City police ask public force to register replica firearms

[Kurgan]

Story below,

It appears some idiot was walking around his apartment holding his airsoft gun and a passerby thought it was real.

http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/f...rticle/1376366

It doesn't seem like a bad idea to contact the police and let them know you have these guns.

Thoughts?

[L473ncy]

I dunno man..... I'm a supporter of the police and all but this passage frightens me:

The legislation further allows police to seize a spring or air gun and gives the chief the authority to cancel permits and destroy seized guns.

What if someone (with connections) had a grudge against you? Lets say you have a PTW or a GBBR that you've upgraded, fixed and tuned. What then? You're then out $2000+ (what if you had real steel accessories on that PTW? A nice expensive DD rail? Real Steel Optics? etc.)

PS: Windows and blinds should be closed when handling airsoft guns but I don't think many people are as paranoid about that as I am.

[Lakonian]

Registration = confiscation. If you don't have to, don't. The police (shot callers, top brass, etc,etc) aren't, and have NEVER been on the side of firearms owners. This is just another means to tighten the screws on legitimate hobbyists.

[SniperSam]

Why should we have to contact police if we have said guns? a good 80% of AEGs are confiscated at the border because they CANT hurt people

[ShelledPants]

Pfft, what is there to gain by registering replicas?

Lets say Joe Blow registers his replicas. A few months go by and he's playing dress up in his living room with a couple of them... A passerby sees, calls the cops.

Do you really think they are going to say, "Oh don't worry sir, I see here on this system that those guns are not real, go about your day, don't worry."

Nothing to gain, everything to lose.

[Rooster]

While I can somewhat understand the screw up on the owners part (assuming that your nieghbors aren't peeping tom's), I do think it's not a bad idea to register them with the city police force.
This is a Fredericton By-Law? Do all cities have something similar? I would have no issues registering mine with the local police to avoid this kind of hassle. It also might be a show of good faith on the part of the airsoft community. Show the government that we just want to be able to enjoy our sport at our local fields and show that as a group we are willing to follow the rules and handle ourselves respectfully.

Edit- Apparently from reading above I'm alone in my thoughts on this...

[TDH]

At first blush the municipal bylaw seems organized to assist police in their own anxiety level. It is the possessor's life at risk above all if he's stupid enough to put himself in a position where police are guns-drawn. What I find alarming is the police's statement about the public's safety...

[Kurgan]

Rooster,

You're not alone. I see the merit in complying, and am prepared to do just that when I move into Fredericton.

I know I'll get flamed for this, but I don't see any harm in being legit and informing the local police about my weapons. If people are afraid of losing their guns, why play the sport? So many posts on this board have been about legalizing airsoft or making it a legit sport.. my question is how can we do this if we continually run like scared mice when the light gets put on us?

If you can't "afford" to have your gun taken, you're in the wrong sport and may wish to consider clearsoft....

Let the flaming begin.....

****edit****
If you know anything about law enforcement, you know that they do use the gun registry at every call they go to. Knowing if a gun is present in the house prepares them for a possible conflict...

and no, I'm not pro-registry.... but I'm also not afraid to comply with the law either.

[venture]

agree with shelledpants and tdh.

nothing to gain. and i dont like the police always raving about the public safety. they are wrong. as tdh says only the operator is in danger.

if i am robbed at gunpoint, i hope the robber is holding an airsoft gun. whether i know it or not. if an accident happens i think the airsoft gun will do a bit less damage. how about you mister police officer? would you rather go up against airsoft or rs?

[TDH]

Originally Posted by Kurgan

Rooster,

You're not alone. I see the merit in complying, and am prepared to do just that when I move into Fredericton.

I know I'll get flamed for this, but I don't see any harm in being legit and informing the local police about my weapons. If people are afraid of losing their guns, why play the sport? So many posts on this board have been about legalizing airsoft or making it a legit sport.. my question is how can we do this if we continually run like scared mice when the light gets put on us?

