Why so many youngins?
 

There is a certain Toronto airsoft retailer that whenever I go to their store there are scads of Justin bieber lookalikes with thier moms in tow forking over wads of cash for rifles, pistols, etc.
Now I like this store and the people who run it, and I understand the allure of hard cash, but is it smart to sell to these tweens even if hillbilly mom is there with them? Most of them can't play at fields (whose gonna play with a 14yr old?) and if these kids don't have a healthy outlet to play with these guns, sooner or later someone's gonna do something stupid like bring it to school to show his buddies.

Thoughts?

Discuss your reservations with the retailer, tell them you will take your business elsewhere if they continue to sell to minors. If they tell you to go pound salt, then come back and post up the conversation and who the retailer is so that other TO area players who are of a like mind as you can also vote with their dollar.

But technically they are not selling to minors, they're selling to the parents there, even though effectively they are putting them into the hands of kids

It's a fine line.
They're not technically selling to minors, but they're fully aware that their product is being bought for the intent of being used by minors

When i was working in a liquor store, the instruction was to refuse to sell booze to adults if we knew it was bought for minors.

At the end of the day we all have to abide by our own moral compass - if someone bought a gun from me on the classifieds and shows up to pick it up at my doorstep with 14yo Timmy in tow, and it's for the kid, I would refuse the sale...

Unfortunately there are a lot of parents out there who think it's a GOOD idea to buy their little 'uns perfect replicas of assault rifles etc, nothing you can do about that, so all you can do is vote with your dollar.

One would think the legitimate market would be big enough to support retailers by now....

I agree with TC, it's a fine line. Who's to say that they won't be supervised (lol at that). I know another retailer who instructs their staff to refuse sale to random parents buying for their kids but if it's a seemingly responsible parent (based on their judgement and I think I've seen like 2 or 3 parents who actually meet the requirement) or a regular player buying for their kid/nephew or whatever it's fine.

@ Happy1: With alcohol if it's a glass of wine or a beer at BBQ's or whatever that's fine but I assume you mean hobos or random guys who buy for kids. I've never had to deal with that kind of BS when I was at the liqour store with my dad when I was like 17/18 but that said we're not exactly people who look irresponsible and the stuff we were buying wasn't just cheap hard liquor that people have the intention of getting smashed off of.

I think that's a good method to go by. You have to look at who the intended customer is, and base the conditions of purchase on that.

I've stopped buying from that particular retailer in store or online due to the above mentioned issues.

I like no love my sport. I know retailers need to make money... but when those soccer moms call their MPs and MPPs when little johnny shoots his eye out and how could they have access to such things etc etc etc.
My beloved sport might have some issues!

If a canadian retailer needs to break/bend hard and fast rule of a community to maintain profitablility when the markups were massive and still are high... they might want to take a look at thier business model.

Just sayin!

Edit: Yes I would say I'm a bit hippocritial because I had my own rim fire .22 LR and a breach load .410 when I was ten. But I knew that wasn't a toy and it was a tool that my father taught me to hunt with.

I'm 14 and I've been playing for a couple years. I have a job and I pay for my own guns. I know my responsablitys and I would never take my gun out in public.im not a pro, but I've had a couple good games where a dominate the field.

I don't think individual cases are really the issue at hand, your being responsible is not really pertinent to the OPs posting.

I still agree with you though, some of my friends are retards when it comes to gun safety. "wouldn't it be hilarious is we took your MP5 and shot that car" one time my friend was so ignorant he took my gun and shot one of his friends and I had the cops pulled on me because it was my gun. Most minors are pretty irresponsible with guns, I wish there was a way that we could separate the dumbass' from the respectable players.

Sadly there's no way. That's why there is a thread on this :P

unfortunately there isn't. minors or not, stupid people will be stupid regardless of age. the only thing we have is the age of majority, where an idiot would be held legally accountable for his/her actions. that is THE issue with minors getting these airsoft guns, and not about how mature they are.
parents needs to have it hammered into their thick skulls that until their child hits 18, THEY are the ones who will be held personally and legally responsible to any shit their child does with the airsoft gun.

anyone else been a victim of paintball drive by? sucks living near Sargent Splatters.. urg

Problem is shit don't stick to minors, they can not be held legally responsible because of their age (probably why so many see themselves as invincible at times). And when was the last time you've seen or heard a soccer mom disciplining her child?

Can't retailers have a clause that all legal responsibility ends after selling airsoft guns to 18+ individuals meaning whatever they do with it afterwards like handing it over to a minor, said retailer can't be punished by the law. Doesn't do much to protect the sport but at least it puts more emphasis on the actions of the purchaser. I honestly don't think there is a way to detect straw purchases unless it was in plain sight.