Owner of Seized Airsoft Guns Responds

As we’ve been reporting, Airsoft Outlet Northwest had 30 Airsoft guns seized last fall at the port of Tacoma with the ATF responding that the items looked too much like real guns, and that these could be somehow converted to live machineguns. To get some insight on the story, we interviewed Ben Martin, owner of Airsoft Outlet Northwest, LLC and here is what he had to say:

FirearmsTruth: What was the exact model Airsoft gun that was seized? This was a replica of an M-4, but the body is mostly plastic, so what “internal” parts did ATF tell you that could be changed?

Ben Martin: They have 16 WE TTI M4A1′s and 14 WE TTI CQBR’s. The externals are pretty much exact to the weight and feel of a real firearm.

As for what the ATF has told us, well, it’s not much other than these can are readily convertible to machine guns. We’ve asked for the proof in which they retreated behind the Freedom of Information Act and haven’t given us any evidence that they’ve been able to convert one of these to shoot a round. We’ve had a gunsmith take a look at the compatibility and we’ve posted our findings.

FirearmsTruth: Where you notified by the ATF that your merchandise was being seized? And this isn’t the first time that you’ve had Airsoft guns seized by either customs or ATF?

Ben Martin: We received a letter from the Port Director of Tacoma, who is coincidentally the one who leaked the story to the press, Rolando Suliveras Jr. who basically told us that the case was closed and the guns would be destroyed. The ATF has told us that we would receive an official letter from them stating the legalities of the seizure, but we have yet to receive that letter. This isn’t the first time we’ve had product arbitrarily seized by customs, but it is the first time the ATF has been involved. There is quite a discrepancy in the way customs judges what is legal and what is not, and that is our #1 complaint with what’s going on. They never open lines of communication and will not give us a clear definition of what’s legal to import.

FirearmsTruth: There is already a market for “non-guns” as in actual real machine guns that have been modified not to fire, notably by replacing the receiver. Now there is an import ban on parts kits, so is this in your opinion ATF cracking down on you because they see these Airsoft guns as parts kits?

Ben Martin: I don’t know how the ATF views this honestly, we were told by an ATF officer in Maryland that the ATF has no jurisdiction at all in regards to Airsoft, but that doesn’t seem to stop the Office in Tacoma. My opinion is that the ATF in Tacoma wanted to make a name for themselves, but in turn has discredited their agency even more so than it is.

FirearmsTruth: Have you talked to the sellers of non-guns, as in non-firing machine guns, such as IMA-USA or Allegheny Arms (MG-34.com)? These sites continue to sell items that could much more easily be converted back to real guns, and those companies haven’t had this problem.

Ben Martin: We haven’t because there hasn’t been a need to.

FirearmsTruth: What is the next step for you guys?

Ben Martin: We’ll be filing the FOIA to see what facts the ATF has on the compatibility of these replicas.

Thank you to Ben Martin for taking the time to discuss this story with us.