With apologies to Illusion who just locked the last thread.
I'm sure people have wondered why I rarely make any comment on the legal issues around AS when it is being discussed. The reason is, that it takes a good chunck of time to do a good job on a legal issue and unless I am going to get the answer perfect, I am not going to make any comment at all.
I should say that from time to time I have engaged in some informal discussions with people who have invested a lot of time on the issue and think that many of them (Brian, Saint, etc) are on the right track.
To help those who are curious on this issue I did a really quick and dirty search for decided caselaw involving airsoft and found the following:
http://www.canlii.org/eliisa/search....unal=tribunals
or
1.Poirier v. Canada Border Services Agency, 2007 CanLII 11265 (C.I.T.T.) — 2007-03-08
Canada — Canadian International Trade Tribunal
spring airsoft rifle — resemble with near precision — antique firearm — prohibited — arme Ã* feu
2.Asia Pacific Enterprises Corporation v. Canada (Customs and Revenue), 2006 CanLII 53962 (C.I.T.T.) — 2006-06-12
Canada — Canadian International Trade Tribunal
replica firearm — guns — airsoft pistol — resemble with near precision — muzzle velocity
3.Koy v. Canada (Customs and Revenue), 2006 CanLII 53964 (C.I.T.T.) — 2006-06-06
Canada — Canadian International Trade Tribunal
resemble with near precision — antique firearm — airsoft pistol — definition of replica firearm — intended to exactly resemble
4.Leung v. Canada (National Revenue), 2002 CanLII 46865 (C.I.T.T.) — 2002-02-27
Canada — Canadian International Trade Tribunal
replica firearms — tariff item — goods — resemble with near precision — prohibited devices
5.Wong v. Canada (Border Services), 2006 CanLII 54093 (C.I.T.T.) — 2006-07-18
Canada — Canadian International Trade Tribunal
submachine gun — resemble with near precision — antique firearm — definition of replica firearm — intended to exactly resemble
6.Ross v. Canada Border Services Agency, 2007 CanLII 11266 (C.I.T.T.) — 2007-03-13
Canada — Canadian International Trade Tribunal
gun — intended to exactly resemble — antique firearm — rifle — definition of replica firearm
7.Rollins v. Canada (Customs and Revenue), 2001 CanLII 26492 (C.I.T.T.) — 2001-12-21
Canada — Canadian International Trade Tribunal
gun — firearm — properly classified under tariff item — prohibited — weapon
8.Servello v. Canada (Customs and Revenue), 2002 CanLII 46682 (C.I.T.T.) — 2002-06-19
Canada — Canadian International Trade Tribunal
replica firearm — resemble with near precision — good — properly classified under tariff item — red piece of plastic
9.Wong v. Canada (Customs and Revenue), 2006 CanLII 54064 (C.I.T.T.) — 2006-07-12
Canada — Canadian International Trade Tribunal
resemble with near precision — semi-automatic pistol — antique firearm — intended to exactly resemble — prohibited
10.Smith v. Canada (Customs and Revenue), 2003 CanLII 54630 (C.I.T.T.) — 2003-09-23
Canada — Canadian International Trade Tribunal
device — resemble with near precision — replica firearm — properly classified under tariff item — intended to exactly resemble
On a quick and dirty search these were the decided cases that used the term airsoft. You will note, that none of these are court cases per se, they are all tribunal cases. If you take the time to read them, in all 10 cases the tribunal decided that the AS guns in question indeed satisfied the CCC definition of a replica firearm.
If I do more research I will pass it along, but I am fairly busy these days, and legal stuff I like to do perfect.
Best
LD