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QUOTE (Daily Yomiuri)
NPA seeks to outlaw dangerous airsoft guns
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The National Police Agency hopes to prohibit ownership of airsoft guns packing enough power to kill or seriously injure, as incidents involving the weapons continue, NPA officials said Monday.
The NPA hopes to submit a revision of the firearms law that would call for airsoft guns over a certain power to be regulated. Airsoft guns with less power cannot be modified to a level that can be used to kill people.
There are an estimated 800,000 air guns in circulation that will fall under the restriction. The agency will submit a bill to revise the Firearms and Swords Control Law during the current Diet session.
Airsoft guns, which use low-pressure air or gas to shoot plastic pellets, are popular among both children and adults. While the low powered guns are not regulated by law, a license is required for air guns that pack enough power to kill and are used for hunting and competitive sport.
But recently, some shops have been selling airsoft guns with modified springs or air pressure that can cause minor injury, but not death. Parts to make the guns lethal also are being bought and sold through Internet auctions.
In many cases, airsoft guns with a retail price of 15,000 yen are altered and sold for about 40,000 yen, according to Tokyo Marui Co., the country's leading air gun manufacturer.
There were 58 incidents last year in which people were threatened or assaulted with the weapons. Thirteen of those cases ended in injury, such as when a man from Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, injured an acquaintance after shooting about 100 pellets at him.
In September, someone shot at a car on Hanwa Expressway in Wakayama, shattering a window.
As incidents involving airsoft guns show no sign of disappearing, the agency concluded that stricter regulations may be necessary, such as imposing up to a year in prison, or up to 300,000 yen in fines.
(Feb. 7, 2006)
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The National Police Agency hopes to prohibit ownership of airsoft guns packing enough power to kill or seriously injure, as incidents involving the weapons continue, NPA officials said Monday.
The NPA hopes to submit a revision of the firearms law that would call for airsoft guns over a certain power to be regulated. Airsoft guns with less power cannot be modified to a level that can be used to kill people.
There are an estimated 800,000 air guns in circulation that will fall under the restriction. The agency will submit a bill to revise the Firearms and Swords Control Law during the current Diet session.
Airsoft guns, which use low-pressure air or gas to shoot plastic pellets, are popular among both children and adults. While the low powered guns are not regulated by law, a license is required for air guns that pack enough power to kill and are used for hunting and competitive sport.
But recently, some shops have been selling airsoft guns with modified springs or air pressure that can cause minor injury, but not death. Parts to make the guns lethal also are being bought and sold through Internet auctions.
In many cases, airsoft guns with a retail price of 15,000 yen are altered and sold for about 40,000 yen, according to Tokyo Marui Co., the country's leading air gun manufacturer.
There were 58 incidents last year in which people were threatened or assaulted with the weapons. Thirteen of those cases ended in injury, such as when a man from Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, injured an acquaintance after shooting about 100 pellets at him.
In September, someone shot at a car on Hanwa Expressway in Wakayama, shattering a window.
As incidents involving airsoft guns show no sign of disappearing, the agency concluded that stricter regulations may be necessary, such as imposing up to a year in prison, or up to 300,000 yen in fines.
(Feb. 7, 2006)
