Air guns, that is. In most jurisdictions there’s little if any hassle in buying and transferring, nor worry about “straw man” purchase accusations.
An air rifle or air pistol can be shot in the basement without polluting the air in the house. It can be shot in the living room. Purpose-designed bullet traps are available, and you can make one out of one of the many big cardboard boxes likely to be left over from Christmas morning, and some judiciously placed heavy carpet scraps.
Significant other and I have been playing of late with a most realistic, Glock-approved Glock 19 clone from Umarex, a giant in the air gun field, and having a ball with it. It has a fifteen-shot magazine, just like the real 9mm G19, and of course fits the same holster for drawing practice. I think my sweetie, the Evil Princess of Podcasts, Pixels, and Polymer Pistols, is enjoying it even more than I; a Glock 19 was her first centerfire handgun, and she used it to win her first prize gun, a Glock 34.
Works as advertised, and utterly reliable thus far. Accuracy? The group shown was fired at seven yards; not what you’d want for the Air Pistol Olympics, but good enough for practice and fun. It creeped her out a bit pulling a trigger without earmuffs; girl is used to gunpowder. We discovered that on a rainy day, we could stand in the shelter of the porch and plink tin cans on the pool deck across the way with BBs, and stay totally dry.
My only complaint with it is that the trigger pull – which isn’t actually bad – isn’t quite like a
Umarex is currently listing it on their website at $74, which we think is a steal; about a hundred bucks less than their Airsoft version. Shooting BBs is cheap, and so is the gun. We liked its realistic heft and overall quality. If they don’t have them at your local gun shop or sporting goods store, go to the Umarex website at www.umarexusa.com.
And remember what Santa told Ralphie in “A Christmas Story.” You don’t need ear protection with a BB gun, but you sure do need your eye pro on.
“Officially Licensed Product of GLOCK.”
Darn, sold out already! But I must say, isn’t this EXACTLY the kind of gun that kids get shot by cops over?!? Note the lack of any orange on the muzzle, and even you concede it looks exactly like a regular Glock.
Wantone Badly,
I was thinking about that. But if this air pistol had an orange tip, or if the whole gun was another color, then it would look like a toy. But it is not a toy, so I believe it would actually be wrong to color it. Better to just leave it black.
I guess parents will have to be relied upon to teach their children not to point things that look like guns at the police. To believe that, I must be a throw-back to the Dark Age. Wasn’t that when men were building castles and cathedrals? I guess it was not a Dark Age for architecture.
Agreed all the way including laser and 10 meter match. Sadly there are jurisdictions – some you wouldn’t expect like Ada County/Boise Idaho – where any projectile firing mechanism is included in firearm regulations so basement and backyard use of gas or spring powered when fired violates the criminal law.
Let’s be careful folks.
“In most jurisdictions there’s little if any hassle in buying or transferring…”
Sadly, Mas, the prohibition mindset has no bounds or reasonable limits. Once one starts down the path of blaming an inanimate object for human behavior and making it the scapegoat for the actions of human criminals, then one is driven (inexorability) toward the ultimate goal of the elimination of any and all types of firearms. Just as the Alcohol Prohibitionists could not stop with “Hard Liqueur” and ended up going after wine, beer and even industrial alcohol, the Firearm Prohibitionists are “ideologically driven” to ultimately go after anything that shoots. They even object to toy guns and pictures of firearms.
In the UK, where they have “Advanced Firearm Prohibition”, there would be legal issue with this idea. See this link:
https://www.shootinguk.co.uk/uncategorized/air-gun-owners-scotland-can-apply-licence-today-1-july-61055
Personally I use a Daisy 415. Very similar to the S&W Shield in dimensions and trigger press. Travels 550 FPS and has a magazine count of 21. Gets out about 80 shots per CO2 cartridge. Admittingly, it scratches the trigger itch and adds a new challenge to pistol shooting.
