Airsoft

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Player of a Russian team

Airsoft is a tactical terrain game in which teams equipped with airsoft weapons compete against each other.

history

Players on the Rockingham Paintball Field, which is separated from the public

Airsoft is originally from Japan. After the Second World War, firearms were banned from Japanese civilians. The Japanese industry therefore switched to weapon replicas made of plastic. It brought the first functional replica weapons onto the market as toys, which at the time were spring-operated and worked manually. Due to the great market potential and high sales figures, the airsoft market in Asia expanded rapidly.

Innovations such as electrically operated airsoft guns and gas-powered airsoft guns turned the toy guns developed for play into technically highly developed weapon replicas.

In Germany, airsoft weapons in the form of replicas of war weapons only entered the market with the amendment of the Weapons Act in 2004 and have since been available in the toy and arms trade . Airsoft guns that have been tested in accordance with the German Weapons Act and are approved for purchase in Germany have an "F" in a pentagon and the name of the importer for Germany on the weapon housing.

The manufacturers of airsoft weapons come mainly from the Asian region, where manufacturers usually specialize in certain categories of weapon types. For most types of weapons there are countless additional equipment from tuning barrels to "custom kits" that can be used to change the entire look of an airsoft weapon. Many airsoft guns can no longer be visually differentiated from their original models. For this reason, airsoft guns fall under the term " apparent weapons" in the law .

Playing fields

The legal requirements for a legal playing field are based on the provisions on pretend weapons. As a rule, therefore, only larger organizers are able to provide a safe and appropriate gaming environment in accordance with legal requirements. It should be noted in the sense of the Weapons Act that

  • the site is a private, pacified property according to the law.
  • The plastic or biodegradable bullet (also called BB) cannot leave the area when fired from the barrel of the airsoft gun.
  • those involved cannot be perceived by the public or perceived as a disturbance.
  • the property owner allows the use of airsoft games on his premises.

Warehouses or shielded building complexes are therefore more suitable in metropolitan areas. In more rural areas, old military training areas are often chosen for airsoft events.

Playing in a publicly accessible forest area does not meet the requirements stipulated by law and is therefore prohibited - see also guiding ( Section 42a of the Weapons Act (WaffG)).

Due to the increasing popularity, legal venues and events are easier to find via the community on the Internet. However, there is no authority for checking and compliance with the legal guidelines - the player is therefore left to check himself. There is no organization in Germany for uniform control, similar to the one that emerged in the Netherlands.

Gameplay

British Airsoft player during a Second World War - re-enactments

The game principle is similar to that of paintball or laser games , but balls with a diameter of 6 mm (so-called BB ) made of plastic or a biodegradable material are used. The duration of a game is different. The aim can be for a game party to hold a flag or for an object to be conquered. Since hits are difficult to recognize, the person hit should announce them using the word "hit " . In addition, hits are usually indicated by a death rag. This is a modified safety vest with which the player signals that he has been hit. The so-called sport shooting , organized by the International Practical Shooting Confederation , is parcours shooting . Another game mode is reenactment .

Battle display and reenactment

A United States Navy SEALs battle display team from Germany

The term battle display describes the reproduction of a real military unit that is as accurate as possible. It is the aim of individual players or entire teams to assemble and design their entire equipment based on a selected military model (for example a specific unit).

Battle Display thus borders on historical re-enactment (see problematic of terms, overlaps with other interpretations ). Most airsoft players, however, place little value on the authenticity of their equipment.

Playground equipment

equipment

For the game, the participants equip themselves with airsoft weapons, for example, with military camouflage suits and other tactical equipment such as military vests, smoke grenades and simple radio devices through to night vision devices and holographic visors. For a short time, suits and equipment specially designed for airsoft have also been available. The equipment serves on the one hand for camouflage and on the other hand for the safety of the player such as protection of the eyes, teeth, hearing and joints.

Legal treatment

A number of legal regulations must be observed when playing airsoft. For example, unauthorized entry into private property is a criminal offense as trespassing . The shooting of plastic ammunition can also be punished as an administrative offense under state and local law. The public carrying of an airsoft gun is also prohibited. An opaque container that is protected from unauthorized access is therefore required for transport.

Associations and associations

Swiss Airsoft Federation

The Swiss Airsoft Federation (SASF) is the airsoft association in Switzerland. The SASF is superordinate to the three linguistic regional airsoft associations.

The two sub-associations "Airsoft Verband Deutschschweiz" (ASVD) and the "Fédération Romande d'AirSoft" (FRAS) merged in October 2007. The Airsoft Association from Ticino joined in 2008. The Ticino Airsoft Association has been calling itself FASI "Federazione Airsoft Svizzera Italiana" since 2017.

Both the general association and the three regional associations work closely with Fedpol , ProTell and various other organizations and lobby in sports and arms policy. In 2009, as part of a licentiate thesis at the University of Zurich, a survey about the aggressiveness of airsoft players was carried out.

Austrian Airsoft Sports Association

At the 2nd Austrian Airsoft Congress in Salzburg, airsoft associations from Austria founded an association in 2007. The Austrian Airsoft Sport Association (ÖASV) has set itself the goal of promoting and developing airsoft as a sport in Austria.

In the course of its existence, the association has created a uniform set of rules on the topics of safety, behavior in public and general rules for airsoft sports (ÖASV regulations), but is no longer active today (2019).

Nederlandse Airsoft Belangen Vereniging (NABV)

Since January 13, 2013, airsoft sports have been officially allowed in the Netherlands. Before this date, the interested players often moved to Belgium. With the legalization of airsoft sports, the association NABV was brought into being, which regulates all matters relating to airsoft sports. This includes the possession, storage, transport of airsoft weapons as well as the modalities of airsoft events within the Netherlands.

Germany

In Germany, airsoft players are organized in numerous clubs.

literature

Web links

Commons : Airsoft  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A pacified property is a piece of land or a building that is secured against unauthorized entry by the authorized person in an externally recognizable manner through coherent protective barriers. See OLG Frankfurt NJW 2006, 1746, 1747; OLG Hamm NJW 1982, 1824.
  2. ↑ Licentiate thesis of the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Zurich: Airsoft. A psychological examination.