Instigator / Pro
49
1520
rating
6
debates
66.67%
won
Topic
#703
Should Australia legalise Airsoft?
Status
Finished
The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.
Winner & statistics
After 7 votes and with 25 points ahead, the winner is...
Brendo
Parameters
- Publication date
- Last updated date
- Type
- Standard
- Number of rounds
- 5
- Time for argument
- Two days
- Max argument characters
- 30,000
- Voting period
- One week
- Point system
- Multiple criterions
- Voting system
- Open
Contender / Con
24
1374
rating
11
debates
4.55%
won
Description
Australia has made airsoft illegal. This debate will be discussing whether or not Australia should legalise the very popular sport.
Round 1
Airsoft is an extremely popular sport and is enjoyed by millions of people worldwide. However in Australia, even attempting to import an airsoft gun of any type will result in that person being contacted by police. I do not see any reason as to why airsoft and airsoft guns should be banned. I have heard of arguments ranging from immature kids to armed robbery. I will explain how this can be resolved further into my argument.
The main argument I hear against the legalisation of airsoft and airsoft guns, is that the guns look ‘too realistic’ and will be mistaken as a real gun. I can understand the point. Yes, from a distance, most airsoft guns look like a real gun. So does replica firearms, which are completely legal in Australia. Gell ball blasters are also almost identical to airsoft guns. The difference is that gell blasters shoot gell balls, while airsoft guns shoot BBs. So why would the government legalise both replica guns, and gell blasters when they ban airsoft guns because they are too realistic?
If airsoft guns look very similar to a real gun, treat them very similar to how you would treat a real gun. In Australia, there are very strict laws regarding all aspects of owning any type of firearm. Firstly, both the gun and ammunition must be stored inside a locked gun safe, with the gun and ammunition in seperate compartments. If you have the gun in your car to take it to the range, repair shop, ect. You are not permitted to make a detour such as going shopping on the way there or back. If you do, you must have another person who has a gun licence to keep an eye on the gun at all times. Leaving the gun unattended may result in a suspension of your gun licence. Finally, as you must do with all guns, the owner of an airsoft gun must have a valid gun licence. You must be over the age of 18 to have the licence, however you are permitted to allow anyone, that you believe is responsible enough, to use it while under your supervision.
If someone thinks it would be a funny idea to walk around the street pointing an airsoft gun at random cars and pedestrians, or attempt to rop a store. The police would act accordingly. Like I said, the guns do look realistic, therefore the police would act as if the gun is a real one. One argument is that the police would immediately shoot the person holding the gun. This is not true. In fact, there was a terrorist attack in Melbourne last year. The police spent several minutes dancing around the attacker before even considering drawing their guns. If a kid was to carry even a real gun around a public area. The police would draw their guns, but they would not shoot unless the kid does something to give them an excuse to shoot such as pointing the gun in their direction. However, common sense would kick in when you are surrounded by police officers, all pointing a gun in your direction. When the police officers find out it was an airsoft gun, they would have a short investigation and appropriate charges would be made.
As you can see. There is no reason as to why airsoft should continue to be banned. Airsoft provides a fun, enjoyable sport which should not be banned because a small minority does not have common sense. I have already seen millions of people in support of legalising airsoft in Australia, and a member of parliament will soon be speaking to the government, attempting to legalise the sport. Thank you for accepting the debate. Good luck, and have fun for the remainder of the debate.
Hello,
Yes, I agree that Airsoft is good in some aspects. However, Airsoft causes many injuries. Some Airsoft players have gone to hospital for this reason. I think Australia is right to protect its citizens in this way.
Round 2
Sorry for the late reply. I was busy the day you accepted.
Regarding your concern about possible injury while playing, it isn’t exclusive to airsoft. Injuries happen in all sports. There is a lot of activities that have more injuries per year compared to airsoft. Motocross, for example, is a worldwide sport recognised my millions of people. It is also unquestionably dangerous. However, motocross is legal in Australia. Paintball is also almost identical to airsoft. I am aware that paintballs hurt less than a pellet, however other injuries such as sprained ankles, heat stroke, ect are still possible.
