A prospective BB gun facility was denied a business license by Richmond City Council Monday after councillors rejected the proponent's argument that airsoft rifles are not unlike paintball guns.
"I want to open an Airsoft field in Richmond for the young adult population residing here," wrote proponent Eric Lam in a letter presented to council.
But Lam found himself in a zoning and bylaw quagmire that left his business at the mercy of council.
So, after pointing out that a paintball facility already exists in Richmond and paintballs are widely considered more dangerous (in gameplay) than the plastic BBs of an airsoft rifle, council, by a 7-2 vote, agreed with a staff recommendation and refused to amend a city bylaw and zoning requirements to allow for the replica guns to be used in a warehouse across from the Richmond Olympic Oval at 6711 Elmbridge Way.
"I find this activity totally abhorrent," said Coun. Harold Steves.
Coun. Ken Johnston said paintball and airsoft participants "are training for violence."
Airsoft guns are considered a firearm under the Community Charter of BC, the basis of bylaws for the City of Richmond.
But Lam attached a letter from Bali Mann, RCMP Firearms Officer for BC and Yukon, who noted airsoft guns are not considered firearms by law as they do not fall under the federal Firearms Act. Lam also attached several Supreme Court of BC rulings that airsoft guns are not firearms.
Councillors Alexa Loo and Carol Day were the only two council members to vote in favour of making the amendments.
“It’s still a business. We may not understand it and we may not like it, but it’s still a business,” said Day. “If we better understood it, we would probably all support it.”
Airsoft rifles shoot small BBs but appear realistic, save for an orange tip at the end of the barrel. As such, they've often been mistaken for real guns when held in public view. In the United States there are frequent cases of misidentification, sometimes leading to shooting deaths.
A paintball gun, however, has a large ball container on top, making it very distinguishable.
Both games see participants, wearing face shields and body armour, shoot at one another.
Mayor Malcolm Brodie said he was concerned the sport was dangerous for participants and that the guns looked too realistic.
Lam was proposing to operate Signa AEG Arena, which would replicate the war games for its customers. His operation would have cost about $530,000 to start up and he would have been paying $150,000 per year for leasing the property, indicating there may have been a demand for what would have been the first indoor airsoft rifle facility in B.C. Lam predicted 10,000 participants per year.
The land is zoned Industrial Business Park and the city restricts "firearm" use to land specifically zoned to allow for an indoor shooting range.
City council can often use its judgement to tweak bylaws for specific purposes. It's done more often for older or outdated bylaws. The city's shooting range bylaw dates back to 1990, before airsoft gun games went mainstream.
Following the vote, council did direct staff to further look at whether airsoft guns should be permissible, like paintball guns, in the future.
With a file from the Vancouver Sun
