Do you think that Airsoft should be legalized in Singapore? Why?

Personally, airsoft should be recognized as a sport. Ideally, those who are interested should be allowed to buy and store airsoft equipment and use them at designated ranges.

If necessary, follow US Airsoft regulations, and enforce compulsory non-removable orange paint on the tip of Airsoft guns. And limit purchases to those 18 years and above. Those under 18, may purchase, but must store their arms at designated range armories. When transporting, all airsoft guns can also be regulated to be kept in carry cases, together with a regulation forbidding airsoft guns from being brought around in public.

My answer, a resounding YES.

Some form of authorisation is possible. However the risk of someone charging into a bank at pointblank range to a man's head. Would you take the risk of believing its a fake ? Many times I answer this question with another question, "How is it possible genuine guns can be smuggled into Singapore"

Problem with airsoft is that it is possible for you to modify into a real gun. Requires alot of work. However possible. Therefore the govt. govt have no gurantees that by legalising airsoft.

Not to mention, with the age limit imposed. I still find 30 year old mature adults using their pets as moving targets.

Personally I love airsoft alot. But because of these minor population who decides to do funny things with it makes it impossible for such products to be legalised.

The current generation of Airsoft guns cannot be modified into firearms. All the current airsoft guns are firing plastic BBs, which rely on compressed air for propulsion. There is no way with whatever modification, to rechamber it to fire an actual round. Its easier to make a gun from scratch than to try to convert a 6mm BB carbine to an actual firearm.

Shotgun is absolutely right, and it has been acknowledged in official circles [i'm back in uk now, and even the police play with airsoft for fun].
iirc, no airsoft gun has ever been able to be converted - theyre mostly plastic and all the wrong dimensions internally!
Whoever suggested this obviously doesnt know anything about the sport/hobby.

FCO, i thought you'd know that!!

its blank firers that are possible to change [if you dont mind having your head blown off trying it!! - the metal and measuerments used are inferior and lead to potentially catastrophic results]
Blank firers are not airsoft!

the only other possibility is the Brocock air pistol cartridge based revolver. since this emerged these have been withdrawn [and they were very expensive in the first place].
Brocock is not airsoft!

the leaves the only other types - home-made [asking for self-inflicted damage!] and deactivated weapons [internals removed, welded together, blocked parts, no moving parts, etc].

[btw FCO, trying to send anything that i mightve sold into singapore is going to be pretty impossible so have to withdraw any offers i had, sorry]

I never tried to load a 6mm metal bb though. Trajectory sure drop, but dunno by how much. If its strong enough to flatten the bb, then it is dangerous.

i've heard of someone who tried it before - i think it goes once, after that the gears or the piston head shatters.
you basically break your airsoft gun if you want to do that.

frankly my collection is worth too much to do that. i wouldnt even let a 6mm paintball near any of them either..

Originally posted by Flight Cadet Officer:

Some form of authorisation is possible. However the risk of someone charging into a bank at pointblank range to a man's head. Would you take the risk of believing its a fake ? Many times I answer this question with another question, "How is it possible genuine guns can be smuggled into Singapore"

Problem with airsoft is that it is possible for you to modify into a real gun. Requires alot of work. However possible. Therefore the govt. govt have no gurantees that by legalising airsoft.

Not to mention, with the age limit imposed. I still find 30 year old mature adults using their pets as moving targets.

Personally I love airsoft alot. But because of these minor population who decides to do funny things with it makes it impossible for such products to be legalised.

totally agreed man!

Originally posted by Flight Cadet Officer:

Some form of authorisation is possible.

well, thats ok - i dont agree with it, but if that was it takes to get to play this normally in singapore then i'd comply with it.

However the risk of someone charging into a bank at pointblank range to a man's head. Would you take the risk of believing its a fake ?

