Regulations on airsoft guns
insufficient
Yukako Fukushi
Yomiuri Shimbun
3 November 2005
With a recent series of airsoft gun
shootings nationwide and weak regulations self-imposed by the
industry, it is time lawmakers reviewed the current firearms law to
better restrict sales, thereby preventing the use of these more
powerful, potentially deadly, weapons.
The possession or use of an airsoft
gun--a toy that fires a plastic pellet with low-pressure air or
gas--is not prohibited by the Firearms and Swords Control Law as long
as the owner of the gun does not use it to cause harm. The hobby has
attracted aficionados from a wide age range, from children to the
elderly.
Nationally, about 1.2 million airsoft
guns are in circulation, commonly used in increasingly popular
survival games, in which participants wear camouflage and goggles and
arm themselves with the air-powered firearms, according to ASGK, an
association comprising 18 toy gun manufacturers.
However, there recently have been a
number of incidents involving remodeled airsoft guns nationwide.
On Sept. 25, a car was hit by airsoft
pellets that shattered its windows along the Hanwa Expressway in
Wakayama. Three days later, a truck traveling through Ibaraki, Osaka
Prefecture, on the Meishin Expressway, was shot at with what was
thought to be an airsoft gun and the driver's seat window was smashed.
Stock airsoft guns have limited
power--if shot at a person, the pellets produce mild irritation and
redness on the skin.
But airsoft guns can be "tricked out" by
replacing low-pressure air canisters with those containing carbon
dioxide gas, potentially resulting in a deadly firearm.
"With the proliferation of the Internet
auction, parts are easily obtained for upgrading the guns," a senior
official at the Metropolitan Police Department said.
In September, in the first case of its
kind, the MPD arrested a manufacturer on suspicion of violating the
Firearms and Swords Control Law by selling upgrade parts.
The aim of the arrest, according to
sources, was to make manufacturers more aware of the impact of selling
upgrade parts.
Yahoo Japan Corp., one of the nation's
top online auction houses, has decided it will prohibit the sale of
upgraded airsoft guns or parts clearly intended for adding power to
the weapon.
However, there are fundamental problems
in solving the problem. About 90 percent of illegal remodeled airsoft
guns confiscated by the MPD since spring were produced by a
manufacturer in Aichi Prefecture.
The device on the gun that regulates the
inflow of the carbon dioxide gas had been reinforced so it could
withstand the upgrades, the sources said.
The ASGK has set up its own restriction
on upgrading the gun's body for upgrading purposes. But the Aichi
maker is not a member of the organization, and the police cannot
easily charge those who have only upgraded the gas injection device.
Despite frequent crimes involving
airsoft guns, parts manufacturers continue to meet the demands of
airsoft fanatics who decide to upgrade their guns, despite knowing
full well that to do so was illegal.
As long as the association's
self-imposed restrictions continue to lack bite, relevant laws,
including the Firearms and Swords Control Law, must be reviewed so the
sales of parts can be better controlled.
700,000 illegal
airsoft guns in circulation
Yomiuri Shimbun
31 March 2007
Only one-eighth of remodeled airsoft
guns outlawed in August under the revised Firearms and Swords Control
Law in August have been disposed of or returned to their original
condition, a National Police Agency survey has found.
Airsoft is a military simulation sport.
Airsoft guns, typically replicas of real firearms, fire spherical
plastic pellets.
According to the NPA, there are about
800,000 remodeled airsoft guns subject to the revision in Japan, but
only about 100,000 of them have been confirmed to have been discarded
or modified to reduce their muzzle energy. The remaining 700,000 are
believed to be owned by gun enthusiasts.
The airsoft guns in question are
remodeled versions of manufactured products, and the makers do not
have a clear idea of who the owners are. Some airsoft gun makers plan
to run TV commercials to publicize the revision, while asking police
not to immediately crack down on illegal gun ownership, saying some
people may still be unaware of the revision.
The revision was put into effect after
cars were hit by remodeled airsoft pellets in September 2005 in Osaka
and Wakayama prefectures.
Airsoft guns subject to the revision are
those with pellets measuring at least six millimeters in diameter and
can penetrate an aluminum can when fired from a distance of one meter.
Those found in possession of such weapons are subject to a prison
sentence of up to one year or a fine of up to 300,000 yen.
Manufacturer groups such as Air Soft Gun
Kyokai (ASGK) estimate that of the 4.5 million to 5 million airsoft
guns in the nation, about 800,000 remodeled ones became illegal
following the revision.
The NPA decided that the six months
after the revision would be a transitional period, and if illegal
airsoft guns were discarded or remodified to bring their muzzle energy
within the legal limit during that period, the owners would not face a
penalty.
The transitional period ended on Feb.
20, and the NPA found that only about 100 remodeled airsoft guns were
brought to police stations to be disposed of during the period, and
that only about 100,000 such guns were fixed by manufacturers to lower
their firepower.
An NPA official said, "The transition
period is over, so if we find someone who owns such an [illegal]
airsoft gun, the person will have to be penalized."
On March 20, the Metropolitan Police
Department sent papers to prosecutors on a 28-year-old man of Kanagawa
Prefecture on suspicion of possessing two remodeled airsoft guns. The
MPD found the man bought one of the guns when he was in primary
school.
Remodeled air guns usually sell at high
prices after being fitted with stronger springs or having their air
canister replaced with a carbon dioxide one.
But the ASGK said, "Airsoft guns are
toys, so we don't conduct follow-up checks on customers."
The Japan Air Sports Gun Association,
comprising three air gun manufacturers, will commission TV commercials
showing that airsoft guns with a certain muzzle energy are illegal.
The association also has started asking
police to show an understanding attitude if owners voluntarily come
forward to ask about how to dispose of their airsoft gun or weaken
their gun's firepower.
