Gilroy
– Some Gilroy police sergeants aren’t happy that a local hobby
shop sells
”
airsoft
”
guns, which look like real firearms but in fact shoot plastic
BBs.
They would like to see a law limiting the possession or sale of
these replica guns, such as one that will ban their possession in
Morgan Hill public places as of Sept. 24.
Gilroy – Some Gilroy police sergeants aren’t happy that a local hobby shop sells “airsoft” guns, which look like real firearms but in fact shoot plastic BBs.
They would like to see a law limiting the possession or sale of these replica guns, such as one that will ban their possession in Morgan Hill public places as of Sept. 24.
Gilroy City Council members say they would consider such a law if the proposal came from Police Chief Gregg Giusiana.
A bill that would do the same statewide is stuck in a Senate committee, but a 76-0 approval by the Assembly on May 10 indicates that opposition may be sparse. It is already illegal in California to carry guns that shoot metal BBs; this bill would expand that to guns that shoot any projectiles, with a maximum penalty of a year in jail.
Airsoft guns are perfectly legal to buy, sell and possess, regardless of age, but when someone mistakes one for a real gun, police respond with their own – very real – sidearms drawn. It’s only a matter of time, the sergeants say, before an innocent child or teen-ager makes a wrong move and is shot, perhaps killed.
Hobby World on Monterey Street features a wide assortment of airsofts, including copies of M-16 and AK-47 rifles and a variety of handguns.
Realism is the point, says store owner Guy Bassett, and the guns he sells look real, except for orange or red tips that the law requires of airsoft manufacturers and importers. They also feel real, weighing about the same as a real gun, with sliding bolts for loading ammunition.
“There’s no way to kill anyone with these,” Bassett emphasizes, but even though no ID check is required, he refuses to sell airsoft guns to anyone under 18. Most of his buyers are parents buying them for children, he says.
“When I sell a gun to a family, I … give them my little speech,” he says. Keep the guns in the backyard and don’t show them to people, he tells people.
Police perspective
It was 11pm last Thursday when an employee at a Jack in the Box called Gilroy police to say someone was playing with a gun while waiting for a drive-through order. Police stopped the vehicle at gunpoint, but the gun in question turned out to be an airsoft.
Officers don’t have much time to think in such scenarios, patrol Sgt. Kurt Ashley said. If someone threatens them with a gun, their training-honed instincts take over.
“If someone points a gun at me, what looks like a real gun with an orange tip, what do I do? Do I wait?” Ashley said. “I’d shoot them, simple as that.”
Sgt. Kurt Svardal, the department’s spokesman, agreed with Ashley. Threatened with a gun, an officer’s thoughts focus on self-preservation – or as Svardal put it, “I know I’m going home tonight.”
The emotional burden of shooting an unarmed young person, however, would haunt a police officer for the rest of his life, both sergeants said.
A seller’s view
Bassett says he has been carrying airsoft guns in his original San Jose store since 1993. The guns come from Japan and are gaining popularity on paintball guns, partly because they are cheaper, Bassett said.
“My reason for selling these is making money, obviously,” the frank store owner said, but he says he has another motive. An 18-year-old with a “thing for guns” can legally buy a real one, but he would rather that person buy one that is non-lethal.
“Most of the people who come down and buy them are teen-agers,” Bassett said. “They use them like paintball guns. They wear goggles and shoot them at each other.”
Some users wear protective gear, Bassett said, “but I think that kind of takes the fun out of it.” Pain is part of the game, he said. One of the most common questions buyers ask him is, “Which gun hurts the most?”
A shot from an airsoft pistol “will put a little welt on you,” Bassett said, but a fully automatic rifle that shoots seven rounds per second “really hurts,” he said.
At $389, however, that gun is out of most kids’ price range. A $60 assault rifle replica is not, however. Neither are the $15 handguns
Bassett says he has sold airsoft guns to police officers, Boy Scout troops and church groups.
“I’ve probably sold them to a dozen church groups, 24 at a time,” he said.
Bassett noted that many kids paint the tips black.
“I don’t think that’s necessarily a stupid thing to do,” he said. In his mind, a cop is going to treat a replica gun like a real one whether it has an orange tip or not.
Laws about airsoft guns are better left to lawmakers, Bassett said, but he thinks the problem would be resolved if someone would open a place where people can pay to hold airsoft gunfights.
Morgan Hill’s reaction
When talk turns to airsoft gun incidents, around here people bring up the Morgan Hill incident in which police came perilously close to shooting several teens.
“Those are the ones that give my business a bad name,” Bassett said. Svardal described it as “every cop’s worst nightmare.”
On April 26, parents and a teacher called police to report that four men with guns, wearing masks and camouflaged clothing, were approaching youngsters about to start baseball practice at Jackson Elementary School.
When police arrived, two suspects fled toward the field while the others took cover in bushes. One officer noticed a white handle on one of the guns and told other officers to hold their fire.
The men turned out to be teen-agers, aged 13 to 16, and the guns turned out to be airsofts – with their orange tips removed or painted black. The kids were playing at being commandos.
Within days, the Morgan Hill City Council was talking about banning replica guns in public places. They passed the law Aug. 18.
A law like Morgan Hill’s would make Gilroy safer, according to Svardal.
City council views
Councilman Russ Valiquette said he thinks airsoft guns are “most definitely” worthy of the council’s attention.
“I don’t have a problem with them just so long as they have a proper marking so you can distinguish between it being a replica and being real,” Valiquette said. He thought the state Legislature should consider a law against painting over the guns’ orange tips or otherwise manipulating them to make them look more real.
“Anything we can do to save lives and make it more safe for the citizens, I would back it up,” Mayor Al Pinheiro said. “I don’t see any reason why we need to have such things anyway.”
Airsoft and paintball price comparison
• Airsoft
Airsoft pistol $15
Rifle, flashlight, laser sight $60
Fully automatic rifle $389
2,000 plastic BBs $9
Sold weekly at Hobby World 5
• Paintball
Paintball semi-automatic
rifle $69
Paintball kit, including gun
and protective gear $289
2,000 paintballs $60
