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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 they’ve 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.
That should be easy to prove. Do so.
But I don't believe the real problem is the toy guns. The real problem is what people use them for: Games.
Games involving small unit tactics.
In other words: War games.
Having people armed in accordance with the Second Amendment is one thing. Having them well versed and practiced in the collective use of those arms is something else.
The ATF should be disbanded.
” ‘With minimal work it could be converted to a machine gun,’ Crenshaw said. “
Show me one. I’ll bet you can’t.
Crenshaw is thug and a criminal. Plain and simple.
Of course we ALL know that toy guns are FAR more dangerous than dedicated leftists and Marxist bureaucrats!
Meanwhile millions of illegal guns pour into the country and are sold on the streets to criminals who don’t have concealed carry permits.
Typical liberal garbage. Harass normal, honest people and let the criminals go free.
Ping for tyranny, Ping for death of America.
You are paying for an exact replica of the original gun. Very useful in training exercises. I have an airsoft replica of my 9mm that mimics the weight and sight picture exactly. I practice holster draws and rapid target acquisition all the time. The cost of training for those particular drills is free compared to firing off 9mm rounds at $17 a box.
The replica guns are expensive because they are made of metal and attention to detail is extreme.
The toy store owner is “safe”. The BATFE will make him a target and pursue prosecution and make him an example. He’s safe in that he’s not a real criminal that actually might shoot back at the BATFE agents... real criminals do that you know and the BATFE thugs want their victims nice and easy.
The toy store owner probably pissed off a local elected official and it has gone down hill from here. Remember David Olofson?
“Meanwhile millions of illegal guns pour into the country “
YOU LIE !!
.
I’m curious. Is there a law against painting the tip of a real firearm blaze orange? If not I’m sure there will be soon.
Please refer to BATFE as BATFE not ATF. They want to be one of the three-letter agencies like FBI or CIA. BATFE is insulting.
Hopefully one of our investigative news agencies will purchase one of these toy guns and do a documentary on converting it to a real machinegun thereby exposing this BS (sarcasm).
I saw them in Gander mountain for that much, yup.
I paid 200 for my kids Airsoft replica M16. He’s trading it in soon for whatever the Marine’s will give him.
Yup. Oklahoma invasion. Great fun! The Chinese supposedly use them for training? That may just be a selling point, since these stupid guns break down, have rechargeable pain in the ass batteries, the bb’s are all over the backyard (pollution!). But it was worth it.
BATF = Burn All Toddlers First
For some reason, this sentence scares me.
it's an airsoft gun... it's a toy... it can cost that much... you don't know what you're talking about...
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