A question about "importing"

[Shatter]

I'm going to be staying with my dad for the summer - he lives in the San Francisco bay area. If I buy an airsoft gun there, can I bring it back with me? Or should I just buy one here and take it down?

[Amos]

You should buy one there and leave it there.

[pusangani]

really? May '09 and you haven't found the FAQ yet?

[L473ncy]

No one way only (from Canada to US) not the other way around due to importation laws.

Just buy one in SF and leave it there or taking one from Canada to the US will prove to be costly.

[Shatter]

Thanks for the quick response guys. Since I live here most of the time, it's not worth it for me to buy one there for a few weeks of fun.

[L473ncy]

In that case if you're there for like 5 or 6 weeks then just rent from the field and don't worry about it. I mean over a visit how many times do you honestly think you're going to play? There's other things to do as well right, like picking up chicks, going to the beach, and such. If it's a yearly thing then it may be worth it (lets say you play 3 times over a 6 week period and do it yearly, a gun costs like $350-450 in the US lets say a TM S-System for $450 (USD)) but if it's once in a while then I would just save the hassle and rent from the field.

So... $450/3 (times a year) = it "costs" $150 per outing in one year, now lets say you do it every year for the next 10 years (divide by 10), you now pay $15 to use the gun each outing (that's 30 outings total). Tell me if it's worth it to you or if you'd rather rent. It might be a different story if you decide to move to the US permanently for work or something but for now I would say rent and focus on other things while you're there.

[grantmac]

Although you cannot import any guns, you owe it to yourself to check out Airsoft Extreme while your down there. The store is in Santa Clara.
Last time I was in the bay area I dropped by and did several hours of "test driving". Then I bought a few accessories.

-grant