CORNELIUS, Ore. - The buzz has only gotten louder over government agents seizing a batch of toy guns from a local business owner, so we're attempting to bring more light to the subject.
In October, Tacoma agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized a shipment of 30 Airsoft rifles from Brad Martin and his son Ben. The Martins sell Airsoft replicas from Airsoft Outlet NW in Cornelius.
The ATF plans to destroy the entire $12,000 shipment.
Agents say they confiscated the Airsoft rifles for two reasons - one, they were missing the blaze orange tips required by law on all imported toy guns; and two, the toys could be retrofitted into firearms.
The Martins are baffled by both claims.
On the orange tips, the Martins say they have received shipments from Taiwan before that were missing the orange tips, and customs agents have asked them to drive up to Tacoma and paint the tips orange, which they have done.
But it's the second claim that really has gun enthusiasts balking.
Special Agent Kelvin Crenshaw said the toys can be easily retrofitted into dangerous weapons.
"With minimal work it could be converted to a machine gun," Crenshaw said.
The Martins refute this, and plenty of enthusiasts who posted to our website under our original story have as well.
I talked with Ben Martin and another local Airsoft specialist who went into some detail on why he believes the idea is preposterous: Jason Jonah is a merchandise receiver at Andy & Bax Surplus, a Portland Airsoft dealer.
Q&A with Jason Jonah at Andy & Dax Surplus
Do you think parts of these Airsoft rifles could be used in building machine guns or any other type of firearm?In my opinion, absolutely not. They’re not strong enough. It’s a toy, not a gun. It looks like a gun, but the insides are completely different, the design is different, and the material it’s made of is just not strong enough to fire real ammunition.
The owner says the receiver is made of a low quality cast aluminum. Would that be practical to use in such a conversion?No. not at all. It’s totally inappropriate.
What would happen if you tried?The first time you tried to fire it, you’d probably blow your hand off. The gun would come apart and the pieces fly at you. If it weren’t the ATF making these accusations, I’d laugh, but they must be taking it seriously.
In all my years, I’ve never had anyone talk-- even laughingly--about changing these into weapons. It’s just not something I’ve ever encountered in my experience.
Is it impossible or could they be adapted? If so, are there other factors which would make this impractical – cost, resources, tools?It’s hard for me to say. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to say anything is totally impossible, but I just don’t see how it could be done, other than taking an entire gun, a pistol, and hide it up inside the Airsoft gun and figure out a way to make it fire from inside the gun. That’s the only way I can thing of.
When you’re pulling the trigger in an Airsoft, you’re not activating a mechanical mechanism, you’re sending an electrical signal to the battery, which sends more signal to the motor, which is spinning and sending out those pellets. What you’re really looking at is you have to imagine that gun as a hollow shell. Inside the shell are a motor, a battery, and a trigger mechanism – a trigger connected to electrical wires. There are structures to keep that in place, but the gun is really just a hollow shell for the most part.
It would be as easy to transform an Airsoft as it would be to transform your Cuisinart or any other electrical appliance into a real gun. It’s made of the same plastic or low-quality aluminum as any other appliance. So maybe you turn it into a firearm, but it would be like transforming any other electrical appliance – hiding a gun inside an electrical appliance. It’d be like something you’d see on YouTube; hey, look what I did.
It’s outside of the realm of practicality. It’s almost too ridiculous to even answer as a serious question.
Another reason the ATF cited for the seizure was the lack of orange tips, legally required to identify these imports as toy guns instead of real. As an Airsoft seller, how important is the orange tip to you when you receive a shipment?
Everything that I’ve ever gotten or received comes with that orange tip on. It’s illegal to sell or purchase without that orange tip.
I’ve seen maybe one or two of the guns where it would be physically possible to take that tip off, but 99 percent, it’s permanent – painted or physically attached. You couldn’t get that off.
Would you reject a shipment without the orange tips?Yes, I would have to. I couldn’t sell than like that, and I wouldn’t want to, either. They look real enough as it is.
Does this seizure seem unusual and/or harsh to you?The little that I know about it, yes, it seems really unusual to me. My impression is that the ATF was mistaken in what they found and retroactively tried to justify what they did.
If the person were running up and down the street with one (of these unmarked toy guns), that would be justified to me, but to go after someone with these inside somewhere does seem pretty out of the ordinary to me.
Jason Jonah is a merchandise receiver at Andy & Bax Surplus, a Portland Airsoft dealer. Jason can be reached at
Jpackets@yahoo.com
Q&A with Ben Martin from Airsoft Outlet NW
Do you think the ATF’s seizure was appropriate?
We believe the ATF's seizure was wholly inappropriate. Commenters from the Internet, radio, and TV agree and support the position that ATF stepped outside its jurisdiction and seized these replicas without reason.
Did the ATF explain to you their exact concerns with these air rifles?
They have not. We were told we would receive a letter stating why they've been seized and their ultimate outcome, but we have yet to see this letter.
Do you have any chance of getting your property back?
We're still in the process of figuring out what the ATF's facts are and what their final decision is. We'll take the next step once we know what they plan to do.
Were you concerned that this shipment did not have the orange tips? The orange tip debate has come to a head because of this. We've always operated under the assumption that orange tips are needed to differentiate that these replicas are toys, but according to the CBP FAQ
here, Airsoft replicas are not considered toys and don't need an orange tip.
Also, when this first started back in October 2009, the customs agent I talked to was unfamiliar with the product and considered them BB guns, which don't require orange tips, either. So we're not quite sure how much emphasis Customs and Border Protection puts on the orange tip.
Do you think these toy air rifles could be converted into machine guns or any other firearm, or their parts could be used in a conversion? No, I don't think it's practical for anyone to think that these are readily convertible to a "machine gun" or even a normal firearm. Anyone with the knowledge to attempt such a feat would know that these cannot handle the stresses placed on a firearm, and would be more likely to try and convert what is called an 80 percent receiver which doesn't require an FFL or to be serialized by the ATF.
What metal is used in the receivers? It's an anodized pot metal; this is contrary to firearms, which are typically 4140 steel.
Have you ever had any problems with these toy guns or any other toy guns before this? What is your relationship with the ATF like?
We've had some issues with Customs and Border Protection in the past, mostly trademark issues. Other times they've forcefully removed the orange tips replicas and then confiscated them, but as far as I know this is the first time that the ATF has ever been involved with confiscation of Airsoft product.
We've never had any issues or any contact with the ATF before this, so the relationship between Airsoft Outlet NW and the ATF has been platonic or nonexistent.
