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Regulation of paintball in Malta

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Regulation of paintball in Malta concerns the treatment of paintball equipment and playing locations under Maltese legislation. Paintball was expressly defined in the Arms Act enacted in 2005. Subsequent amendments changed the classification of markers in 2013 and 2017, while a separate provision introduced in 2017 required their use to take place in areas approved by the Weapons Board. [1][2][3][4]

Arms Act, 2005

The Arms Act, Act XIV of 2005, received presidential assent on 2 August 2005 and came into force on 15 August 2006. [1][5]

Article 2 included paintball within the definition of sporting activity. It also defined paintball activity by reference to specially designed equipment using compressed air or gas to discharge frangible projectiles containing coloured dye. [1]

The legislation's recognition of paintball does not establish when the sport was first played in Malta.

Early equipment registration and licensing

Participant accounts, 2005–2006

Contemporary online discussions record individual experiences of importing and licensing paintball equipment. In November 2005, PbNation user karl101 reported that a ViewLoader Prodigy E-Grip marker was being held at customs and requested help locating its serial number. A further post supplied a link to a manufacturer's diagram in an attempt to identify the number's location. [11]

In November 2006, the same user identified Malta as their country and described importing the marker from Bulgaria. According to the account, customs retained the marker and police enquiries concerned an allegedly missing serial number. The user reported a delay of one year and five months before collecting it after paying taxes and a licence fee, and stated that the marker did carry a serial number. The reported duration was not independently verified. [12]

On 12 June 2006, another PbNation user, clutch_kick, asked whether ANS markers carried engraved serial numbers, explaining that local police licensing required a serial number. In a subsequent reply, the user identified Malta as their location. [13]

These posts document participants' accounts of administrative difficulties. They do not establish the precise legal requirements applied in each case or constitute official interpretations of Maltese law. [11][12][13]

Registration figures and contemporary reporting

A parliamentary answer reported by the Times of Malta on 7 February 2007 identified 20 paintball guns among weapons newly registered during 2006. This was a count of registrations during that year, rather than the total number of players or markers in Malta. [6]

On 8 February 2009, the newspaper reported difficulties associated with obtaining permission to participate in paintball. Its account described club membership, vetting, weapons-handling training and examination by the Weapons Board. An unnamed licensed operator in Kalkara criticised the effect of these requirements on recreational customers. [7]

These reports document the historical administration of paintball equipment before the later amendments.

Reclassification in 2013

Legal Notice 76 of 2013 amended the Arms Act schedules. It deleted item 2 of Part II of Schedule II and added an express entry for airsoft and paintball guns as item 5 of Schedule III. [2]

In its explanation of the amendments published on 26 February 2013, the Association of Maltese Arms Collectors & Shooters (AMACS) described this as a move from Schedule II to Schedule III. AMACS stated that a transfer licence was no longer required and that taking the equipment outdoors remained conditional on membership of an airsoft or paintball club. These statements describe the association's contemporary explanation of the reforms. [8]

Changes in 2017

Removal of the Schedule III entry

Legal Notice 151 of 2017, published on 30 May 2017, deleted item 5 of Schedule III. That item was the airsoft and paintball entry introduced in 2013. Reading the two amendments together establishes the removal of that express entry from the schedule. [2][3]

The amendment concerned equipment classification. A separate legal notice published on the same day addressed where markers could be used. [3][4]

Approval of playing areas

Legal Notice 150 of 2017 introduced regulation 94 into the Arms Licensing Regulations. It restricted the use of airsoft and paintball markers to designated areas approved by the Weapons Board. [4]

The Maltese text states that markers must jintużaw biss f’żoni speċifikati approvati mill-Bord dwar l-Armi. The English text identifies the same approval requirement. [4]

Regulation 94 was present in the consolidated Arms Licensing Regulations inspected on 27 October 2026. That consolidation included amendments through Legal Notice 77 of 2026. [9]

Planning permission

Paintball facilities have also been subject to planning applications. Application PA/01439/99 proposed changing a film-production site at Triq ir-Rinella, Kalkara, into a paintball field. The Planning Authority's public database records receipt on 22 March 1999 and the granting of outline development permission on 12 April 2000. [10]

This documents a land-use proposal. It does not establish that the development was implemented or that the location received the separate approval subsequently required under regulation 94. [4][10]

See also

References

  1. Arms Act, Act XIV of 2005. Parliament of Malta. Assented to on 2 August 2005; article 2 contains the original paintball definitions. Maltese and English texts.
  2. Legal Notice 76 of 2013: Arms Act (Amendment of Schedules) Regulations. Government of Malta, 26 February 2013.
  3. Legal Notice 151 of 2017: Arms Act (Amendment of Schedules I and III) Regulations. Government of Malta, 30 May 2017.
  4. Legal Notice 150 of 2017: Arms Licensing (Amendment) Regulations. Government Gazette No. 19,789, 30 May 2017. Introduces regulation 94; parliamentary copy includes Maltese and English texts.
  5. Arms Act, Chapter 480. Official legislation portal. Records commencement on 15 August 2006.
  6. 1,780 new weapon licences. Times of Malta, 7 February 2007.
  7. Getting a shotgun is easier than playing paintball. Caroline Muscat, Times of Malta, 8 February 2009.
  8. Changes to the Arms Act – 26 February 2013. Association of Maltese Arms Collectors & Shooters, 26 February 2013.
  9. Arms Licensing Regulations, S.L. 480.02. Government of Malta, consolidated text including amendments through Legal Notice 77 of 2026; regulation 94. Inspected 27 October 2026.
  10. Planning application PA/01439/99. Planning Authority, public application database. Outline permission granted on 12 April 2000; inspected 27 October 2026.
  11. Customers say the darndest things: VL Prodigy E Grip Help URGENTLY. PbNation, posts by karl101, November 2005, posts 986–987. Participant's account of a marker held at customs and requests for help locating its serial number.
  12. Tank ! worthed ?. PbNation, post by karl101, 27 November 2006, post 11. Participant's account of importing a marker into Malta and its subsequent release.
  13. ANS X-5 autocockers?, post 15 and post 17. PbNation, posts by clutch_kick, 12 June 2006. Serial-number enquiry referring to police licensing, followed by identification of Malta as the user's location.
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