Should Airsoft guns be banned?

[cgrindley]

Poll question: Should Airsoft guns be banned?

Detroit is considering a ban on brandishing an Airsoft gun... should these silly things be banned? Here's what I'm talking about:


airsoft 1911



colt 1911

[Bright Eyes]

1. Other.

They should be redesigned to look much less real (most of the plastic should be orange, not just the tip) .

[Warpy]

2. The company was completely irresponsible

in designing something that realistic looking. Anybody toting one of those things near a nervous cop or young gansta trying to earn his bones runs the risk of being shot.

[sam sarrha]

3. they will kill you for a phone or wallet.. especially if you aren't white

[SteveM]

25. What do you mean by "especially if you aren't white"?

[jmeyer]

22. Which company was that?

Just as an aside, airsoft guns come, originally, from Japan where they've been making them for the past 30 or 40 years. They are made to look exactly like the real thing because in Japan the real thing is illegal: its the same situation as the market for replica and deactivated guns in Britain. Basically, they're the next best thing for people who want to own military arms but legally cannot because of gun bans. Anyway, they're made by many companies, they intentionally are made to look real, and if you freak out from the appearance of a weapon then you have a problem.

[BurningDog]

23. Anyone bringing an airgun to a gun fight deserves a Darwin Award

[HereSince1628]

4. Brandishing Soft guns leads to brandishin real BB guns and we all know where that leads

don't we?

[angstlessk]

5. my son had a b b gun and ya know what? IT LOOKED LIKE A BB GUN!

[HereSince1628]

6. That's great!

I'm happy for you and your son. Hopefully he didn't brandish that at people either.

[angstlessk]

7. one cannot 'brandish' a bb gun that looks like a bb gun..one can point it foolishly

at another human being..but 'brandish' is left for real guns and their fake look alikes

[HereSince1628]

13. Great I'm sure that is an important distinction

[SteveM]

27. Better solution: PARENTS should teach kids about guns, even toy ones.

[jody]

16. I agree if the law defines firearm as "from which a dangerous projectile may be propelled by using

explosives, gas, or air" since a BB gun uses a spring.

Pellet guns using compressed air that some might incorrectly call bb guns are firearms.

[benEzra]

34. Most BB guns look like real guns.

Even the old Daisy Red Ryder.

[MercutioATC]

14. BB Guns are NO joking matter....

...those things sting when they hit you...


:P

[gorfle]

18. BB guns are only good for one thing...

...and that is getting into trouble.

That's what my Dad always said. He gave me my first .22 rifle when I was 12, but would never let me have a BB gun. Why? Because kids will shoot anything and everything with a BB gun - neighborhood pets, windows, street lamps, cars, etc., but they won't do that with a real gun, because you can't get away with it (everyone would hear the gunshot).

[MercutioATC]

20. I grew up before the invention of paintball. BB guns were our "paintball".

We did actually wear safety goggles (and 2 shirts), but none of us ever died or lost a valuable organ or appendage.

[SteveM]

26. That's right! Marijuana leads to heroin!... Let's keep pot banned!

[jody]

8. Doesn’t Detroit already prohibit such items under article XVI of its municipal code?

See my post #50 at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2764724#2765100

[cgrindley]

9. I based my question on the OP in that thread

In which I was castigated for slagging on airsoft. As a responsible gun owner and CCW permit holder, I find it horrific that people don't have a problem with these reproduction airsoft guns.

[jody]

10. The OP in that thread was talking about Taylor, MI not Detroit, MI. n/t

[cgrindley]

11. My bad

why were some people in that thread so pissed off that realistic fake guns were going to be banned and yet the same people are all for revoking the 2nd amendment outright?

[jody]

12. Beats me. n/t

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

15. Detroit has bigger problems than Airsoft Guns ...

I think they oughta get a new mayor. Then worry about toys.

Besides, these are already illegal if used illegally. If you use one in a holdup, it's considered a "real" gun, and the charge is armed robbery.

And if you point one at a cop, you can expect to be quickly (and justifiably) perforated.

[Irreverend IX]

17. Why the hell should airsoft be banned?

Cgrindley, if you support the RKBA I don't see why you'd advocate such a draconian measure. Airsoft guns may not be considered "arms" and thus not protected by the 2nd Amendment, but free societies don't ban things because they *might* be misused.

If a crook really wants to hold people up with a fake gun, they'll find a way to get or make one. Do you want to ban theatrical prop guns as well? Also, airsoft replica guns can be useful for training purposes, since the good ones are designed to function just like their real counterparts and they often have similar trigger pulls. If you want to do realistic combat training, airsoft guns are a hell of a lot cheaper and easier to get than simunitions.

[krispos42]

28. I don't think it's about crooks

It's about kids getting shot because somebody thought that the gun was real. Kids that are far to young to be responsible with a handgun.

[ManiacJoe]

30. You are probably correct about the kids.

Unfortunately, some stupid actions are also fatal actions. Parents and schools need to be teaching proper gun handling skills and proper social skills.

[krispos42]

32. Ha! We have the same paranoia about that as we do about pot.

"If we legalize it, they *gasp* might smoke it!"

"If we show them how to shoot, they might *gasp* own guns!"

Too many people out there think that a peaceful, civilized society must abhorr violence. They can't, or won't differentiate between aggression and defense, but condemn both equally and the instruments thereof.

[ManiacJoe]

33. Personal responsibility is a pain the @$$.

I have no problem with folks smoking pot (or doing other drugs). However, doing so does not excuse an lapses in judgment, nor give a lesser penalty for any crimes committed, while high or in withdrawal.

If the kids were taught not to threaten folks with what appear to be real weapons, the kids would live longer.

I feel sorry for the folks that do not differentiate between aggression and defense for they live in a world that requires that knowledge.

[gorfle]

19. Leave 'em alone.

When I was a kid we always bought the most realistic-looking cap guns we could find. They had a law then that said that there had to be an orange plug in the end of the barrel, but we always pried that out as soon as we got home.

If all we could have gotten were bright-orange colored ones, we would have spray-painted them black.

[Jack_DeLeon]

21. Why should they be banned?

If people are using them as if they were real guns to commit crimes then there is nothing wrong with those people being shot or arrested.

If people are using them to play airsoft games with then why should those people be punished.

[lepus]

24. So where are the orange tips on the toys required by federal law?

Someone selling a toy replica of a firearm without the orange tip is already in violation of the law IIRC.

So airsoft gun replicas should be made double illegal?

I grew up playing with toy guns like most of my generation. When I was a little older I moved into real guns for hunting. When I was a little older than that, I carried even better guns in defense of the U.S as an active enlisted man.

This war against toy guns in my opinion, is an attempt to prevent the next generation from becoming familiar with guns from a young age. It is a lame attempt by the anti's to preemptively win their viewpoint on the next generation.

[krispos42]

29. Another real Colt .45 Auto

Sold by Springfield Armory. This one looks more like the Airsoft gun than the blued model.

[Plague]

31. Banning?

Banning look-alike toys seems a bit extreme. The required orange tips should ideally allow virtually anyone who isn't near blindness to identify these as toys. That said, I don't think it'd hurt to ask airsoft owners to treat their firearms as if they were real in regards to safety and handling. Part of the reason these bans get proposed is because people aren't using common sense when handling these toys.