As for those who compare these devises as tools for innocents to get shot and the tragedy therein, people have been shot for holding two spoons or a cell phone or just indicating they are going for a gun (furtive movement). Unfortunately, the replicas are just that, and anyone who tries to use the replica in the commission of a felony or displaying it in a threatening manner, should be treated as a real gun.
Figure this, a fake knife can be just as deadly…
Stay safe.
I wonder when the after market triggers and accessories will be available?
What a hoot. I think these would make great gifts..(long as I get one also 😉
Ran across this video a while back https://youtu.be/QkNVYz9uajU and that was all she wrote.
Had a Umarex legends MP40 shipped to our door.
Shelved the rest of the BB guns. It has put smiles on even the more reserved moms. Those empty cans don’t stand a chance.
A realistic BB gun pistol would be a great back yard trading aid with out the noise and recoil.
Mas, first time I’ve seen a holster that costs more than what’s in it (close, anyway)! That being said, can’t remember how many marksmen and trap and skeet shooters I’ve known that developed their skills with air guns as kids; they’ve proved the transfer of skills works both ways, and might even be useful for some shooters overcome a flinch that may have developed with its louder twin.
You are very correct. A lot of shooters, including myself, got started in the shooting sports by means of an air rifle. In my case, it was a lever-action Daisy BB gun. This is exactly why the leftist gun-grabbers, worldwide, will eventually move to restrict air guns along with ordinary firearms.
You need to understand that these leftist gun-grabbers view firearm ownership (and the firearms culture, for that matter) as a disease or, perhaps, as an addiction. That is why leftists have pushed medical organizations, such as the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), to take an anti-gun stance. This is also why firearms are regulated along with addictive substances, such as alcohol and tobacco, by the BATFE. The BATFE is a regulatory construct of leftist ideology.
This is nothing new to the Prohibition Mindset. During the era of Alcohol Prohibition, the Prohibitionists considered alcohol to be a “poison” and justified its regulation upon those grounds. Viewing firearms as the “root cause” of violence (per the Left’s proclivity to always shift the blame for evils away from the individual and toward environmental or social sources), they truly view firearm ownership as a “Public Health Hazard” that needs to be quarantined and, eventually, stamped out.
Referencing my earlier post above, you should now see why gun-grabbers in the UK have moved to create a license requirement for air guns. Certainly, such a license cannot be justified as a crime control measure. However, what this does do is allow them to push up the cost of ownership. Air gun owners in the UK must pay a hefty fee for the license. In addition, the license must be renewed every 5-years which costs more money. Besides the monetary cost, there is the paper-work hassle that must be endured with each license renewal. This is in addition to the cost of buying the air gun itself which will also increase over time due to a decreasing market share. However, if you don’t want to deal with the cost and hassle, the gun-grabbers make it sooooo easy to just turn in your “unwanted” air guns to the police who will promptly destroy them.
Thus, we see the gun-grabbers true purpose. To discourage firearm ownership at every level and by any means possible. The Prohibitionists know that if they moved to ban everything that shoots, in one fell swoop, there would be resistance. However, if they turn up the temperature slowly enough, the frog will sit placidly in the pot until it is boiled to death.
From the leftist point of view, air guns are a “doorway” into the gun culture. You can count on the leftists to, eventually, slam that door shut. They are already doing it in the UK. It is only a matter of time before they move to do it in the “Blue Zones” of America. As I noted in my previous post, the Prohibition mindset has no bounds or limits. The gun-grabbers are driven by their leftist ideology to eventually ban anything that even looks like a gun. Anyone who believes that the leftists are going to settle for just bans on semi-auto’s or large-capacity magazines does not understand the leftist mind at all. These people are FANATICS. They won’t settle for anything short of total victory by means of a total ban on EVERYTHING that shoots. Universal disarmament of the civilian population is the ultimate goal. I guarantee it. All supporters of the 2nd Amendment and of private firearm ownership need to understand this fundamental truth. No compromise is possible with these people. Either we stop them dead in their tracks or else they will effectively destroy private-firearm ownership worldwide.
Umarex also offers a Beretta 84 and 92, both excellent pistols. I bought them and wound up ordering extra magazines.
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