Airsoft skirmishing
HOW DO AIRSOFT GUNS CONTRIBUTE TO GUN CRIME
Soft air/bb guns are consistently involved in over 80% of imitation gun offences and are responsible for many injuries, some serious, others less so. Currently these two different weapons are combined in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, despite the difference in their legal status.
INJURING ADULTS AND CHILDREN
Airsoft/bb gun injuries are inflicted on adults and children, both 'accidentally' and deliberately. The resulting injuries can have long term physical and psychological consequences for victims and their families. Children and young people are especially vulnerable and eye injuries are particularly prevelant.
To read medical evidence about injuries caused by Non Powder Guns hover on 'Links and Resources' and select 'Research'. To read about airsoft and bb/imitation gun crimes click on 'Gun Incidents' and from the 'Issue Type' option select 'airsoft', or 'bb/imitation'.
AIRSOFT / REPLICA WEAPONS FATALITIES
Because of the difficulties in identifying airsoft / replica guns from real weapons there have been several tragedies involving Armed Response Officers who have shot and killed individuals armed with airsoft / imitation/ bb/ replica /disguised guns.
For example:
A man seen carrying a gun has been shot dead in the street by police in Harold Hill, east London. The police had been responding to an apparent domestic dispute between a man and a woman. Firearms have been recovered from the scene. The Directorate of Public Standards and the Independent Police Complaints Commission have been informed. It is reported that he had the man had brandished a gun at children (Telegraph, 29 October 2008). He was armed with imitations of an AK47 assault rifle and a police issue machine gun. An inquest jury has reached a verdict of lawful killing into his death
Source: BBC 29 October 2008 and Romford Recorder, 18 June 2010.
AIRSOFT GUNS - NO LOCKED STORAGE REQUIREMENT
Despite evidence of the use of these weapons to enable crime the law does not require owners to store them securely. These guns are left in sheds vans and garages where they can be accessed by petty criminals who may go on to use them to enable further crime.
For example:-
Two boxes containing 18 replica shotguns have been stolen from an industrial unit in Westhoughton, Greater Manchester. The airsoft guns are realistic-looking weapons, one model was a sawn-off shotgun and a second an AGM M300 shotgun, and the police are concerned that they could be used by criminals.
Source: Bolton News, 22 July 2010
A cache of replica firearms including 20 fake Kalashnikovs have been stolen from a van parked in Aldershot, Hampshire. The van was broken into by two men. The weapons are used as part of a military re-enactment business.
Get Hampshire, 22 June 2010
A replica AK-47 rifle and a bottle full of ammunition has been stolen by a thief who broke into a garage in Hayling Island, Hampshire. The weapon used in airsoft skirmishing can fire up to 400 rounds of ball bearings at speeds of up to 250 mph. The owner is reported to have a special licence for the gun.
Source: The News, 5th November 2009
AIRSOFT GUNS ENABLE CRIME
Airsoft/ bb guns are used to enable crime because they look like real weapons. Even if the gun is not fired, victims are threatened, frightened, coerced and intimidated, which can cause long lasting psychological damage.
AIRSOFT GUNS AND CRIMINAL DAMAGE
Airsoft/bb guns capable of firing projectiles are implicated in many cases of criminal damage.
Read about these crimes by clicking on 'Gun Incidents' and from the 'Issue type' option select 'airsoft', or 'bb/immitation'.
AIRSOFT GUNS AND ANIMAL CRUELTY
Airsoft/bb guns capable of firing projectiles are used to injure many animals and birds each year.
Read about these crimes by clicking on 'Gun Incidents' and from the 'Issue Types' options select 'animals/birds'.
AIRSOFT GUNS - CAPABLE OF BEING CONVERTED
There is considerable evidence of airsoft guns being 'converted' (tricked out) to increase the power. Recently police in Japan demanded a recall of 1000 guns (pistols) powerful enough to injure or kill, marketed on the internet since July 2008, by a Tokyo based toy gun making company. The Toy Makers Association usually examine the safety of new products based on their by-laws. However, the organisation did not issue a safety qualification for the gun involved in this case, claiming it was a new type of model and not covered under the current by-laws. These pisols are known to have been imported to the UK. There is the suggestion that some owners may not return their pistols, a recall may add rarity value to the pistol and render it more collectable.
