Is an Air Rifle Considered a Firearm ?

[GordMay]

I believe the classification of Air Guns (as a “firearm”) might depend (in some jurisdictions) upon their muzzle velocity/energy.

* ie: In Canada, air guns with a muzzle velocity of over 500 ft/s and a muzzle energy in excess of 4.2 ftlLbs (5.7 J) are classified as firearms and must be registered, transported, stored, and used as such.

Even air guns not considered firearms are subject to regulation in many areas; and they may be considered "dangerous or deadly weapons".

[Hud3]

They're not that scientific here on Nevis. An air gun is a weapon, period. A friend of mine wanted to import a Daisy BB gun to harass the monkeys that raid his garden. He was required to report to the police station for an interview with the police chief, fill out forms, have a visit to his home by a constable, and make a (voluntary) contribution to the police force general fund. When the air gun arrived, it was sequestered at the airport by customs for several months. I'm still not sure if he has it in hand, almost a year after beginning the process. His contribution was used to partially fund a radar gun for speed limit enforcement.

[oldsalt_1942]

Originally Posted by Pblais

Yes it can and no if you used it it won't stop someone. It only makes them mad. It's a toy weapon. The really nice ones are a target shooting recreational sport enjoyed by many. It's not a really a serious weapon but some places might consider it one. Other than in competition I know of no serious use for one other than small rodents. They are a lot of fun to shoot at close range.

Obviously you've never seen a Crossman .22 caliber air rifle. Pumped to the max it has nearly the power, though not the range, of a .22 short. You could inflict SERIOUS damage with one. However, it's a single shot and you have to pump it eight or nine times for each shot and make sure the pellet is inserted properly which would certainly make it impractical if you're not Annie Oakley and being beset by more than one person.

[Trim50]

Originally Posted by Hud3

His contribution was used to partially fund a radar gun for speed limit enforcement.

Now that is a funny story...however, living in Nevis has a lot of positive attributes that would make one overlook not having a BB gun

[Talbot]

In UK, I am not entirely certain about the status of air guns, but believe that they need a license above a certain power.

I am certain that the verey pistol is considered a firearm.

[Zanshin]

I think the general limit is 7.5 KiloJoules in many countries.

[GordMay]

In the United Kingdom, for example, air pistols generating more than 8.1 Joules, or air rifles generating more than 16.2 Joules of energy are considered firearms.

[hellosailor]

Lawmakers aren't all dumb. I've seen several definitions of "firearm" written very broadly to include any form or "stored energy" or "propellant" and those are OLD definitions.

If you can pick it up and cause it to launch a projectile--it's usually a firearm. There are plenty of air guns sold and used for varmint hunting, the only thing that makes them non-lethal to humans is the generally small mass of the pellet and poor aim of the average shooter.

But let's not forget "air guns" use compressed air to fire 2x4's through WALLS to test hurricane construction standards. And chickens, to test bird strikes on aircraft windshields.

So, is that an air cannon in your galley? Or just the meat tenderizer?

[schoonerdog]

Now, that's something that no one would suspect, a chicken shooter. A large airgun shooting a frozen chickens at any pirates. Or maybe frozen seagulls for convenience? Or frozen turkeys for a ship to ship battle. I truely doubt anyone would figure that out. How would you do a ballistics trace? And by the time law enforcement arrived the bird would have thawed and be stuck in the middle of the would be pirate. I think you could pick any story you really wanted to "It was the most bizarre thing, I found him there holding a bag of birdseed with a bird stuck in his chest.." And even if they knew exactly what happened, how could they convince anyone of the truth? 'I know this sounds bizarre, but he's been keeping a stash of frozen pidgens and then using them as weapons to defend himself, look at his freezer and you'll find a frozen turkey too. Obviously he's intent on doing this again"

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by schoonerdog

A large airgun shooting ...frozen seagulls

Frozen Albatroses?

Then if you miss you would still becalm them!

[lolanreg@smartc]

G/mac, I'm sorry to hear that in NZ. I'm not sure what the rules are in Oz but I believe that an air rifle is a classified weapon. I rather like the idea that all firearms be licenced,I'm not a gun totin' person, see no valid reason for a normal ordinary citizen to have one/two/three. there's too many fools around, and thank God I'm not a poor old moose in Alaska with all those rednecks up there, including the top heirachy. Bang Bang thank you Mam. So on a boat? you've got to be joking!

[Lancerbye]

I like the frozen bird gun idea. However some years back living on an a piece of land on Vancouver Island I would use a potato gun to scare off the deer that would be trying to get into my garden. At first this worked simply because of the noise, but once the deer realized that a free potato meal came along with the noise they would just stand ther waiting to get hit by the potato and then proceed to eat it. Maybe the same thing would happen to the pirates. You could end up with a flottilla of pirate boats waiting to have a turkey launched at them.

[lolanreg@smartc]

Lancerbye, Pirates are very partial to potato chips!

[lolanreg@smartc]

What does one do with a killer jewel but hit it with a frozen chook. takes all the piss outa them real quick.

[Guzzi]

Technically it's not a FIRE arm as there is no powder to burn, but the governments that would keep their citizens unarmed and defenseless would consider a rock thrown hard enough an illegal weapon.