In order to minimise risk, players wear appropriate safety gear. It is a requirement to wear a helmet at all times while playing paintball. So it would not be difficult to wear a helmet when playing airsoft. As you can expect, rules and regulations surrounding airsoft fields would require all players, coaches, ect to wear appropriate and approved safety equipment. This isn’t something new. Almost all fields in America, Europe, ect require players to wear eye protection and closed shoes at a minimum.
Risk of injury is a reasonable explanation as to why it should be banned. However airsoft is not usually considered a very dangerous sport, and the risk of injury can be minimised through appropriate rules and regulations seen in similar sports.
Yes, most other sports also do contain a possible risk of injury, but Airsoft, in my opinion is one of the sports that have the highest risk of injury, sometimes serious ones. Yes, players do also wear protective gear but this is not true in every case. As a fact, there is also a possibility that players cheat by not calling their hits. This will greatly increase the risk for injury in this sport.
Round 3
I am fully aware that airsoft has a risk of injury. However, this alone is not a reason to ban the sport. There are many other sports with a higher risk to injury and death. Most of these sports continue to function today. I can tell you first hand how dangerous motorsport is. My parents were paramedics at the local race track. I have been a racing driver for five years. We have seen some very serious incidents. I even have a few stories of some incidents I have been involved in. However, that does not stop me or others from continuing to race, nor does the government wish to ban the sport due to these incidents. Injuries happen in all sports. Injuries are likely to happen in airsoft. Yet millions of people continue to participate in this sport worldwide.
In order to support my arguments. I will list possible injuries seen in airsoft, and explain how to deal with the injury.
Bruises, blisters, and cuts
If a pellet were to hit a player in a soft location. (Eg. Their face) It is likely to leave a small cut. This problem can be easily solved by enforcing a rule stating that all participants must wear a mask in order to protect against cuts and bruises. The mask will also cover their eyes which will prevent eye injuries. Full length clothing may also be required in order to prevent cuts to the players arms, legs, ect. This would not be difficult to implement as it is already used in similar sports such as paintball.
Heat stroke
A common problem especially on Australia. This one is easy to deal with. The field just needs to sell bottled water, or have a water fountain available to players, spectators, coaches, ect. If heat stoke were still to happen, the coaches would naturally know how to treat heat stroke as they would require a first aid certificate in order to work at the field.
Muscle sprains
There is no possible way to prevent this. It would explain why it is common in almost all sports. Players running through the field with their guns drawn, it is likely someone may sprain their ankle or tear a muscle. If this is a problem, then go ahead and ban football. The players having to run and change direction quickly means that these injuries are common. However, it is not strong enough grounds to ban the sport.
As I said before, injuries will happen. However, that reason alone is not enough to keep this sport banned from the public. If it is, then go ahead and ban other sports such as football and essentially all motorsports. Each sport comes with its own risk. Some more dangerous than others. However, banning them for that reason alone is no excuse.
Forfeited
Round 4
Because my opponent had forfeited the round, I will simply expand on the current discussion regarding injuries in airsoft with a few short paragraphs.
When you stated that airsoft has a higher risk of injuries, this may be true. However the possible injuries in airsoft are not the most harmful injuries. I am fully aware of big injuries that you may see in YouTube videos, however these are outliers. The most common injuries are simple cuts, bruises, and blisters. These injuries can easily be treated with clean water and a band-aid.
Injuries happen in all sports. Banning one because of the potential injuries that may occur is useless. Especially when more dangerous sports are available even for young children to participate in. Kart racing can be considered a dangerous sport. However the minimum driver age is 7 years old.
Forfeited
Round 5
I don’t know if there is any point voting in this debate as my opponent has forfeited both round 3 and 4. I assume he will also forfeit this round too. There is not much I am able to explain in this round as I have already stated my arguments in the previous rounds. As a short summary, I will just say that airsoft should be legalised in Australia because there is no reason for it to be banned in the first place. The burden of proof was on my opponent however the debate in general failed.
To everyone else, don’t worry about voting. We will both just forget about this debate and move on.
Forfeited
