Police fatally shoot man holding an air rifle in Walmart toy aisle

[pokerfan]

71. It's complicated

Although airsoft guns in the United States are generally sold with a 6mm (0.24in.) or longer orange tip on the barrel in order to distinguish them from real firearms, this is not in fact required by federal law. Manufacturers and importers may cite Title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which stipulates that "no person shall manufacture, enter into commerce, ship, transport, or receive any toy, look-alike, or imitation firearm" without approved markings; these may include an orange tip, orange barrel plug, brightly colored exterior of the whole toy, or transparent construction (part 272.2, formerly part 1150.2). However, section 272.1 (formerly 1150.1) clearly indicates that these restrictions shall not apply to "traditional B-B, paint-ball, or pellet-firing air guns that expel a projectile through the force of compressed air, compressed gas or mechanical spring action, or any combination thereof." [18] This language clearly exempts airsoft guns from these requirements, placing them in the same category as bb-guns, pellet, air, and paintball, none of which are conventionally sold or used with an orange tip, and many of which bear as much resemblance to real firearms as airsoft guns do.[19] Another difficulty the airsoft-playing community has with a legal or mandatory requirement for any orange-tipped or bright-colored paint on all airsoft guns is that lawless elements could deliberately paint real guns to have orange-tips or make them look like airsoft guns and thus cause more harm or alarm for the public.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft#Orange-tipped_airsoft_gun_muzzles