Customs and ATF Officials Seize BB Guns

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I do not envy the job that our Customs and Border Patrol agents have to perform day in and day out in their quest to keep our country safe.  They have to be diligent in their pursuit of discovering the new ways that smugglers attempt to bring in drugs and weapons into the country.  Then there is the pursuit of those who try to enter the country illegally.  It is a tough job to be sure.

One would think that with the multitude of items coming through customs, that occasionally legal items could be stopped at the border.  You would also think that once it was determined that said product was allowed to be brought into the country that any product that was delayed or confiscated would be returned to the rightful owners of that property.

Bob Owens of Pajamamedia.com has an interesting three part series about a company, Airsoft Outlet Northwest, has been having difficulty getting their goods through customs.  Airsoft Outlet sells air rifles designed to shoot plastic BBs.  These rifles are designed for those who are looking for a less messy alternative to paint ball.  Several of the rifles are very realistic looking, but are not made with the same quality metals used to manufacture a real weapon. 

Airsoft Outlet Northwest had a recent shipment of 30 of these rifles seized by custom officials.  The owners of the company thought that it would be a temporary delay since they believed that a close examination of the guns would reveal that the guns were not real weapons.  Plus they had received similar shipments in the past.  Customs officers turned the guns over the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Here is where the story starts to border on absurd.  The ATF officials determined that seized guns were, in fact, designed to shoot plastic BBs.  However, they also determined that they could be retrofit to become actual machine guns. 

In his article, Owens quotes numerous experts who claim the items could not be converted to actual weapons.  He also sites other products seized from Airsoft Outlet that can easily be purchased at sites like Amazon.com.  In other parts of the country, similar items can be purchased from other Airsoft dealers.  Owens even sites a customs regulation stating that these types of goods are perfectly legal. 

Pajamas media has tried to contact both the ATF and the CBP regarding the matter and to clarify how their decision in the Northwest will impact the rest of the country and future shipments.  They have not responded to those requests.  Unfortunately, right now, the guns are set to be destroyed by the ATF.  The actions of the ATF and CBP could best be described as being overzealous, and at worse incompetence. Sadly, a small business owner is set to be out of several thousand dollars through no fault of their own because of these events.

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