Thank you Doug for bringing up the issue of airsoft guns. I have also wondered if birds or other animals would eat the pellets and get sick from them.

In my area, I have encountered children playing war games in our native growth areas next to a popular trail. The ground is littered with pellets. They shoot each other, the trees, plants, and everything that moves. It is also a safety issue. The children wear protective gear including face masks and breast plates, but anyone who just happens to be walking by could be accidentally shot and seriously injured.

I have been told that airsoft guns are considered "weapons" in Issaquah and many of the surrounding cities and it is illegal to shoot them. However, King County considers them "toys" and does nothing to control them.

Diane Weinstein
Issaquah


----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Hudson<mailto:dhudson at silverlink.net>
To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu<mailto:Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 2:07 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Airsoft (sic) pellets and birds


I was recently contacted by a concerned citizen about what is called
Airsoft. Airsoft is a war game in which people arm themselves with
firearms, mines, and other forms of munitions, all of which shoot or
disperse small pellets. The person who asked about airsoft gave me a
small collection of airsoft pellets he had collected at a local woodland
preserve. He indicated there are pellets all over the place and there
is considerable damage to many of the plants in the under story where
the players were running after each other. The pellets he gave me are
plastic and are about 5 to 6mm in diameter. They are red, orange, two
shades of green, and white. All except the white pellets look for all
the world like huckleberries. The white pellets resemble some form of
eggs (slugs or insects???) I have seen in the woods. All could be
mistaken for food and eaten by birds.

I am wondering if others have knowledge of this activity? Are records
of dead birds full of small plastic pellets? At the very least this is
a form of environmental pollution.

Here are two links to airsoft web pages:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft>
http://www.madbullairsoft.com/English/<http://www.madbullairsoft.com/English/>

The wiki is just info about airsoft. The 2nd link is to a retail outlet
of airsoft products. On the left are links to their products. There
are 4,000 round bags of pellets, 22 pellet shot shells, land mines, etc.
The wiki page indicates biodegradable ammo is available. The folks
who left the pellets in our local forest were using plastic. A Google
on airsoft will take you to many other web pages and retailers.

This is new to me. Have others heard about airsoft and is there any
movement to ban or control this activity except in approved locations?

Douglas Hudson
dhudson at silverlink.net<mailto:dhudson at silverlink.net>
Bremerton, WA

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