Toys in the crossfire

Federal officials are holding replica airsoft firearms that belong to a Cornelius business owner in Washington State. While the feds say they’re dangerous, Brad Martin says they’re just fun

By Christian Gaston

The Forest Grove News-Times, Mar 11, 2010, Updated Mar 11, 2010 (2 Reader comments)

Brad Martin, owner of Airsoft Outlet NW, shows off a revolver, made largely of plastic. It’s one of many guns seized by federal officials in Washington State. The feds claim that guns like the airsoft replica of the M-4 (top) can be retrofitted to fire live ammunition instead of the tiny plastic pellets they’re built to fire.

Chase Allgood / News-Times

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Brad Martin wants his toys back.

But Martin, owner of Airsoft Outlet NW in Cornelius, isn’t having luck convincing federal officials to send back over $17,000 worth of airsoft guns that were seized in Tacoma on their way to Martin’s store from Taiwan.

Federal customs officers popped open a crate of thirty Wei Tech gas-powered replicas of the U.S. military’s M-4 automatic carbine.

The firearms, generally categorized as toys, fire tiny plastic pellets that do little more damage than a pea shooter.

But the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms determined that the guns could be retrofitted to fire live ammunition. That, according to federal law, makes them firearms not toys, and subject to all the federal rules that apply to real guns.

Martin said the idea that someone would dismantle a $400 toy to make a facsimile of a machine gun is preposterous.

“Somebody would have to take this expensive toy and try to machine it and make modifications to it,” Martin said.

The cheaper route, if someone wanted a machine gun, would be to buy the real thing, an AR-15, the civilian version of the military’s M-16 and M-4.

“We have seen the AR-15 for $500 to $600,” Martin said.

First seizure

The first seizure happened last October, when customs officials in Tacoma intercepted a crate of Wei Tech rifles on their way to Martin’s store. The crate could have confused officials for a couple of reasons, Martin said.

First of all, it was labeled “toys” instead of “airsoft.” The airsoft gun craze started in Japan in the 1980s. The guns are set to fire small plastic BBs with the same rate of fire as real firearms. Enthusiasts use the guns for role-playing games, sometimes recreating historic battles or simulating police tactical exercises.

Since then, the remarkably lifelike guns have migrated to the U.S., where fans of first-person shooting games have embraced the guns as a way to take their gaming experiences into the real world. In October, Martin’s store sponsored a shoot-em-up war game where participants hunted other players made up to look like zombies in a post-apacalyptic game of Halloween ghoulishness.

Airsoft guns, especially the Wei Tech rifles are also popular with law enforcement and the military, Martin said, who appreciate the lifelike nature of the guns.

“They are highly coveted among the more affluent Airsoft players and among police and military groups for training purchases,” Martin said. “That's what training people and airsoft people want: authenticity.”

But airsoft guns, because of their realistic appearance, are often mistaken for the real thing. That’s why they’re usually affixed with the same blaze orange cap that’s on the end of the barrel of toy guns.

But the exporters in Taiwan forgot to paint the barrels of the rifles in question orange.

Martin said in the past, when customs officials would come across a shipment of airsoft guns that didn’t have an orange tip, he’d get a call.

But this time, the guns wound up being shipped to the ATF’s Firearms Technology Branch in Martinsburg, West Virgina, where technicians determined that the rifles’ lower receiver could be used with original M-16 parts to forma fully functioning assault weapon.

Now, the rifles are in the custody of ATF.

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