Would you, the police officer or whatever, take the possibility its not real? no, of course not. that criminal has taken to gamble their lives if they do that. And in that situation, when it comes to threatening someone elses life, regardless of whether you use a real gun, a fake gun [airsoft or otherwise], or a banana-in-a-bag, you deserve all that you get - be it maiming or death.

Many times I answer this question with another question, "How is it possible genuine guns can be smuggled into Singapore"

thats for your internal security and customs people to find out. it has nothing to do with whether to legalise airsoft in singapore or not. And with criminals - why should they care about what laws you have anyway? they'll just keep on using whatever theyre using now.

Problem with airsoft is that it is possible for you to modify into a real gun. Requires alot of work. However possible.

like i said. Utter BS. sort out your facts will you? Go ask some people who really know about airsoft then. Come back and back up your argument.

Therefore the govt. govt have no gurantees that by legalising airsoft.

that by legalising airsoft.. what? i think you forgot to finish your sentence.

Not to mention, with the age limit imposed. I still find 30 year old mature adults using their pets as moving targets.

Registration, as you suggested, should weed out some of these.

Personally I love airsoft alot. But because of these minor population who decides to do funny things with it makes it impossible for such products to be legalised.

Then why not ban cars, people use them irresponsibly, motorbikes, cellphones for that matter... theres always going to be a small group of idiots somewhere in each society. Are you going to wrap yourself up in cotton wool because of it? Are you going to deny to others [who would be responsible] this otherwise harmless sport and hobby because of a few uselss individuals who'd be doing that sort of damage in another way regardless?
[which brings me to paintball - this isnt banned in singapore yet its 12+ times far more powerful than airsoft and at least person has died during a game! its also about 3 or 4 times more expensive than airsoft! Airguns - this is legal in singapore? amount of people shot and killed by airguns: quite a few. amount of people shot and killed by airsoft: none]

very defensive argument.

I like it. think there were lots of misunderstanding. I'm actually a supporter of airsoft. go ask shotgun yeah ?

take a chill pill

so where do you play airsoft then FCO?

only when youre abroad?

you say youre a supporter of airsoft, yet you havent really argued in supoprt of it, have you?

As for shotgun, he brought up the one single possibilty of airsoft-induced damage [other than bludgeoning you to death with it..]..

i'm on a permanent chill pill thanks.

ps. are you still thinking that airsoft can be modified into a live firearm then?

so many topics on this.... anyway no need to argue lar...
u still can't change anything......

by the way, i hate guns... had too much of it liao...

Originally posted by zoik:

so where do you play airsoft then FCO?

only when youre abroad?

you say youre a supporter of airsoft, yet you havent really argued in supoprt of it, have you?

As for shotgun, he brought up the one single possibilty of airsoft-induced damage [other than bludgeoning you to death with it..]..

i'm on a permanent chill pill thanks.

ps. are you still thinking that airsoft can be modified into a live firearm then?

well it really depends, the mechanism inside, trigger group configuration etc. some parts can be moulded.

You should check the other forum. Some people in there doesn't even know the difference between airsoft and airgun!

some people doesn't know that airsoft was firstly created in asia and not america. I quit arguing with them, cause they kept on repeating their statement

Originally posted by Flight Cadet Officer:

well it really depends, the mechanism inside, trigger group configuration etc. some parts can be moulded.

well here its going into 'make your own gun' territory and stops being airsoft, doesnt it? i mean, anyone, with any modicum of knowledge can build their own gun in that way. buidling it and replacing parts of an airsoft gun fast becomes pointless...
as i say, they stop being airsoft guns when people embark on that. frankly its easier to go to the black market and buy one instead..