GERMAN SCHOOL MASSACRE - MARCH 2009
Tim Kretschmer, the 17 year old ex pupil gun enthusiast responsible for the massacre at Albertville Secondary School on Wednesday 11th March 2009 in which fifteen people were killed, was reported to have had 30 airsoft guns, and to have accompanied his father, (also a gun enthusiast) to the local gun club.
Source:- BBC
AUSTRALIA TO BAN THE IMPORT OF MILITARY STYLE GUNS
Guns resembling military weapons and designed to appeal to young men will be banned from being imported into Australia. The Federal Government will change import regulations to tighten controls on firearms that have a "military-style appearance”. Manufacturers have developed firearms that look more like machine guns in an attempt to appeal to a younger market. These firearms could cause unnecessary fear and apprehension in the community, which is why the regulation has been extended to cover these new types of weapons. There will also be stricter import controls on magazines for fully automatic firearms. Customs officials will be provided with a template of the real firearms. If the imports resemble real military firearms, they will be destroyed.
Source Daily Telegraph 19th December 2008
THE COST OF AIRSOFT WEAPONS MISUSE IN UK
The increasing numbers of airsoft weapons in the UK leads to cases such as the one below. Airsoft owners put themselves in danger of being shot by armed police officers, and cause alarm to members of the public, who fear they are about to become a victim of, or witness to, a multiple shooting tragedy.
The incidents below, along with other incidents involving airsoft, BB and replica guns, have massive financial cost implications to everyone in the UK because the cost of deployment of armed officers is bourne by members of the public.
Pensioner Ian Knight confronted two youths in a street in Blackhall, Edinburgh, with a replica Winchester rifle in March 2009. The boys had been causing a noise outside his home. He had bought airsoft rifles for indoor target shooting but they were never used as he lost sight in one eye. He admitted having a firearm in his possession. The sheriff deferred sentence, but his guns have been forfeited in the meantime.
Source: Evening News, 6th November 2009
Police have seized two replica guns from teenagers who were playing with them in a public area in Huntingdonshire. The airsoft guns looked like an Armalite M15 assault rifle and a long barrelled snipers rifle. A police spokesman said that the guns were "two of the most realistic imitations I have ever seen".
Source:- Cambridge News, 18 August 2009
The 2006 VCR Act
The 2006 Violent Crime Reduction Act (see 'Gun Law' page) prohibited the import, manufacture, sale and transfer of realistic imitation weapons. However, a defence was provided for those individuals able to provide evidence of membership of an insured airsoft skirmish site.
This has led to an increase in the number of airsoft skirmish sites operating in Great Britain, and a worrying growth in the numbers of realistic imitation firearms in circulation and available for criminal use.
Infer Trust and others are concerned about the apparent failure of The Association of British Airsoft to adequately self regulate the membership, ownership and use of airsoft weapons.
JAPAN
In Japan, where airsoft skirmishing began 20 years ago, there are an estimated 6 million air soft guns in circulation. Many of these have been converted or 'tricked out' to make them more powerful and the government was so concerned about this that they introduced legislation in August 2006 to outlaw these remodelled weapons.
In 2008 police in Japan demanded a recall of 1000 guns marketed by a Tokyo based toy gun making company. The pistols are powerful enough to injure or kill and have been marketed to gun enthusiasts on the Internet.
The Toy Makers Association usually examine the safety of members' new products based on the association's by-laws. However the organisation did not issue a safety qualification for the gun involved in this case, claiming it was a new type of model and not covered under the current by-laws.
These pistols are known to have been imported to the UK. There is evidence that some owners may not return their pistols - a 'recall' may add rarity value to the pistol and render it more 'collectable'.
PLANNING PERMISSION - AIROSFT SKIRMISHING SITES
Members of the public and residents' groups have voiced concerns about planning permission issues for airsoft skirmish sites. Infer Trust shares their concerns about public safety, security, anti social behaviour, noise, proximity to wildlife, access to sites and the criminal use of soft air/bb guns.
For more information on the ways airsoft /bb guns contribute to gun crime access 'Airsoft' from the 'Gun type' page.
Infer Trust is working with others to raise awareness of the potential dangers posed to members of the public by the proliferation of airsoft skirmishing weapons and sites. There are concerns about the use of airsoft guns in crime, manufacturers and hobbyists attempting to undermine and circumvent legal requirements regarding the power of the guns, and issues around importation.
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