If stupid could fly...

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

my store and the area around it would be O'Hare, JFK, LAX, and Heathrow all rolled into one.

Today we had a gaggle of middle-school aged kids come in and buy some airsoft guns. They look sorta similar to real guns but have big orange pieces around the barrel to indicate they're not real guns.

Anyhow, we took our last break outside, and the kids were hanging around on the sidewalk with their airsoft guns, which by then had been removed from their packaging, pointing them at people and making machine-gun noises.

I can't be the only person who thinks this is an awesome way to get shot with a real gun, can I?

They did this for a little while before finally leaving, still playing with their airsoft guns. Hope I don't read about them in the paper tomorrow.

[chainedbarista]

hmm, i wonder how they'd react to a few patrol cars screeching up to them, cops jumping out and yelling at them to get down on the ground after putting down their 'weapons?'

in this case, stupid did fly around your parking lot, much like an rc plane.

[earl colby pottinger]

Why?

They look sorta similar to real guns but have big orange pieces around the barrel to indicate they're not real guns.

I don't understand this need for toy guns that look *exactly* like the real thing. Anyone want to take a beat that some kid will paint over the orange end and then get mistaken for waving around the real thing and getting shot. Or the inverse, some crook painting the end of his gun orange so that the cops are slow in firing back?

What was so wrong with toy guns that looked like TOY GUNS?

[crazylegs]

I don't understand this need for toy guns that look *exactly* like the real thing. Anyone want to take a beat that some kid will paint over the orange end and then get mistaken for waving around the real thing and getting shot. Or the inverse, some crook painting the end of his gun orange so that the cops are slow in firing back?

Both have been done, with tragic results.

[dithers66]

Probably point it at some Iraq vet who thinks he's still fighting the war. Then it'd be front page news.

[Pezzle]

What was so wrong with toy guns that looked like TOY GUNS?

Because us grown up toy gun collectors pay 350 dollars for an all metal electric 380 FPS M-16 (with an orange rim) we want it to look like the real thing. You know, becuase we're adults who don't go swinging them around on the street and just shoot each other in the privacy of our own wooded course.

[McGoddess09]

We had a similar event happen to us at work. A kid came into the gas station to buy stuff and then came into the McD's to get food. One couple stopped me in lobby and said "You should tell your manager that we called the police. We saw that kid swinging a gun around." So, I quietly went back, told hte manager. Sure enough, the police came and tackled the kid. Come to find out, the gun wasn't real and it didn't have that orange piece on it.

That kid got so scared and was crying when they told him they would call his grandma (his guardian I assume).

Sorry to threadjack. Thought I would share this gem

[RayvenQ]

I don't understand this need for toy guns that look *exactly* like the real thing. Anyone want to take a beat that some kid will paint over the orange end and then get mistaken for waving around the real thing and getting shot. Or the inverse, some crook painting the end of his gun orange so that the cops are slow in firing back?

What was so wrong with toy guns that looked like TOY GUNS?

Well, Airsoft guns aren't really what I'd call Toy Guns, they still can be dangerous.

The people who buy Airsoft guns are usually the ones that play Airsoft (Think of paintball without the paint) sometimes said people can't currently get actual guns, and think about it, you can't really have a fun shootout with your mates if it's a live gun

[bainsidhe]

I remember having a toy gun growing up. My Mom swore she'd tan my hide if she ever saw me pointing it at someone. It even made the nifty "bata bata bata" sound when you pulled the trigger. At the time I didn't understand, I mean it was a TOY. As an adult, I realize it was the idea of pointing a weapon at someone she hated and that it also involved respect for others. I don't have kids, but if I did I'd do the same thing she did.

[NightWatch]

Yeah, we had a kid who pulled the orange tip off of an airsoft gun. it was made to resemble a 9mm... He was at a highschool baseball game and waving it around trying to be a hard ass. Pretty much every cop on duty went out there, if I remember correctly, no less then ten cops had their guns pointed at him... Kid was some dumb teenager, and trust me, he got in HUGE trouble. So it happens... If you see kids waving their airsoft guns, call the cops on em. They need the lesson.

(disclaimer: i know not all teens are dumb. but he was a teen. and he was dumb. i apologize to those intelligent teens who are made to look bad by idiots like this)

[The Gatekeeper]

and think about it, you can't really have a fun shootout with your mates if it's a live gun

Well you could, but probably only just the once.

[Arm]

Well you could, but probably only just the once.

no no, see, a sucking chest wound is merely mother nature's way of telling you to slow down

But, yeah. Not enough parents teach their kids not to point guns (real or fake) at people. The trouble is that the kids wind up being the ones that pay the price there, because they get shot and the parents are free to run 'round producing more spawn. So, sadly, the mechanism of natural selection is thwarted.

Any parent buying their kids $300 replica guns needs their head examined, too. But that doesn't make as much of a difference, because in poor lighting conditions, even kids with laser tag guns are asking to get shot. I remember something like that happened in Florida somewhere when I was a kid, and - at least at the time - those things looked *nothing* like real guns. Except for the basic shape...

[MTNLaurelPoacher]

Typically, (US/ Southern State) where I live Airsoft, even the cheap Chinese knockoffs, are not to be sold to anyone under the age of 18. They fall in the category of bb gun. If you are in the continental United States I would urge you in the strongest possible terms to look up the laws for bb gun ownership with respect to age.

I have a $2000 + dollar a year Airsoft habit. It looks like a small military is running out of my apartment. Heck… if you consider my airsoft team of 20, yes a small militia does run out of my apartment.

DON'T SELL AIRSOFT TO STUPID KIDS WHO WILL DO DUMBASS THINGS WITH THEM! Use some common sense! If communities, states, and/or municipalities start outlawing Airsoft and paintball, the retailers can count out that source of income. And I’ll have to find a new hobby.

Treat Airsoft like real guns, because when people see an airsoft gun that is what they initially think, even if they are made of clear plastic with radioactive orange tip.

Another way to think about it is... Treat Airsoft guns like your genitals. Don’t go around flashing them in public. Don’t shoot anyone that does not want to be shot with them. Don’t show them to cops, they tend to freak out. Use protection when playing with them.


Airsoft etiquette- Watch this first... It contains HOW TO TREAT AN AIRSOFT GUN. It is from Best Of USA Marketing, the creators of the LionClaws series of Airsoft events, considered the World Series of Airsoft. They know Airsoft.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NObeS23ZI9g

Here are the Airsoft commandments. (funny video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFYQwX2EayE


I love Airsoft. Don't screw it up for the Airsoft community by selling cheap guns to a bunch of little rat fart teenagers that think its funny to flash them around, carry them to school and generally scare people with them. If you want a real influx of sucky customers, tick off the real Airsofters in your community by messing up their fun.

[The Gatekeeper]

no no, see, a sucking chest wound is merely mother nature's way of telling you to slow down

Yup. O.k. I have another sig. line, thank you very much.

[Bliss]

Another way to think about it is... Treat Airsoft guns like your genitals. Don’t go around flashing them in public. Don’t shoot anyone that does not want to be shot with them. Don’t show them to cops, they tend to freak out. Use protection when playing with them.

If I hadn't already changed my signature shortly ago, I would've moved it to a modified version of this