I think Australian law makers are in need of serious therapy as Melbourne Customs have confiscated the packets of plastic BB's from our last shipment of Heng Long spare parts, a banned import item dangerous goods apparently, not withstanding the fact that I can can purchase as many as I like including bags of 1000 from ebay in Australia or 6mm plastic balls from a multitude of locations but I guess it must be the fact HL's are yellow or have power 6m ball bullet printed on the little carboard boxes that make them so dangerous [:@] lol

that must be frustrating! some authoritys are becoming quite picky these days. the things they do to keep the citizens safe! so they confiscated the ammo but not the gun??? strange!
oh well never mind ... like you said you can get plenty more!

cheers

They let the tanks through because they're somewhat of a grey area for customs. The laws regarding firearms, when it comes to "Class 1 weapons" (rimfire rifles, airsoft weapons) talk about rifles and handguns - not tanks, so they slip through. You can legally own airsoft and import weapons IF you seek prior permission (fill out a B709A form, basically permission from local Police to own/import BB equip) and have the appropriate licensing.

Whilst it seems silly for us who just want/need the BBs for our tanks (they are afterall plastic balls), I personally don't use my airsoft function enough to warrant myself kicking up a stink, so I'd rather limited access to them - I dont mind organised clubs and skirmishes (true uses by decent individuals), one just has to consider what idiots would do if they could get ahold of realistic-looking BB weapons, as idiots are bad enough without em. Frankly I'd rather see less items that can quite easily penetrate the skin much less make someone blind... in the hands of douchebags, no thanks [8D]

??? Don't get it a airsoft gun is not a weapon...how can they say that they are...... they are not meant or made to be used as a weapon they are made to play games with the guns like paintball?
Crazy...

shen in the uk and aus our law makers deem anything that looks like a weapon to be treated as one

Story;
grandad drops the kids of home goes to shops for a paper (one of the grand kids leaves his "toy"gun on the back seat of the car)
granddad doesn't see it someone else does phones the authority and SO19 (SWAT) swoop down and drop the old guy on the floor and arrest him then realise it's a toy and do him (granddad) for waisting police time

this is the extent and worst case ive heard of over in england but a little while ago some 7yr olds where arrested for playing outside with BB guns

mad world

Yea it's all because the world has bad people who will use the airsoft guns in a robbery and other things.... as long as there are crazy bad people and there always will be in this world ...Crazy rules and laws will be put in place..

It's sad but true[]

I think it's the fact that there's a printed "bullet" somewhere in the package.

I know, stupid.

It'll all be over when someone takes an R/C airsoft tank into a bank armed with a miniature camera and holds the bank up.

Airsoft guns are a grey area here as well. All depends on the officer and how he views the laws here. If a toy gun, non gun, airsoft etc resembles a real firearm in size and color it is classed as a replica and therefore prohibited here in Canada. Yet you can buy and sell dewated real guns without any permits. Strange they were once real guns yet a replica was never a real gun. Even toy squirt guns and cap guns fall under these rules. But if it is made of clear plastic or say day glow plastic it is fine. There is a loophole in the repluica law though... if you owned the replica firearm prior to Dec1, 1998 you may keep it legally... BUT you may not sell, lend, or give the replica firearm away. If you no longer want it you must either destroy it or turn it into the police for destruction.
As a funny side note on airsoft tanks.... you drive your Hen Long Tiger1 into a bank and holler out ...."Hands Up This Is A Stick-up"..... LOL

Ridiculous. Vote the socialists out! Next thing you know, you're tanks will show up without turrets!

Yes up to the cutoms officer, most of the time these "officers" don't know anything about firearms and non firearms. It seems to boil down to what mood the officer is in. And Canada customs seems to be full of cranky unprofessionals.

Also here it is legal to buy gun parts less the receiver for any gun. And as previously mentioned a real deactivated gun can be owned by anyone legally, but a plastic toy with a battery, a block of wood or resin gun shape is classed a prohibited weapon.
Go figure[sm=bananahead.gif][sm=bananahead.gif][sm=bananahead.gif]

What gripes me is not the fact that they confiscated the BB's because just like wacky I personally don't use the function but its the absurdity of passing a law that allows me to import 6mm plastic balls, 6mm plastic beads, 6mm plastic ball bearings etc but doesn't allow me to import the same item in a container with the word BB Bullet written on it, anyone with a even little intelligence would realise that simply printing the word bullet on the packaging doesn't make the item dangerous. I would have thought importing steak knives might be considered more dangerous than small plastic balls but what do I know, I'm not as smart or as well qualified as the individuals enacting these types of laws. Unfortunately the world in general and the Australian government in particular seem unable to solve even basic problems but can pass more and more horses ass laws everyday.

So, if a package marked "FRAGILE ... glass bullets" shows up there it would get impounded?

That's government for you! The Nanny State at it worst.

I seriously doubt that. Many politicians have never been in the wealth creation industry where you succeed or fail based on your ability to run a company successfully and make money. It's often repeated that you could replace any group of law makers with the first several hundred names out of the phone book and they'd do a better job.

Wonder what customs would do with an assault gun?

Provided it didn't have the word gun written on the packaging they would probably let it through, it seems clear to me that its not the items themselves that are dangerous, only the words written on the package.

Yeah. Wasn't there some snafu with Tamiya paints recently because they had incorrect labeling that prevented them from passing through UK customs?

Funny you say this i ordered a few airsoft guns from over seas and i was wondering why on my gun boxes all the words GLOCK 17 and desert eagle .50 where cut off the boxes...Now i know why...so i guess you are correct you can still get a gun but only if they remove the lettering on the box!LOL

Well this is sort of off topic, but again with silly rules and laws. About a week ago, I decided to take my tiger and pershing to a county park not too far from home so my son and I could run them for a while. A park ranger was watching us for about ten minutes and drove over and commented how they were pretty cool and then told me I was being ticketed for "operating a motor vehicle on county parklands". I laughed at first then realized he wasn't kidding. $100 in fines with a bench appearance in court. Only in New York. Regards, JZ

To answer these questions you need to devolve to the mind of a law enforcement officer. The airsoft guns look real. Even if you gave your kid a bright orange and then he painted it black or blue there are potential problems. If you are carrying one in public, in many communities, mostly large cities in the USA, you could in fact be charged with bandishing a weapon if you are showing one off to your friends. It is the paradox of making a harmless toy look real. In the mind of a law officer you are placing yourself at risk to defend the helpless and any potential deadly threat can be cause for action. If you live in a rural area then the risk is much less.
If you own these lifelike airsoft toy guns keep that in mind as you play.

Would a person in a powered wheelchair have been given at ticket? How utterly anal that is, complain to the press my friend.

Law enforcement officer maybe, because the same would go there for waving a baseball bat, but this post was about bb's being confiscated by customs officers and the ridiculous natures and whims as to why certain things are too "scary" to be allowed into a country.

JZ- I hope you are disputing that ticket.

Are you kidding thats freaking crazy!!!
I WOULD HAVE SHOT HIM IN THE EYE WITH YOUR TANKS!

I can't believe what I'm reading! I'm with Chally2, complain to the press as soon as you can....
Regards

somebody should send a parcel saying "important terrorist weapons for next terror attack" 24 hour deliver to "Bin-Laden's cave" and inside put a doll playhouse and see what they do about it!!! lol.