justken2u
12-29-2006, 01:25 PM
Hey folks ... those crafty Canadians are at it again. The demon-du-jour? Airsoft guns. Here's a bit of info on the latest legislative conundrum keeping a valuable training tool out of the hands of law enforcement.
Lunacy.
The following is from Kelly Keith, a law enforcement trainer in the east:
I had ordered 20 airsoft guns and related equipment only to get it denied at the border. I have included at the bottom of this e-mail a copy of the e-mail I received from our Deputy Director and the information related to this. I find this pill rather hard to swallow. We have documented proof of the value of reality based training (which I use Simunition for and will continue to use but wanted to add Airsoft as well). We carry real firearms that shoot real bullets and look like real guns because they are but are being denied airsoft guns because they look real but shoot BB's!! We are being denied the ability to BEST TRAIN our officers by this policy. Sooooo does anyone have any suggestions other than to band together once again for this cause and send letters from the experts in the field.
I thank you once again:
and here is a copy of the correspondance I received
.
.We are going to have to put this purchase order on hold, at least until the court makes a decision on this matter. We're probably looking at 2008 sometime at the earliest. The whole world had been contacted here to try and push this through without success, namely:
(1) the Holland College Custom Broker Mr Joseph Verhaeghe;
(2) the weapons related issues specialist at the Canadian Foreign Affairs Office in Ottawa, Mr Paul Galveias; and
(3) the Nichole's people who have given us a detailed response; Wes Hartman, Gary Spense, and Gregg Flynn.
So, we have heard from the Customs broker that Canada Customs won't let the order come through even if processed by the Airsoft company. This would just mean our money was spent & who knows when we'd receive the goods. On our behalf the Customs Broker called Foreign Affairs and was given a definitive "No" to ordering even for a police training agency with the caveat that even the Canadian Military can't get the airsoft any more, as apparently they too had started using them for training. And finally, even an approved Canadian Supplier (Nichols) acting as the Canadian receiving point on our behalf, can not receive delivery of these terrible weapons.
We'll have to continue our training as we have to date, using FX/Sim until this legal issue is resolved.
Dave
"Hard things are put in our way, not to stop us, but to call out our courage and strength"
Inspector Kelly Keith
Atlantic Police Academy
(902)-888-6417
*************************************
A response to him follows:
Bob.... I just spoke with Wes Hartman at this company. His company https://www.air-soft.com/contact.phpwas was raided by Canada Customs Agents who seized all of their products pending a Court Case. He informed me that the Judge recently stayed the case until Sep 2007.
That means that those products cannot be imported into Canada until at least then, (if the Judge rules in favour of the Company)
I do remember the article about the Restriction and the following:
BCSA: " 14. Most air soft guns are considered replica firearm as defined in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code. They are clearly designed not only to resemble a firearm with near precision but also to resemble a specific and readily identifiable make and model of firearm. Due to their strong resemblance to real firearms and their lack of capacity to cause serious bodily injury, air soft guns are replica firearms."
So then we read:
REPLICA FIREARMS
9. A replica firearm is a prohibited device under both the Firearms Act and tariff item 9898.00.00 of the Customs Tariff and may NOT be imported by residents or non-residents.
HOWEVER:
10. Replica firearms may lawfully be imported into Canada only with a Firearm Business Licence issued by a Chief Firearms Officer that clearly states the named business may import prohibited devices, e.g., by the movie industry for use as props, and an import permit issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT).
So as you can see, unless you can obtain a FBL (firearms business license) you cannot import Airsoft..
R. Nicholls does not deal in these Products.
Hope that helps.. Gregg
Lunacy.
The following is from Kelly Keith, a law enforcement trainer in the east:
I had ordered 20 airsoft guns and related equipment only to get it denied at the border. I have included at the bottom of this e-mail a copy of the e-mail I received from our Deputy Director and the information related to this. I find this pill rather hard to swallow. We have documented proof of the value of reality based training (which I use Simunition for and will continue to use but wanted to add Airsoft as well). We carry real firearms that shoot real bullets and look like real guns because they are but are being denied airsoft guns because they look real but shoot BB's!! We are being denied the ability to BEST TRAIN our officers by this policy. Sooooo does anyone have any suggestions other than to band together once again for this cause and send letters from the experts in the field.
I thank you once again:
and here is a copy of the correspondance I received
.
.We are going to have to put this purchase order on hold, at least until the court makes a decision on this matter. We're probably looking at 2008 sometime at the earliest. The whole world had been contacted here to try and push this through without success, namely:
(1) the Holland College Custom Broker Mr Joseph Verhaeghe;
(2) the weapons related issues specialist at the Canadian Foreign Affairs Office in Ottawa, Mr Paul Galveias; and
(3) the Nichole's people who have given us a detailed response; Wes Hartman, Gary Spense, and Gregg Flynn.
So, we have heard from the Customs broker that Canada Customs won't let the order come through even if processed by the Airsoft company. This would just mean our money was spent & who knows when we'd receive the goods. On our behalf the Customs Broker called Foreign Affairs and was given a definitive "No" to ordering even for a police training agency with the caveat that even the Canadian Military can't get the airsoft any more, as apparently they too had started using them for training. And finally, even an approved Canadian Supplier (Nichols) acting as the Canadian receiving point on our behalf, can not receive delivery of these terrible weapons.
We'll have to continue our training as we have to date, using FX/Sim until this legal issue is resolved.
Dave
"Hard things are put in our way, not to stop us, but to call out our courage and strength"
Inspector Kelly Keith
Atlantic Police Academy
(902)-888-6417
*************************************
A response to him follows:
Bob.... I just spoke with Wes Hartman at this company. His company https://www.air-soft.com/contact.phpwas was raided by Canada Customs Agents who seized all of their products pending a Court Case. He informed me that the Judge recently stayed the case until Sep 2007.
That means that those products cannot be imported into Canada until at least then, (if the Judge rules in favour of the Company)
I do remember the article about the Restriction and the following:
BCSA: " 14. Most air soft guns are considered replica firearm as defined in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code. They are clearly designed not only to resemble a firearm with near precision but also to resemble a specific and readily identifiable make and model of firearm. Due to their strong resemblance to real firearms and their lack of capacity to cause serious bodily injury, air soft guns are replica firearms."
So then we read:
REPLICA FIREARMS
9. A replica firearm is a prohibited device under both the Firearms Act and tariff item 9898.00.00 of the Customs Tariff and may NOT be imported by residents or non-residents.
HOWEVER:
10. Replica firearms may lawfully be imported into Canada only with a Firearm Business Licence issued by a Chief Firearms Officer that clearly states the named business may import prohibited devices, e.g., by the movie industry for use as props, and an import permit issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT).
So as you can see, unless you can obtain a FBL (firearms business license) you cannot import Airsoft..
R. Nicholls does not deal in these Products.
Hope that helps.. Gregg