You should check the other forum. Some people in there doesn't even know the difference between airsoft and airgun!

yeah, i've come across that before - the press are quite bad about it too [they arent even interested in reporting the truth anyway]. 'BB' is also misleading cos BB has a different meaning in japan, whereas eleswhere its generally known as Ball Bearing, which, based on its American origin, is usually a metal [lead] shaped projectile that is pretty lethal. Still, people keep referring ot them as BB guns and so people keep thinking theyre firing metal bullets and so they get mixed up with air guns [which i think are useless anyway - a lot of the IPSC community [uk at least] think so too, and so when GBB and NBB pistols came up for competition they went for that instead..]
The confusion with Air guns/pistols leads to the mess over the Brocock revolver - modifying the air cartridge system it uses - to fire .22 calibre bullets. Again, its an Air pistol, and not even remotely to do with airsoft but this point iis missed by so many...

some people doesn't know that airsoft was firstly created in asia and not america. I quit arguing with them, cause they kept on repeating their statement

this'll be the confusion with the BB description again which leads to the american Daisy BB guns that came out over 50 years ago.
People forget that Soft Air [eventually Airsoft] came about in Japan because of the problems over the lethalty of paintball [which seems to be the opposite problem in singapore - paintball, far more lethal, is allowed and given recognition..]

Paintball guns are less commonly available, that one reason it doesn't really need to be banned. Of course, they are also a bit more expensive.

Anyway, a normal Airsoft gun can be used as a paintball gun anytime. Just buy a 6mm BB Paintround. Never got any of those personally, was wondering what would happen if the damn thing shatters inside my guns.

Oh did I mention that airsoft guns with red paintballs can be quite scary? You see this guy pull out a gun at you, fire and u hear a little *PUCK* sound, and u see what you think is "blood" all over your shirt. There was a case of such incidence in the US, a bunch of kids running around with an AEG n red paint BBs, doing drive by shootings. Some of the people actually went into shock after getting shot, even though they did not take any real damage. (Other than the laundry bills) Unfortunately for the kids, the cops caught them, and had the evidence too. They had taped their own shootings down on a camcorder.

The thing is, at night, you can't see very clearly whether the weapon is real or not. Even with red barrel tips. And I understand that. Which is why i feel that educating people, and correcting them on proper airsoft usage is more important.

In any case. If some guy points a "gun" to your head, or at your back, you probably won't see if its real or not. It can be a real pistol, or it can be an airsoft pistol. Or it can be one of those bright yellow water squirting pistols painted black, or just a banana. Chances are, you don't want to find out the hard way. So if the govt allows airsoft, would there be a surge in these supposed armed robberies? Would there really be people robbing banks with airsoft guns?

Question is, if you are a robber, would u dare to rob a bank with guards armed with real 9mm pistols, with just a 6mm Peashooter?
Would you threaten someone with a Airsoft gun, rather than a knife to rob him?

Originally posted by Shotgun:

Paintball guns are less commonly available, that one reason it doesn't really need to be banned. Of course, they are also a bit more expensive.

so their lethality is not in question? A common argument against airsoft [certainly one with regards to singapore authorities i've heard before] is that Airsoft is more lethal [because the balls are smaller???? ffs]...

Anyway, a normal Airsoft gun can be used as a paintball gun anytime. Just buy a 6mm BB Paintround. Never got any of those personally, was wondering what would happen if the damn thing shatters inside my guns. [quote] i think i covered this already. you can, but prepare for a wrecked gun. the 6mm paintballs are often known for exploding inside the gun when being launched, messing everythnig up internally - this is mostly because the skin of these is fairly weak. so if you want to try it, do it on some $10 throwaway springer [cos thats what you'll be doing afterwards, throwing it away...].

[quote]Oh did I mention that airsoft guns with red paintballs can be quite scary? You see this guy pull out a gun at you, fire and u hear a little *PUCK* sound, and u see what you think is "blood" all over your shirt. There was a case of such incidence in the US, a bunch of kids running around with an AEG n red paint BBs, doing drive by shootings. Some of the people actually went into shock after getting shot, even though they did not take any real damage. (Other than the laundry bills) Unfortunately for the kids, the cops caught them, and had the evidence too. They had taped their own shootings down on a camcorder.

There was an incident in japan where some kids decided to take on the police and shot their aeg's at them...
there are always going to be idiots around, like i've said before.

