What media bias?
Or is it just HuffPo bias? The photo is attributed to the AP.
ER, I COULD BE WRONG, but aren’t the scary automatic weapons in this photo actually just AirSoft guns?
They must be. That or the H&K XM-8 shown is an illegal weapon, because they’ve never been available to the public in the US. Or they could just be at a gun expo, but I doubt Beretta and H&K would share floor space.
Update: And pegboard and little hooks probably wouldn’t hold three 10 pound rifles.
Update: Via Quack in comments, here’s where the original photo appeared. The pic was taken at the NRA convention in Pittsburgh. In other news, I thought the top left gun was a Beretta storm.
So, not Airsoft. But still unrelated the AP story linked by the HuffPo.
May 11th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
That, and you don’t see many people putting 10+ lbs, 1,000+ USD weapons on pegs like that in a crowded situation, at least not twice. I’d bet more to replica or BB, though. Airsoft guns are supposed to have a fairly wide orange/red market on the business end, and while a good many companies will ignore the rules, most shows or chain stores involving know that there are enough folk paying attention to get violators in some trouble.
Oh, and the idiot kid in the front needs to be told to keep his booger hook off the bang switch.
May 11th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
“orange/red mark on the business”
… I’ll get used to this damned English thing sooner or later…
May 11th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
The orange/red tip on airsoft replicas is only required in the USA and is only required if the replica is being shipped across state lines and when imported. You technically aren’t supposed to alter or remove the orange tip as an owner but there is no law against it provided you don’t then try to ship or transport the replica across state lines.
Other countries (like Canada) treat airsoft as replica firearms and do lack the orange tip.
Laws vary state-to-state but a replica lacking the orange tip can be considered a firearm for purposes of transport. Unlike guns, rules for airguns are patchy and can vary town-to-town and state-to-state. I treat my airsoft replicas as real firearms and transport them in a case in the trunk of my vehicle.
Matt
May 11th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
You know, that H&K XM-320 40mm grenade launcher hanging off the XM-8 should have been a pretty good indicator this was Airsoft, as well.
May 11th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
It’s a photo from the NRA convention, at least according to this story.
http://www.canada.com/cityguides/vancouver/story.html?id=b1fad7a0-62e1-4cd8-8e6c-f652f75e6c12&k=19132
May 11th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I believe the fact that an inserted magazine and a grenade launcher are showing on a weapon in the hands of an obviously very young man that even if it were shot at an NRA convention in Pittsburgh (they have more than one? or it may not be “the convention” which was in St. Louis), it is still Airsoft or some other “toy” gun not an actual firearm.
May 11th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Oops! Forgot to mention that Fauxtography is often in the caption rather than Photoshop.
May 11th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Seems I can’t post at HuffPo anymore. The truth hurts them to much.
May 11th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Quack is dead-on. This is a real picture of military hardware that civilians can’t purchase (all are post-1986 selective-fire).
HuffPo is still lying by implying these are what you can pick up in a Virgina gun shop, it’s just that the manner of their lying is different than we thought.
May 11th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
The photo is from 2005. The requirement for red/orange muzzle markings did not extend to AirSoft guns at that time. They ARE toys.
May 11th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
They look a lot like toys to me and I want one for family picnics. Just went to a crawfish family boil where if I had gone and set up a little range the kids would have absolutely gone mad shooting an airsoft. Adults too. Ought to maintain one just for propaganda purposes.
May 11th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
None of the guns at the HK booth at SHOT had mags in the wells, even in the LE section. I’m sure those are airsoft, NRA convention or no. (Airgun companies do set up at the NRA and SHOT shows.)
May 11th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Linky for you all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XM8
And the airsoft ‘gun’:
http://www.palcosports.com/retail/images/47389B6_web.jpg
Josh
May 11th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Just because it was at an NRA convention does not automatically that the guns are real. There are usually several Airsoft vendors at NRA conventions.
May 11th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
The exact law regarding orange tips can be found here. Unless these were never manufactured, offered for sale, or even pulled out of a truck , they’re covered. Yeah, yeah, commerce clause, I’m sure the federal government would just love to put strict limitations on itself… right about… now?
Are you likely to ever get in trouble for it? Probably not, at least unless you do something damned stupid. But I like to think that anything the NRA is running should be damned careful to follow both the spirit and the letter of the law, no matter how bad, particularly in the City of Brotherly Love.
Still stupid media misreporting, no matter the case.
May 12th, 2007 at 12:31 am
I still see no reliable source identifying the time, date, or location of the photo. I’m not sure whether the guns are real or airsoft, but I’m sure I don’t trust the AP to reliably identify file photos.
May 12th, 2007 at 11:03 am
Those are airsoft.
The H&K XM8 is the only gun built like that.
Several companies make an XM8 type of airsoft ‘gun’, and there is even a paintball gun that mimics it.
The XM8 project was cancelled. It wasn’t released. There were prototypes only built, initally 30, then another 200. That makes 230 prototypes. None released for civilian purchase, none unsed in any form in the military.
Where as there is currently 4-5 companies that make a XM8 based airsoft rifle, from as cheap as $10 to well over a few hundred dollars.
A quick seach will show you that only a portion of the airsoft ‘guns’ have the orange tip.
Double check me- go to amazon.com and look up ‘airsoft rifle’, and go to wikipedia.org and look up ‘XM8’.
Enjoy!
Josh
May 14th, 2007 at 11:12 am
My inclination would be that they are actually airsoft based not upon the weapons but upon the circumstances:
– extremely poor trigger discipline exhibited by the individuals handling the weapons is uncharacteristic of NRA members
– absence of a visible responsible agent (i.e. it seems anyone is free to come up and handle the weapons
– presence of a magazine in the weapon with the bolt closed (definitely not a safe condition)
I could be wrong, but I certainly hope that the NRA, its approved exhibitors and members would be more responsible in handling and displaying such weapons.
May 14th, 2007 at 11:24 am
It just occurred to me that both may be right: the picture was taken at the NRA convention and the weapons shown are airsoft replicas. I believe there have been air rifle competitions at other NRA shows/events, and given that many NRA members are probably also paint ball enthusiasts it is not unreasonable to conclude that airsoft might be an exhibitor at an NRA convention.
The article above cites this as a stock photo, so it would be interesting to see what explanation/caption, if any, is provided to contextualize the picture.