Quote:
Originally Posted by ShortCut
Yeah I geuss there is no point in panicing, cause if they were going to start a shitstorm, wouldn't the have done it by now? And even if they do start something, can't do anything about it, so why worry about something you can't stop?
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Instantly criminalizing 1000+ otherwise law abiding (for the most part) citizens for having toy guns which they use for sport in a controlled environment, as part of a self-regulating community with rules and standards which exceed those set forth in the law books... probably not the greatest approach, not to mention an incredible strain on the courts and on law enforcement, and all for no particularly solid reason.
If they really wanted to shut us down, they'd likely take out all the retailers and provide an amnesty period for owners to turn their guns in (or sell them abroad, which is also legal).
The cases cited in the article are pretty specific, as previously discussed when "the sky falled [
sic]" two years ago: people misused and abused a specific license they'd been granted. They lied about what the guns were for and where they were going. They tried to cheat the system and it bit 'em in the ass. That's what's playing out here.
CBSA and other agencies are fully aware of us. A Googles search for anything airsoft related usually brings up ASC within the first few results (and quite often as the first). We're huge on the radar. People who had no idea we even existed can find us with ease.
CBSA is also fully aware we import stuff -- they inspect, tax, and release all sorts of airsoft-related products; they most likely already knows who many of us are without having to sneak onto ASC or lean on Verifiers or anything contrived like that (and why would they? A CBSA or RCMP agent is 18+ for real, they CAN just get age verified without leaning on anyone or otherwise identifying whom they work for).
But the fact remains that ownership or acquiring parts and accessories isn't illegal, and I doubt they're on a crusade against the Canadian airsofting community.
Is it BS? I think it is. Kang & co. broke the terms of their licenses but the whole situation was brought about by some really stupid laws to begin with. Honestly there are much more import issues to be dealt with in order to protect the Canadian population. They're spending all this effort and resources on airsoft while we simultaneously keep hearing how departments investigating stuff like child pornography and understaffed and underfunded.
FFS, forget the replicas and use the money and manpower to catch real predators doing real harm to kids.