You've missed my point entirely. It's a grey area that exists in the minds of the judicial system; they'll see the purpose of the act overall and apply it how they see fit. The fact is, there's a chance that a minor who manufactures, defense or not may be convicted. One judge would convict, another might not - the point is, it's not safe.
Especially when you consider the Home Office have stated the ONLY solid and absolute defense that 100% guarantees our safety is UKARA Registration, which an under eighteen cannot hold (and thus cannot prove to a court they are a skirmisher with 100% Home Office Assured certainty). Their guidelines on UKARA being very specific and it being made clear to the airsoft community as a whole that UKARA was our best deal. Yes, there are other options, and I prefer to utilize those other options (I don't even know my UKARA number), but they're not guaranteed and would most likely have to be up to the same standards as UKARA Reg.
At the moment, no-one has been arrested or charged for it, so honestly, we have no legal precedent to know and until such time as we do, it remains a grey area.
If you've read law either academically or professionally (and are thus qualified to advise), you'll know full well that my point is valid and that you're giving unsafe advice that whilst technically accurate leaves massive potential for disaster.
I feel you've raised a fair point however, it's been five years since we got the VCRA and there's still no readily accessible document which explains this particular problem; I'll send off a letter to one of the members of the committee we worked with at the Home Office and try and obtain some written decision, though I imagine it will simply be left for a judge to decide.