The thing is, at night, you can't see very clearly whether the weapon is real or not. Even with red barrel tips. And I understand that. Which is why i feel that educating people, and correcting them on proper airsoft usage is more important.

education - sure thing. where do you start? you could start with educating the authorities first...

In any case. If some guy points a "gun" to your head, or at your back, you probably won't see if its real or not. It can be a real pistol, or it can be an airsoft pistol. Or it can be one of those bright yellow water squirting pistols painted black, or just a banana. Chances are, you don't want to find out the hard way. So if the govt allows airsoft, would there be a surge in these supposed armed robberies? Would there really be people robbing banks with airsoft guns?

whats to say that isnt happening right now? look at your existing gun clubs - is their existence posing an increased risk of bank robbery, muggings and general gun-related crime? you tell me...
[if an airsoft skirmish site can exist under present conditions of a paintball and gun clubs already established in singapore then why not? - according to my last enquiry there used to be an airsoft skirmish site - but it wasnt shut down because of legal reasons - allegedly - with the closure of universal archery i'll never know more]

Question is, if you are a robber, would u dare to rob a bank with guards armed with real 9mm pistols, with just a 6mm Peashooter?
Would you threaten someone with a Airsoft gun, rather than a knife to rob him?

Stupid question that shouldnt be entertained.

Those $10 Throw-away guns aren't worth $10. I got a whole bag of them, sitting there collecting dust, waiting to be thrown away.... Literally. I estimate it cost only about $1.00 a pc.

Anyway, given the authorities stubborness about airsoft, I also can't really give a hoot to them.

As long as someone don't flash them in public. Don't shoot at anything other than target boards, and not harass neighbours with them, I doubt anybody has a problem with airsoft.

What I want to tell people about airsoft is that.
-Airsoft wounds are NOT deadly.
-Yes they do hurt and bruise.
-Shooting at someone's eyes CAN cause blindness, (like poking someone's eye with a pencil)
-They fire plastic ball rounds, not METALLIC.
-They LOOK real, but legislation can enforce red-non-removable barrel tips.
-Keep kids away from it, unless under close adult supervision.

Finally, If i want to rob a bank. I'd rather duct tape 2 coke cans together, add a bit of wirings and a nice LCD screen displaying digits, and go "This is a bomb. Hand over the money or I will not disarm it. You have 90secs."

Originally posted by Shotgun:

Those $10 Throw-away guns aren't worth $10. I got a whole bag of them, sitting there collecting dust, waiting to be thrown away.... Literally. I estimate it cost only about $1.00 a pc.

Anyway, given the authorities stubborness about airsoft, I also can't really give a hoot to them.

As long as someone don't flash them in public. Don't shoot at anything other than target boards, and not harass neighbours with them, I doubt anybody has a problem with airsoft.

What I want to tell people about airsoft is that.
-Airsoft wounds are NOT deadly.
-Yes they do hurt and bruise.
-Shooting at someone's eyes CAN cause blindness, (like poking someone's eye with a pencil)
-They fire plastic ball rounds, not METALLIC.
-They LOOK real, but legislation can enforce red-non-removable barrel tips.
-Keep kids away from it, unless under close adult supervision.

Finally, If i want to rob a bank. I'd rather duct tape 2 coke cans together, add a bit of wirings and a nice LCD screen displaying digits, and go "This is a bomb. Hand over the money or I will not disarm it. You have 90secs."

thats a good one. In fact the orange tip is enforced by law. Moral of the story. An everday item can be a weapon if you want them to be and causes greater damage than airsoft. why go through the pain of buying an airsoft when greater pain can be inflicted for free ?. plus it isn't the general idea of an airsoft.

lol, ok your $10 is like $3 over here...

a while ago i some towns there was an amnesty for people to hand in their guns.. so loads of people took in their [$3] springers and got $10 [S$25 ?] music vouchers in return.. lol!

wow. I should give u the whole bag. You’d probably get a dozen music CDs.