Over 1000+ FPE with the AirForce Texan! (Helium Assisted with AAO Super Valve)

Haji - I get what you're saying. I get comments from time to time from airgunners in private messages and even in open forums jumping all over the industry for going the big bore route or advocating for pro-airgun hunting laws to law makers and they worried about over-regulation or ANY kind of regulation. I understand those concerns but.... To invoke the views of Founding Father - John Adams - we are a "nation of laws, not men." I am not trying to be overly academic, but to make a point that hiding in the shadows in the hopes that jurisdictions having authority (municipal, county, state, or federal) will not notice us is a fool's game.

I entered into this sport from a different trajectory than most. I came into it as a deer hunter and even though I dabble in the smaller calibers and paper punching (and the occasional AirGunDepot.com Long Ranger Golf Ball) it was the big bore stuff that got me into this in a big way. What I noticed right away was that regulations and laws that were in place all over the country were muddy at best and in most cases - non-existent. Not just for hunting - but for airgun use at all.

I have heard from so many airgunners that they don't want ANY laws that even breathe the name of airguns in the hopes that somehow protects them. I tend to see it through a different filter that if you don't have laws in place that PROTECT your use of these devices and how we as airgunners choose to use them - there in lies the greater risk. No matter if the subject is airgun suppressors or airgun ownership by convicted felons or hunting applications or even where you can shoot your airgun - there is an overly misguided mantra within the airgunner community to think that somehow the absence of laws or mention in regulations somehow protects us. The word FREEDOM isn't even in the original text of the Constitution and it took AMENDMENTS to the Constitution to ensure later identified freedoms were protected.

These are just datasets and numbers that I have posted in the form of a video - I will tell you first hand after many conversations with Wildlife officials and Wildlife law enforcement what IS GETTING THE ATTENTION of law makers and the general public is the volumes of video content online showing the dispatch and harvesting of animals. For us airgunners that online content to date is mostly small game and pests - but man there is a TON of video out there showcasing what our airguns can do across the entire caliber spectrum.

Here is a visual example.... Show a misinformed Mrs. Jane Q. Public a video of a .45 hollowpoint airgun slug shooting through a chronograph displaying 965 FPS and she won't understand what she is seeing. Then show her a video of a chipmunk exploding from a .25 pellet and tell me which one is going to have her running to her elected officials demanding a change in laws. Just think about that for a second.

That is why I am involved with the Airgun Sporting Association (www.airgunsporting.org) to help ensure that if and when a lawmaking body does take notice about the growth of adoption of airguns or we want to ensure our legal use of these devices for hunting and other sporting uses - WE are at that table and not some misguided talking head spewing misinformation. Good conversation to have - because if we want to protect our sporting use of airguns - we need to have a unified voice....

I also wanted to make sure I clarified my message here... After talking with Haji on the phone after I posted a response, I realized I might have sounded like I was calling him out for his hunting efforts with pests. That is not at all what I was trying to say and I am a HUGE fan of his and his work helping push our industry forward. I think what we were both trying to say was are we ready as a community of airgunners with a unified message across all of our niche areas within the airgunning community when law makers decide to step in at some point to try and regulate our sport. This is a really important conversation to have and I urge everyone to get in contact with Mitch King President of the Airgun Sporting Association (www.airgunsporting.org) as he has the proper tools and language we need to be using when talking with these agencies and officials. I have seen first hand failed attempts in other states when airgunners try to go it alone. If you haven't read up on the ASA or Mitch King - check out this article recently published on Hard Air: https://hardairmagazine.com/features/ham-talks-to-j-mitch-king-president-and-ceo-of-the-airgun-sporting-association/