Anime, video game, movie and pop culture conventions have become much more popular in recent years throughout Australia, and with that, cosplaying has also become a lot more popular among the more passionate fans. Cosplaying does not just give joy to the individuals not only bringing their favourite fictional characters to life but allowing them to become their favourite fictional characters, it brings immense joy to the people around them, and especially the children who get to actually meet their favourite characters and take photos with them.

The most important part of any cosplay is the authenticity, getting every detail as accurate as possible, that is the main point that distinguishes cosplay from dress-up. One of the biggest issues with cosplays are that there are so few occasions where you can showcase you creations, however this does make those few events feel that much more special.

However, possibly the biggest problem with cosplaying is the issue of the use of weapons as part of a cosplay. Most conventions have banned people from bringing many types of accessories into their conventions, such as:

• Replica guns that look too realistic (regardless of functionality or lack thereof)
• Sharpened metal-bladed weapons (even though most times even blunted blades will still be confiscated)
• Blunt weapons
• Concealed Weapons
• Hard prop weapons (including props made of metal, fiberglass and glass)
• Any prop weapons over 1 meter in length

As well as many others, however even if your prop doesn't fall under any of these categories your prop may still be confiscated if any staff member believes it could potentially be a safety risk.

The issue with this, going back to cosplay, is that these rules contradict what cosplay is, an authentic and detailed recreation and role-play of a usually fictional character, however these rules prevent you from exploring what is most times one of the most important details of a character, their accessories.

These rules are in place for a reason, safety, and that is understandable, however there are potentially better ways to deal with it than this. I am creating this petition to hopefully persuade pop culture conventions to make changes to their current rules regarding prop and replica weapons used solely for the purpose of cosplay.

Potential ideas for solutions include:

• Prop/replica weapon registration

This would mean any prop or replica weapon or accessory deemed a potential safety risk would require personal details of the cosplayer and the details of the accessory they have to be recorded and signed by the individual, requiring them to be over the age of 18, or have a legal guardians signature for those under 18. This would include a list of rules the individual would be required to follow at ALL times. These could potentially including things such as "any blades must always be held facing in towards the individual while traveling", "the prop must always be held in a safe position, ideally directly down" or "anyone caught swinging their prop around or mimicking active use of the accessory (LARPing) with the exception of a still pose for a picture as long as the pose does not risk any parties health or safety".

• Or requirement to pay for your accessories entry if it is deemed "dangerous"

This would allow cosplayers to bring their otherwise confiscated props or replicas (as long as they don't breach the big rules such as sharp metal blades, actively firing weapons or anything that breaches the law) in with them for a reasonable fee. This could prevent just anyone from bringing in potentially dangerous accessories and hopefully leave only the ones who are serious about achieving maximum authenticity with their cosplay. This could go hand in hand with the idea for prop/replica weapon registration.

In summary, cosplay is an activity that is gaining an increasingly large following fast and without a proper outlet it will become difficult to get more people interested in cosplay and keep current enthusiasts interested. The reason this petition needs to be considered is because it becomes difficult to justify paying hundreds of dollars for a star wars cosplay but not be allowed to bring your lightsaber when you go to events because it looks too realistic, or spend all that money and/or time on buying or even making a game of thrones costume but you cant bring your sword with you because of the material it's made of, regardless of how blunt the blade is. We as cosplayers can be responsible and safe with our accessories, and we are willing to do whatever needs to be done in order to show these conventions that.

I hope everyone reading this who is passionate, interested or even just a fan of seeing cosplay will sign this petition and share it around so we can hopefully persuade pop culture conventions make changes to their prop/replica weapons and accessories policies.