If you can't "afford" to have your gun taken, you're in the wrong sport and may wish to consider clearsoft....

Let the flaming begin.....

No flaming:

I think if the police statement read more what is realistic then I'd have less of a pull-back. They are terrified, perhaps, as they should be, that their staff will respond to a call and the news article will read, "Police kill boy holding TOY gun". Call it what it is and maybe it's more palatable, but try dressing it up as something else and I resist.

I believe the major agitant here is the press. They don't understand what exists. You can tell by the way they describe the guns in question. They look for headlines and sensationalize in order to have a marketable product. Law enforcement is not number one on the offense parade...the press is. They speak in superlatives which are unnecessarily alarming.

In the end, is registration a good idea? Can it be completed with a modicum of efficiency and effectiveness unlike the federal registry. Answer that positively and most of us, I believe would be IN.

As a side note: If I purchase a legal product, legally, should I really be worried about having it taken away, money and cost and my ability to throw money away aside?

Give it some thought.

[REX FERAL]

PS: Windows and blinds should be closed when handling airsoft guns but I don't think many people are as paranoid about that as I am.[/QUOTE]

Make sure there is no back lighting that can make a shadow on the blinds if you are ' Inside your house shooting or fondling your gun"
And yes I am paranoid as you are about these gunz and my next door peepers seeing them.
Even having them inside your house but in plan sight and not put away might get you busted buy just someone passing by, a Mailman, Hydro reader,or a Mormon wanting to read the bible.

JUST PUT THEM AWAY OUT OF SIGHT .

[Rooster]

Originally Posted by venture

agree with shelledpants and tdh.

nothing to gain. and i dont like the police always raving about the public safety. they are wrong. as tdh says only the operator is in danger.

Gotta say I don't agree venture, it's not only the operator in danger in a situation like this. There is a possibility innocents getting caught in the line of fire.

I mean I'm not trying to say that registering our Airsoft guns with the locals is going to stop morons from doing stupid shit,, just like the gun registry (although it put alot of people in my city to work) is a joke in the fact that criminals aren't registering their weapons. It does let the police know in advance if their are guns on the premises and what those guns might be.

As for shelledpants comment, no I don't expect the cops to tell someone "it's just a toy, go about your day" But I know I'd rather have a couple cops stop by to say "Hey fuck nuts, close your curtains before you play with your airsoft" because they know it's there, than have a fucking SWAT team bust my door in guns drawn on the assumption that I have a real assault rifles in my home...

[CARL]

Wow the naivety and fail here is astonishing........You guys need to read u on Canadian civilian ownership of firearms in this country , get some history in you before you make such stupid decisions.....Talk to people that were there in 79 and throughout the 80's and the dreadful 90's......

[pancakedestroyer]

Registration just makes it easier for them to come collect your airsoft guns when they decide they don't want you to have them anymore.
If you can't see that your daft. Fredeicton barely has a competent police force as is. Fear mongering is a great tactic to get the ignorant and uninformed on the side of the police when it comes to scary things that can't hurt you.

Also, Kurgan, just throwing this out there. The police do not use the gun registry on every call they go to...dunno where you pulled that from but it couldn't be more wrong.

[Spike]

Originally Posted by CARL

Wow the naivety and fail here is astonishing........You guys need to read u on Canadian civilian ownership of firearms in this country , get some history in you before you make such stupid decisions.....Talk to people that were there in 79 and throughout the 80's and the dreadful 90's......

I've seen:

-You're allowed to own any replicas you've had before the '98 (or whatever year it was) law change.

-You're allowed to own them if they're not replicas; they're unregulated (and thus too hot to game)

-You're allowed to have them if they're partially clear.

Every time someone asks about the legality, they're answered with "BECAUSE I FUCKING SAID SO, GO READ TEH FAQS"...which don't contain anything helpful, I've searched myself. Someone care to quote a legitimate government source regarding the legality of these?