and made a recommendation that's been circulating through the gel blaster community ever since: that Queensland's Weapons Act should be amended to require anyone who owns or uses a gel blaster to hold a valid weapons licence.
That's a significant recommendation. If it were to proceed, it would change how gel blasters are bought, sold, stored, and transferred in Queensland — and it would directly affect every person who currently owns one without a licence, which is the overwhelming majority of owners.
The industry has responded. The community has been talking. But there's a gap between what's actually been recommended, what the government is doing about it, and what it would realistically mean for owners if it did proceed. This post covers all three — without the industry lobbying spin and without the alarm.
What the Coroner Actually Recommended — and Why
The recommendation came from the inquest into the death of Peter Pilkington, who died in December 2021 after being shot by Queensland Police during a siege at an NDIS services office in Stretton, Brisbane. Pilkington had been holding people hostage using what turned out to be a realistic-looking gel blaster pistol. Police responding to the scene had no way to identify it as anything other than a real firearm. He was fatally shot after refusing to comply with directions.
Coroner Terry Ryan's recommendation was specific: amend the Weapons Act to require gel blaster owners to hold a valid weapons licence. The reasoning was clear — gel blasters can be visually indistinguishable from real firearms, and police officers should not have to determine which one they're looking at in a live incident.
It's important to note what the recommendation is and isn't. It's not a response to gel blasters being misused in a widespread pattern — there's no epidemic of gel blaster crime cited in the findings. It's a response to a single tragic incident involving a man in significant distress who used a realistic-looking replica in the commission of a crime. The coroner's concern is about policing risk, not about gel blasters as a hobby causing community harm.
That distinction matters for understanding what might actually happen next.
What the Queensland Government Has Done About It
As of April 2026, no formal government response to the coroner's recommendation has been published.
Under Queensland's guidelines, the government aims to publish a response to coronial recommendations within six months of the findings. The October 2025 findings put that six-month window at approximately April 2026 — which has now passed without any public announcement.
This doesn't mean the recommendation has been rejected. Government responses to complex regulatory matters frequently run past self-imposed timelines, particularly when significant industry and community impact is involved. But it does mean that as of the time of writing, the law has not changed, no bill has been introduced, and no formal position has been stated publicly by the Queensland Government.
The current legal status in Queensland is unchanged: gel blasters are legal to own and use without a weapons licence. You must be 18 or older to purchase one, store it securely when not in use, and transport it in a bag or case — not openly visible. None of this has changed.
The full current rules are on the QLD Gel Blaster Laws page.
What Gel Blaster Licensing Would Actually Mean
If a licensing requirement were to proceed, the practical impact would depend entirely on what form it takes — and that hasn't been determined. There are a few realistic possibilities.
Full Weapons Act compliance. This is the scenario most people imagine and most fear. It would mean applying for and maintaining a weapons licence, satisfying the same conditions as owners of more restricted items — purpose requirements, storage standards, fit and proper person assessments. This would be a significant barrier and would substantially shrink the legal participant base in Queensland.
A new registration or category system. Queensland could create a lighter-touch framework specifically for gel blasters — basic registration of ownership, perhaps age verification and identity documentation, without the full licensing apparatus. This is how several other jurisdictions manage items that sit in a similar regulatory grey area.
Enhanced storage and identification requirements only. Rather than licensing individual owners, regulation could focus on how gel blasters are stored, transported, or visually distinguished from real firearms — markings, coloured tips, case requirements. This would address the coroner's core concern without requiring a full licensing framework.
None of these outcomes is confirmed or proposed. What's confirmed is a recommendation, a government that hasn't yet responded, and a community that would be directly affected by whatever comes next.
🟣 The Detail Most People Are Missing About This Recommendation
This is the part of the post most people screenshot and share.
The framing of the coroner's recommendation — "require a weapons licence" — has led most people to assume this means gel blasters would be treated like firearms. But the recommendation was made in a specific context: police officers couldn't distinguish a gel blaster from a real pistol during an active incident. That's a visual identification problem, not a misuse or criminal activity problem.
Every other regulatory outcome the coroner could have recommended would have addressed that same concern — mandatory colour markings, transport requirements, replica identification rules. A weapons licence is one way to create a documented owner register. It's not the only way, and it may not be the way Queensland chooses, particularly given the estimated size of the owner base and the industry opposition.
Here's why this matters practically: if you're a current gel blaster owner in Queensland, the risk you face isn't "I will be required to get a full weapons licence by a set date." The more realistic risks are that resale value may shift as the community waits for clarity, or that new buyers may delay purchases until the regulatory picture is clearer. For the used marketplace, that creates a short-term uncertainty window — but it doesn't change the fundamental position that gel blasters are currently legal, unregistered, and freely bought and sold in Queensland right now.
The most useful thing any owner or buyer can do is monitor the Queensland Department of Justice's coronial recommendations page and the QPS Weapons Licensing News page for any formal government response. That's where an announcement, if one comes, will first appear — well before it makes mainstream news.
What to Do Right Now
- The law has not changed. Gel blasters are legal to own in Queensland without a licence. Store them securely, transport them in a case, and keep to the existing rules. You're compliant.
- No announced timeline for change. The government has not indicated when (or whether) it will act on the recommendation. Don't make purchasing decisions based on speculation about what might happen.
- Watch the QPS Weapons News page. If Queensland announces a change, it'll appear at police.qld.gov.au before it gets picked up widely.
- Keep records of your purchases. A receipt or transaction record showing you bought your gel blaster legally is useful regardless of how the regulatory environment evolves. Good practice now.
- If you're buying or selling used, the current rules still apply — Queensland residents only, 18+, secure storage and private handover. Nothing about that has changed.
RedSpear will update this post if and when the Queensland Government publishes its formal response. In the meantime, if you're buying or selling used gel blasters in Queensland, nothing about the current legal framework has changed — and the marketplace is still the safest, most transparent place to do it.
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