Are Airsoft Guns Legal in Michigan: Definitive Guide to Michigan Airsoft Laws

If you’re from Michigan and are looking to get into airsoft, one of the first questions you may have is are airsoft guns legal in Michigan. Airsoft laws are a tricky subject since they differ from state to state, and are also subject to change. But, no need to worry. In this article, you’ll find everything you need to know when it comes to Michigan airsoft laws.

Let’s dive in.

What Are Airsoft Guns?

But before looking into their legality, you need to know exactly what airsoft guns are. Basically, they’re toy guns designed in a way to closely resemble real guns in look and feel. Unlike real weapons, airsoft guns shoot tiny, plastic BBs that are mostly harmless, as long as the safety precautions are taken.

Due to their realism, they’re used in airsoft, which is a combat simulation game. It’s similar in concept to paintball, but the guns look much more realistically. Even though they look more realistic than paintball guns, they may be even safer and may hurt less, given that the BBs are much smaller and made of plastic.

Are Airsoft Guns Legal in the US?

When it comes to airsoft gun laws in a certain state, they’re regulated by both federal and state laws. Therefore, before looking into airsoft gun laws in Michigan, you need to be familiar with federal airsoft laws in the US. We go over them in this section. If you want to learn more, you can check out this comprehensive guide on are airsoft guns illegal.

If you are already familiar with federal laws and want to know about Michigan specifically, you can skip this section.

Under federal law, airsoft and airsoft guns are legal in the US. However, certain states have their own laws which set additional conditions that airsoft players must respect.

Even though they’re legal to own and use for anyone, only people 18 years and older can buy an airsoft gun. This is true both for physical stores, as well as online. Also, airsoft guns must be sold with an orange tip installed on them, in order to differentiate them from real guns.

Airsoft guns are considered toys in US federal law, and not real guns. Therefore, they are not subject to regular gun laws. There are, however, some states where that’s not the case. And even in states where they’re considered toys, attempting to use airsoft guns for something like a robbery will probably see you charged with armed robbery, just as you would if you were to try to rob a store with real guns.

While they’re legal to own, in most states you shouldn’t use them outside of airsoft fields. Just carrying an airsoft gun in public can easily put you in trouble with the law. Worst of all, a police officer or a civilian may panic and pull out a real gun in order to defend themselves from you. Indeed, there are multiple cases of such incidents happening.

In most of the US, there are no age requirements to play airsoft. You can own and use as many airsoft guns as you want, regardless of your age. The only restriction is on the buying of airsoft guns, which is only allowed for people 18 years and older. So, if you’re under 18, you’ll need someone that’s willing to buy the airsoft gun for you.

You don’t even need a permit to buy an airsoft gun in the US. As long as you’re 18 years or older, you can simply walk into an airsoft store and get yourself an airsoft gun, just as you would buy any other everyday product.

In the US, all airsoft guns that are transported or being sold in stores need to have an orange tip on them, in order to distinguish them from real guns. However, once you buy an airsoft gun, in most states it’s up to you whether you want to keep the orange tip or you want to remove it. Still, while the orange tip may not look realistic, it will help other people know that it’s a toy gun and not the real thing.

To avoid trouble with the law, you should always refrain from showing off your airsoft guns in public. This is the main reason for most incidents with airsoft guns. Only use airsoft guns at airsoft fields. When transporting them to and from the airsoft field, have them safely packed in a gun case or a bag.

Are Airsoft Guns Legal in Michigan?

Airsoft guns are now perfectly legal in Michigan for anyone, similarly to most of the rest of the US. This wasn’t the case until 2015 when a legislation change meant that airsoft guns (as well as BB and paintball guns) would no longer be considered firearms. This new legislation made Michigan an airsoft-friendly country, which it wasn’t before it.

Michigan Airsoft Laws

Michigan airsoft laws don’t consider airsoft guns as real weapons since 2015. That allows adults and minors to use airsoft guns to play airsoft. However, minors using airsoft guns should be under the supervision of adults.

However, bringing airsoft guns to schools and other public places is forbidden. This is a rule that you or your children shouldn’t take lightly, since the penalties can be serious, ranging from fines to even spending a short time in prison.

Another thing that you should always avoid is to use airsoft guns to threaten or point at other people (that aren’t aware that you’re holding an airsoft gun). Similar to this is using airsoft guns to commit crimes. Have in mind that if you’re using airsoft guns to commit a crime the punishment will be as if you were using a real weapon.

Apart from these simple rules that you should be following anyway, the federal law airsoft aspects should be respected. Airsoft guns are required to have orange tips, although most people will remove it once they buy the airsoft gun. Apart from the orange tip, Michigan doesn’t require any other coloring on the airsoft gun, neither before it’s sold nor when using it.

The last thing to keep in mind is that individual counties may have their own regulations. Therefore, even after knowing all of this, you should still look up the regulations for your county. You can check with the airsoft community in your county, in airsoft stores, or at airsoft fields located in your county.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed the legality of airsoft in Michigan. We looked into federal laws that regulate airsoft in Michigan as well as the rest of the US, but we also looked at airsoft laws in Michigan specifically. As you saw, Michigan now has lenient airsoft laws that don’t impose many additional requirements to the federal law, which wasn’t the case until a few years ago.

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