Recent Gun Bans and Airsoft

Airsoft CanadaJan 25, 2026, 6:29 a.m. PST

The recent ridiculous firearms confiscation program have the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I just have this feeling we haven't seen the last of attempts to ban or regulate airsoft in some insane manner.

At the last game we were discussing the current laws of
Under 366 fps = replica = prohibited
366fps - 500 fps = airsoft, totally legal
Over 500 fps = firearm.

But we all know velocity depends on the weight of the BB and there is nothing in the law that says what weight bb is used to test it. I assume it would be an industry standard of .20g. It's so vague I'd hate to have to be in a position where your are in trouble and have to defend this against criminal charges.

How do the rest of you feel about the gun bans?
Do you think we've seen the last of the Liberal government attacking Airsoft?

11 comments

@oxairtechJan 29, 2026, 8:22 a.m. PST
Oh this interesting. I don't remember seeing this before, so it's either been updated or clarified recently. From the RCMP Website. Air guns that are replica firearms These are air guns not powerful enough to cause serious injury or death, but designed to resemble a real firearm with near precision. Replica firearms, except for replicas of antique firearms, are classified as prohibited devices. In particular, some air guns commonly known as air soft guns may fall into this category. These are devices that have a low muzzle velocity and muzzle energy, and that usually discharge projectiles made out of a substance such as plastic or wax rather than metal. An airsoft gun, firing a .20 g 6 mm plastic pellet with a muzzle velocity below 111.6 meters per second (366 feet per second), and resembling with near precision an existing make and model of a firearm, other than an antique firearm, is a replica firearm and therefore a prohibited device.
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- @F86customJan 30, 2026, 6:28 p.m. PST
  @oxairtech This is why everything we import into Canada has to be certified as meeting the minimum requirements or it is seized. You ever dig into how this level was set or determined.. its a little messed up!
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- @KingsixMay 24, 2026, 8:18 a.m. PDT
  @f86custom TLDR June 2009. RCMP shot a pigs eyeball and determined the minimum muzzle energy was 1.69 joules, 407 FPS with a "common " 0.22 gram airsoft BB. Of course this caused headaches and issues when testing started. Then in Feb 2012 they went back and tested with more common 0.20 gram airsoft bb and shot another pigs eyeball. This time they found the threshold sat at 366 fps with 0.2 gram BB (1.24 Joules)
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@asc_adminJan 30, 2026, 8:31 p.m. PST
Yeah it's a debacle for sure. Long time real steel shooter myself, and I'm heartbroken by it. On top of that the Feds just closed our local shooting range, so double whammy. This Airsoft Canada project is at least 50% fueled by needing to divert my frustration to somewhere useful. I hope your right.
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- @zedramusJan 31, 2026, 12:10 a.m. PST
  [quote data-userid="2" data-postid="36"] Yeah it's a debacle for sure. Long time real steel shooter myself, and I'm heartbroken by it. On top of that the Feds just closed our local shooting range, so double whammy. This Airsoft Canada project is at least 50% fueled by needing to divert my frustration to somewhere useful. I hope your right. [/quote] Wow. That sucks. Do you know the reason why they closed your range? I've had my RPAL for about 15 years at this point, but it wasn't until recently that I had the time and resources to sink into it and by then I'd missed the boat on a lot of the fun stuff. I have a friend who had a PCC arrive at their doorstep the day it was prohibited. I recently got into airsoft as a way to divert my energy from real steel, it's hard to test my reloads without driving 1hr out to my range whereas it's quite a bit easier to play around with airsoft builds in my basement.
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@oxairtechJan 31, 2026, 5:50 a.m. PST
Ha, I posted that from the wrong account. For full disclosure and transparency I am asc_admin, just forget to use my community account instead of my admin account. Yeah long story, but it's federal land attached to a research center. We acted as a buffer for them testing and studying insects, etc, but with the recent mandate to terminate shooting sports, our land was put on the chopping block and they are going to sell it off or give it to the local indigenous community. Pretty much same story here, except I got at least one visit to the range with my PCC before it got targeted.
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- @F86customJan 31, 2026, 9:59 p.m. PST
  @oxairtech This sucks to hear. I at least got 3 maybe 4 events with my PCC. Now I just rely on my Savia PCC in Action Air for fun! My Lockhart Tactical PCC stays locked up :(
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- @FNG WestpointFeb 2, 2026, 3:37 p.m. PST
  @oxairtech To be honest I kinda hope they do give it to the band because maybe they'd actually be willing to renegotiate on the range as opposed to the government.
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@GMDSFeb 3, 2026, 7:32 p.m. PST
I am not too worried for the time being. Yes, more real steel is being banned by the day, but we've come a long way since the clear lower receiver days. The Airsoft canada community is not afraid to voice our opinions on the matter. I don't expect we'll end up like Australia.
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@HelmsmithFeb 7, 2026, 4:49 p.m. PST
I was recently told (by a well-informed friend) that a turning point in the struggle to keep airsoft legal, was that banning it would have severe repercussions for the film industry in Canada. Apparently, they are using less & less real firearms with blanks, & more airsoft guns & then adding sound & muzzle flash by cgi. Making things more difficult for the film industry in Canada would have far-reaching cultural & financial impacts on our economy. That is something the politicians finally understood, & they backed-down on the ban...
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- @JanusFeb 9, 2026, 9:51 a.m. PST
  @helmsmith Your friend is correct about the use of airsoft guns in film and media (a great example is the airsoft magazines in the MW2 scene) but I can't verify that the obstacle to film production was one of the major factors. A lot of people were spamming their MPs and we definitely had several really good representatives go before the SECU to actually present on the subject. Airsoft was mentioned in the HoC as well. The best thing we can do as a community is be a POSITIVE influence on Canadian society.
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