シースコッファー

 Or so it’s called in Japanese airsoft circles, although apparently it’s really called “Spezialkoffer”.  Some dork on Facebook imported one to try to stuff a real MP5K into it, but apparently it needs a shell deflector.  $600 for a replica?  Ouch.  Just searching for 「シースコッファー」 will turn up a bunch of hits.

Airsoft Law

U.S. Code and Code of Federal Regulations: Online versions of the U.S.C./C.F.R. USC Title 15, Chapter 76, Section 5001 contains the text of the law regarding "imitation firearms". CFR Title 15, Part 1150 details the requirements for markings on such imitation firearms (search for 15CFR1150). The law is very specific about the color: it must be "blaze orange", as per GSA Federal Standard 595a, February, 1987, color number 12199. How about that for bureaucracy!!

MFIAP: Importers of firearms and airsoft guns. They have a highly informative FAQ on airsoft. Interestingly enough, according to this, almost all shops selling airsoft that I've seen so far are doing so illegally. It's not just about the blaze orange tip (which actually has to be of a specific color, according to U.S. Code), but also trademarks ("H&K", "Glock", etc.) and other IP related to the design of the mechanisms. Sounds like a trickier business than I thought. This is going to need a lot more research in order to do. MFI has franchising, but for ridiculous prices. I'd rather research it and do it on my own. They also list a site on the main page, Shimo Kobo, that sells pottery and such.

However, the MFI website does not seem to be entirely accurate regarding the nature of trademark violation. They state:

Possession of a counterfeit product could (according to the letter of the law) provide prosecution of felony possession for every mark on the product.

Whereas a site from the Customs and Border Protection says:

Articles bearing marks that are counterfeit or inappropriately using a federally registered trademark are subject to seizure and forfeiture.The importation of articles intended for sale or public distribution bearing counterfeit marks may subject an individual to a civil fine if the registered trademark has also been recorded with CBP. Articles bearing marks that are confusingly similar to a CBP recorded registered trademark , and restricted gray market articles (goods bearing genuine marks not intended for U.S. importation for which CBP granted gray market protection) are subject to detention and seizure.

However, travelers arriving in the United States may be permitted an exemption and allowed to import one article of each type, which must accompany the person, bearing a counterfeit, confusingly similar or restricted gray market trademark, provided that the article is for personal use and is not for sale.

Granted, this is for items physically carried back to the U.S. from overseas, but it certainly qualifies as possession, and mentions nothing of felony prosecution. If one intends to sell, the matter is different, since that is trafficking. The importer is expected to do their homework (which I'm doing). I'm not sure if this is just a scare tactic or what. Obviously personal possession of copyright or trademark violations is not a crime malum in se, and the fact that the CBP allows some counterfeits to pass is supporting evidence that MFI's information is not correct. I'm still searching the laws, however. Regarding trafficking, there are these references: USC Title 18, Part I, Chapter 113, Section 2320 and a DOJ site (also 1 and 2) on intellectual property crimes. I'd like to know about the role of intent in these matters, i.e. is it "Ignorance of the law is not an excuse"—despite that no one lawyer knows all the Federal laws, much less State laws!

Incidentally, the CBP import page appears to be extremely useful. (Perhaps I've linked to it here before, but...well...I forget.)

U.S. Toy Safety Standards: Might be useful someday.

Airsoft Games

Was recently browsing for information on airsoft games and turned up the following.

Airsoft on Wikipedia: Encyclopedic general information. Also see the article on legal issues.

AirsoftGunHelp: General info on airsoft and related gaming issues.

Airsoft Games Club: Airsoft forum...for players in the Philippines (?!).

One article talks about why airsoft is better than paintball. He's got an interesting take on things. Paintball has become a 'sanitized' sport, after all. When one has to call a gun a 'marker', then it's time to find a better crew to play with or upgrade to airsoft!

A dated CNN article regarding legislation against toy guns. Therein is this salient point:

"We don't think that the government has any business regulating toys, especially guns," said Angel Shamaya, executive director of the guns rights organization Keep and Bear Arms. "Banning toy guns is just another feel-good anti-gun maneuver, and we oppose it."

But for supporters of the ban, that's partly the point. Beyond preventing crimes committed using gun replicas, the councilmen simply want to keep guns of any sort out of the hands of youngsters. Said Vann, "If they use toy guns there's a greater chance they'll graduate to the real thing when they grow up."

The extreme-liberal lawmakers are the ones attempting to using legislation as a means of socio-cultural mind control. Such insidious self-righteous pseudo-intellectuals hate guns because they know that "right-wing crazies" want to subject them to the laws of Darwin for the evil stuff they do. I'm a 'gunner', so you know where I stand. Incidentally, that article has an error: it says "Desert Eagle .45-caliber handgun", but there is no .45 version, only .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .50 AE. Further, the caliber should be written ".45" or "45-caliber"—as written in the article it's redundant. At any rate, this was the information I was looking for:

In October 1992, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued regulations governing the "Marking of Toy Look-Alike and Imitation Firearms." Under the new specifications, toy guns were required to bear a solid, "blaze-orange" plug at the tip of their barrel, or be colored entirely white, bright red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink or purple.

Airsoft Arms

Edo sent me this link to Airsoft Arms, an airsoft gun and miscellaneous military item shop near Columbus. Looks like the orange tips are mandatory; the manufacturers must make them specially for export.

Airsoft Guns Again

I wrote a post about airsoft gun sales sites in the U.S., but neglected to post the manufacturer's pages.

東京マルイ
KSC
SIIS

There's a long article on Wikipedia Japan also.

A company called Sanken does import/export of toy guns. Cool!

Airsoft Sites

SoftAirPro - FAQ
IceFire - FAQ
Pyramid Air