Airsoft Ban Takes Effect May 10

A ban on carrying Airsoft guns in public passed its final hurdle Tuesday night.

The measure received swift approval as part of the City Council meeting’s consent agenda, which is a block of items not expected to be controversial that council members vote on en masse.

The ban takes effect May 10. Police Chief Mike Reynolds said the will continue working to educate the community about the new ordinance and the importance of not carrying replica firearms in public.

“We have the message out there. We’ll continue getting the message out there,” he said.

The new ordinance bans carrying any device that “reasonably appears to be a pistol, revolver, shotgun, sawed-off shotgun, rifle, machine gun, rocket launcher, or any other firearm.”

The ban’s definition of public places includes yards and space surrounding homes and businesses that is visible from the street and neighboring structures.

Airsoft guns are replica firearms that fire plastic pellets using compressed air or springs. Hopkins police asked for the ban following two incidents in which Airsoft guns were nearly mistaken for real guns. Police pulled guns on residents carrying the replicas and worry that they could shoot someone with an Airsoft gun—or an officer will be shot after mistaking a real gun for an Airsoft gun.

( to read a transcript of one of the 911 calls that sparked the proposal.)

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