Believe it or not, all of the guns in the image below are airsoft guns.  For those of you who may not know what an airsoft gun is, I’ll explain.  Airsoft guns are toy guns that shoot small rubber balls out of the barrel.  The rubber pellets leave the muzzle with a velocity of about 300-500 fps (feet per second) and if hit on uncovered skin you will most likely show a small welt or at higher velocities you might even break the skin.  Airsoft guns have received a lot of attention lately because of how similar they look to actual guns that are carried by soldiers, hunters, bad guys, and cops.  I mean honestly, look a this image below and tell me that these do not look very, very real.

You would be hard pressed to harm or kill an animal with an airsoft gun, but the concern is that these guns often look so real that cops cannot tell if you are  holding a real gun or a toy gun.  This might lead officers to shooting an innocent teen playing shoot-out in the alley with his friends.  This also is a concern for concealed carry permit carriers in the state of Utah as any flack pointed at gun owners can lead to more stringent laws related to gun ownership and conceal carry laws.

I spoke with Mike Steck, a local Utah Concealed Carry Permit Instructor, recently about this issue and he commented “concerns with airsoft guns looking so real can provide ammunition to anti-gun enthusiasts, leading to a potential push for stiffer concealed carry laws.”  He also stressed that fact that “while an airsoft gun cannot kill an animal or human, it’s crucial that everyone treats all guns with respect and it’s crucial that children learn this at a young age even if all they are playing with is a toy.”  He suggested anyone serious about handling guns should always take a Hunter’s Safety or Utah Concealed Carry Class.

So, here is my viral idea.  If you are a concealed carry instructor you could do all kinds of posts related to the look of airsoft guns being so similar to real guns and could show the top 10 airsoft guns that look just like real guns.  You could show the real gun and the airsoft gun right next to each other and have people choose which is real and which is a toy.  Then you could have the answers below for people to see how they did.  Titles could be something like: Real Gun or Fake Gun, You Decide, or Are U.S. Soldiers Carrying Real Guns or Fake Guns, or Top Ten Airsoft Guns That Look Like Real Soldier Guns.  You would have all kinds of PTSD soldiers reading your post and commenting all night long on how they carry real guns and “can show you it” later if you want.  You would also get many moms reading your post and taking away their kids’ airsoft guns…so all and all you would have lots of fans.