Posted on 02/28/2010 5:56:07 AM PST by Harrius Magnus
CORNELIUS, Ore. - A local business owner is flabbergasted after a shipment of 30 toy guns for his store was confiscated by ATF agents in Tacoma.
Brad Martin and his son, Ben, sell the Airsoft BB guns from their store in Cornelius where theyve been in business for seven years.
The Martins said they buy their stock from Taiwan because the merchandise is less expensive. But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized a shipment of 30 in October. That shipment is worth around $12,000 and the ATF is promising to destroy the entire shipment.
Special Agent Kelvin Crenshaw said the toys can be easily retro-fitted into dangerous weapons.
"With minimal work it could be converted to a machine gun," Crenshaw said.
Brad Martin is furious about the loss of money, for sure, but also in what he now thinks as a loss of his time and the use of government agents to seize toy guns.
"All this manpower, all this time, all this taxpayer money, [it is] wasting my time and my profitability, Martin said. [Just] to seize 30 toy guns!"
Ben Martin disagrees that the toy guns could ever be considered dangerous.
"To say these are readily convertible to machine guns is absolutely preposterous, he said. The round wouldn't go into the firing chamber and even if the firing pin did strike the primer the gun would basically blow up in your face.
ATF said it also seized the toys because they are missing the blaze orange tips required on all imported toy guns.
The Martins said they've received shipments before from Taiwan that were missing the orange tips and were simply asked by customs agents to drive up to Tacoma and paint the tips orange themselves. They are wondering why it is an issue now.
And their little dog too!
“Better yet - Ban the ATF!”
One FReepers tagline...
” Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms should be a convenience store”
“Better yet - Ban the ATF!”
One FReepers tagline...
” Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms should be a convenience store”
“Better yet - Ban the ATF!”
One FReepers tagline...
” Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms should be a convenience store”
I suspect folks like Bill Gates, John Travolta, Schwarzenegger, and a lot of others think just that. Some folks are willing to spend a lot of money on their toys. See any restored classic car as an example.
WTH?
Abolish the uneeded ATF. It is a waste of money.
Airsoft BB Claymore Mine W/Wireless Remote Control
With a little work these could be made into the real thing. Heads up to toy sellers, make sure the ones you order have orange tips.
The BATFags aren’t supposed to do “smell tests”. They are supposed to follow the law.
In a round about way, that was my point as well.
From my post 15:
Frankly, the batfe is one more government entity looking for work, and as we have seen in the past, they will find work usually at the expense of the average citizen, and the rights of said citizen that come from God and are under siege by the batfe.
The second amendment did not arrive courtesy of the batfe.
Betcha a lot of those agents’ kids will have a great Christmas!
IMO, this is a good smell test article. If you are not furious/outraged, then you just don’t “get it,” and will likely be abetting the coming totalitarian regime. You might as well be putting on lipstick and greasing up your old brown-eye. I’ll be purchasing more ammo, rations, etc.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the ATF went after gangbangers instead of guns which **might** go bang after $10,000 worth of work?
“Well the blaze orange tip makes the gun safer.”
Yeah, it is not as if criminals could paint orange on the tips of their real guns to make them look like toys. /sarc
For that very reason, oranged tipped toy guns probably create more of a danger, as law enforcement officers might let their guard down and get themselves shot to death by real guns made to look like toys.
Does anyone have the stats on kids getting shot when their toy guns are mistaken for real ones. I can’t imagine this happens more than once in a blue moon. I have no doubt, at least a hundred times more are killed riding their bicycles.
Too many of our employees have forgotten for whom they work....our bad.
These are made of metal. Probably zinc castings.
The realistic metal toy guns can cost even more.
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