New gun bill 'would completely destroy the hobby': Airsoft New Brunswick
Members of New Brunswick's airsoft and paintball communities are raising concerns proposed gun control legislation could spell the end of their sports.
Tony O'Neill, a staff member with Airsoft New Brunswick, said Bill C-21 as it is written today includes new restrictions which would make nearly all the toy guns used by players illegal, as they are designed to look as realistic as possible.
"This would [ban] 100 per cent of airsoft equipment and a portion of paintball equipment. It would completely destroy the hobby as a whole," said O'Neill. "In New Brunswick, in terms of airsoft and paintball put together, that would be over 1,000 players being affected."
O'Neill describes airsoft as "essentially long-distance tag played with toy guns." The sport is played similarly to paintball, with most games played between two teams who aim to eliminate all opposing players by hitting them with a small plastic BB fired from a toy gun, tagging them "out" of the game once hit.
Firearm vs sports equipment
The conflict between the sport and Bill C-21, which primarily focuses on new restrictions for real firearms and toughens penalties for violating them, comes with the proposed changes regarding firearm replicas.
Under current firearms regulations, O'Neill said airsoft guns are in a "grey area" where they are effectively unregulated, as long as they fire their projectiles within a certain range of velocities and energies.
If passed, Bill C-21 would prohibit anything that looks like a real firearm other than an antique, but does not itself fire a projectile faster than 152.4 metres per second or at a muzzle energy greater than 5.7 joules.
In an emailed statement to Brunswick News, Department of Justice Canada spokesperson Ian McLeod said the bill would not criminalize ownership of existing firearm replicas, nor would it change the definition of a firearm replica, and is intended to increase public safety.
"Expanding the prohibition on replica firearms to also include airguns that exactly resemble a regulated firearm would address a gap in the law and protect public safety," wrote McLeod. "Replica firearms are indistinguishable from 'real' firearms and may be used to commit criminal offences."
Businesses could see a loss
But to O'Neill, the new rules would mean he and hundreds other airsoft players in the province will lose an activity that brings them together and keeps them active.
"That's a massive community that honestly would not exist if airsoft did not exist," he said. "I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis ... and airsoft has been my main motivator to get out and do anything physical."
Should the new rules be enacted, businesses that provide playing space for both paintball and airsoft, such as Maghill Paintball just outside Moncton, could feel a financial impact.
"We've seen an enormous growth in the airsoft community over the last five years," said owner Josh Gastélum, adding the sport now forms 25 per cent of the field's business.
While Gastélum feels paintball will be impacted less by the proposed changes as only a small portion of the equipment used in the sport is designed to look like a real firearm, his ability to keep the business afloat could be severely challenged if the bill's impacts were to spread far enough, he said.
"Even if it puts some fear into people that maybe the sport is dangerous and that's why it is being regulated, maybe parents will reconsider allowing their kids to play paintball. It could spill over," he said.
Willing to find compromises
O'Neill would ultimately like to see the bill scrapped entirely, but he said he and the airsoft community are open to working with the federal government to find compromises that would increase restrictions on firearm replicas, while still allowing the sport to continue.
He said tougher restrictions on airsoft guns as seen in other countries such as the United Kingdom and Japan, which have requirements such as player registries, or for parts of the guns to be brightly coloured, identifying them as a toy.
McLeod said with the current wording of the bill, whether any visual changes to a firearm replica would change its prohibited status would be "assessed on a case by case basis," though feedback is welcomed.
"The parliamentary process provides an opportunity for those affected by the proposed changes to express their views for consideration by Parliament as it debates the bill," wrote McLeod.