An ordinance being drafted in the city of Los Angeles has local retailers of imitation guns up in arms.
The pending regulations could require all imitation firearms – including airsoft and BB guns – sold in the city to be painted a bright neon color so law enforcement personnel can differentiate between real – and deadly – weapons and their more benign counterparts.
If enacted, airsoft retailers said, the rules would put a significant crimp in their business catering to enthusiasts – mostly males ages 13 to 35 – who participate in military simulations, or “ mil-sims,” where players act out different military scenarios.
“The whole premise around airsoft is mil-sim. It’s like a video game, you get immersed into the character,” said Tim Seargeant, marketing director of retailer Airsoft GI in Walnut. “A bright pink gun would kill immersion. Navy SEALs don’t use pink guns.”
While there are other differences between more powerful BB guns, which fire pellets made of zinc, copper or lead, and airsoft guns, which project smaller, lighter plastic pellets, the latter are often designed to look much like real weapons.
Evike Chang, owner of Alhambra retailer and wholesaler Evike Inc., also questions the necessity of the proposed ordinance. He said that he believes enforcing existing laws, which prohibit selling imitation weapons to minors or brandishing airsoft guns in public, would address the concerns at the heart of the pending rules.
“Politicians are trying to kill the industry and they don’t care about it,” he said.
He added that the law could create even more trouble for law enforcement because there are real guns in circulation that are painted bright pink and white.
That was the view taken by Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks, who represents the South L.A. area. Parks, a former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, was the only council member to oppose the ordinance.
“There are a number of companies that are catering to female customers with guns that are pink and blue,” Parks said. “It’s pretty clear you are creating a solution that could be more harmful to an officer. If you have legitimate gun dealers, mimicking the colors of air rifles, which one is which?”
Parks said coming up with effective legislation that could prevent more officer shootings like the one that started the bill is difficult.
“I don’t know if there’s legitimate legislation that can legislate common sense,” he said. “We find that 13-year-olds get access to things, whether it’s through the black market or parents.”
His opposition puts him at odds not only with the bulk of the council, but with current Police Chief Charlie Beck, who came out in favor of an ordinance earlier this year, citing a pair of officer-involved shootings in 2010 in which suspects used BB and airsoft guns. One of the shootings left a 13-year-old paralyzed, even though he was using an imitation firearm with an orange tip.
“Bad guys could have always painted their guns, but that’s not being done,” said LAPD Detective Richard Tompkins. “I have never recovered a pink or blue gun or whatever.”
Contingency plan
The Airsoft Safety Foundation, formed by members of California’s airsoft industry to fight legislation deemed harmful to the trade, said its 16 members had aggregate sales of $175 million in 2011, the most recent period available, and employed more than 250.
Though the city of Los Angeles isn’t home to big players in the market, some of the industry’s biggest retailers are headquartered close by. Airsoft GI has a 12,000-square-foot retail store and warehouse in Walnut with about 60 employees. Evike has a 100,000-square-foot warehouse and retail store in Alhambra with more than 100 employees. Combined, the two stores process an estimated 450,000 orders a year for airsoft guns and tactical gear like holsters and helmets through their retail and online operations.
Those figures, said owners of both Evike and Airsoft GI, could drop significantly if the ordinance passes. Even though the two are outside the city of Los Angeles and wouldn’t be directly affected by the ordinance, they would still be hurt by it. That’s because they have customers in Los Angeles. What’s more, they fear that other cities and counties will adopt similar measures if Los Angeles acts.
Indeed, Tompkins, the detective, said as much: “We don’t want any of these around. We’re hoping some other entities will do it to make it easier for enforcement.”
An earlier failed effort to regulate imitation guns at the state level rattled Airsoft GI enough that it opened a store in Virginia this year. The expansion was partly done in case a law passed that would stop the company from selling realistic looking airsoft guns in California.
“Expansion was always part of our plans. But legislation definitely accelerated expansion,” said Seargeant, who wouldn’t rule out the possibility of closing up shop in California and relocating entirely to Virginia if local rules became too onerous.
“The whole industry is practically in California; 90 percent of distributors are just down the street. It’s easier for us to do business here,” said Chang.
Still, he continued, if the retail business suffers significantly after passage of the ordinance, he will consider moving, perhaps to Nevada.
“This is my livelihood and the city of Los Angeles is right next door,” he said. “Eventually, there’s going to be a tipping point.”
