NRA-ILA Takes Shot at New York’s Proposed Air Gun Law

BB guns are a part of life here in the South. It’s a low-risk way to introduce basic marksmanship and gun safety, plus they’re just a lot of fun to plink with. Make it a pellet gun, and it’s another option for hunting small game that’s super quiet and also relatively low risk, though the risk is greater than with the pure BB gun.

Because they’re gun-shaped, though, it seems New York wants to go after them.

And the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Affairs is going after New York over it.

Anti-gun lawmakers in the Empire State are running out of things to ban.

New York already prohibits a broad category of so-called “assault weapons,” almost all magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds, suppressors, machine guns, “rapid fire modification devices” (bump stocks, trigger cranks, binary trigger systems, burst trigger systems, pistol converters, and similar devices), unserialized firearms, unserialized or unfinished frames/receivers, metal knuckles, chuka sticks, wrist-brace type slingshots or slungshots, shurikens, throwing stars, many kinds of toy guns, and much more.

Illustrating the endless aims of gun control advocates, two pending bills in the New York State legislature now propose restrictions on air rifles, pellet guns, and BB guns. Senate bill S9215 and the identical Assembly bill, A10701, would change the definition of an “imitation weapon” under NY Gen. Bus. Law §§ 870 to 873 to include “an air rifle, pellet gun, or ‘B-B’ gun;” amend NY Gen. Bus. Law § 399-r, on the sale of paint pellet guns, to include other types of air guns, and redefine “gun industry member” to include makers of “imitation weapons.”

Currently, “imitation weapons” (any device or object made of plastic, wood, metal or any other material which substantially duplicates or can reasonably be perceived to be an actual firearm, air rifle, pellet gun, or BB gun) must meet five requirements in order to be lawfully imported, offered for sale, sold, or distributed within the state. The “imitation weapon” must be “constructed entirely of transparent or translucent materials;” be colored white, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright pink or bright purple on the entire exterior or as the primary color; except for water guns, have a barrel that is closed for a distance of not less than a half-inch from the front end of its barrel with the same material of which item is made; be legibly stamped with the manufacturer’s name or identifiable mark by which the manufacturer can be readily identified; and not have an attached laser pointer.

Although the bills don’t address possession, the effect of the amendment to the “imitation weapon” definition is that in order to be lawfully imported, marketed, sold, or distributed in New York State, air rifles, pellet guns, and BB guns would be required to comply with all five requirements. The closed/plugged barrel requirement means that should the amendment pass in its current wording, the only models available for import and sale would no longer be functional (able to fire a projectile).

As Cam noted a couple of weeks ago, that would include the venerable Red Ryder.

And why? What is the reason for this? It’s because some moronic kid took off from the police, then pointed an air gun at the cops, only to get ventilated for his troubles. Clearly, the problem wasn’t that he matched the description of someone wanted for a crime, or that he ran from police, or that he pointed something that looked like a gun at the police.

No, the problem is that these guns exist, and that people might enjoy them.

Kids have pointed “imitation guns” at cops for decades. It was bad enough when all the toys had to be bright colors so it was clear they weren’t real firearms, but at least guns that weren’t firearms were left alone, for the most part. They might have had to have the old orange tip that most kids either colored over or just tore off, but if it was meant to shoot, it could still shoot.

New York is now trying to make it so that your BB gun is nothing but a wall hanger.

Luckily, the ATF has never arrested someone for a non-firing replica before, have they? Oh, wait…

More seriously, the law itself would end a lot of fun summers for future generations of parents and kids, knocking over drink cans with the pull of the trigger, learning how to operate a gun safely and responsibly, but with little chance of someone getting hurt if a mistake is made.

I’d say it’s like they want people shooting actual firearms and younger and younger ages instead, but we all know that’s not remotely acceptable in the state of New York.

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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