Airguns Under Attack Again – How Can You Help?
No sooner has the New York State move to ban airguns been paused – at least for the present – now airguns are under attack again. This time it’s at the Federal level. THIS WOULD EFFECT ALL OF US!!!!
I’m aware that some – maybe many – airgunners across the US were less interested in the New York case than – for example, me – as they don’t live here.
But this new attack is at the US Federal level. AGAIN, THIS WOULD EFFECT ALL OF US!!!!
So how can you help? We need some mass collaboration among airgunners, both individually and as an industry.
Please read on…
Airguns Under Attack Again – H.R. 10583
The new bill was introduced to the US House of Representatives on September 24, 2026, and is currently with the Judiciary Committee. The text has not been provided yet, but H.R. 10583 was sponsored by California Representative Kevin Mullin.
It has a simple, yet all-encompassing aim: “To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to classify lethal air guns as firearms.”
It defines a “lethal air gun” in the following terms.
A .177 caliber pellet expelled at a muzzle velocity of not less than 800 feet per second.
B .22 caliber pellet expelled at a muzzle velocity of not less than 500 feet per second.
C .25 caliber pellet expelled at a muzzle velocity of not less than 450 feet per second.
D Any metallic pellet above .25 caliber.
WOW!!!!!
You can read the full summary here.
Kevin Mullin has been Representative for California’s 15th congressional district since Jan. 3, 2023. His web site is here.
Airguns Under Attack Again – Can You Help To Establish Some Facts?
Representative Mullin’s web page cites a terrible story. It describes how “Garrett Edwards, a constituent of Rep. Mullin, struggled with mental health during the pandemic and was prohibited from possessing a firearm by law. Yet, sadly, when his condition worsened, Garrett legally purchased a lethal airgun online and used it to take his own life.”
This is just awful :-(
However, my attention has been drawn to a very interesting question raised today in the HAM Community by member Ezana4CE. In summary, he says he searched for information on this incident but was unable to find anything.
I searched too, and also found nothing. Why is that?
So I’m asking any reader of this piece to help by searching publicly-available online records for details of this terrible tragedy. To be clear, that’s only online, non-intrusive, non-personal, non-physical searching of public records. Nothing illegal or unethical, not even close to it!
In particular, if you are an airgunner with specialized knowledge or capabilities – such as a lawyer – I would very much welcome any input to this post in the HAM Community.
Representative Mullins’ website gives us some places to start searching. It says:
- The young man’s name was Garrett Edwards.
- His mother’s name is Ann Edwards.
- Garrett died some time following the pandemic. (So maybe 2022 or later?)
- Garrett was a constituent of Representative Mullins. That means that he lived in California’s 15th Congressional district – approximately much of San Mateo County and the southeast side of San Francisco.
As Ezana4CE notes, such evidence could be very important. It should also be discoverable from online public records – wouldn’t you think?
Please let everyone know what you find below. Thank you.
Airguns Under Attack Again – Join The Airgun Sporting Association
OK, OK, you’ve heard this before, but I’m going to keep on saying it! There’s one other thing you can do.
The ASA is the best voice we have to protect airgunning. Period.
If you haven’t joined yet, please consider doing so. Joining costs less than one tin of decent pellets.
The larger the ASA’s membership, the more chance it has to help us all.
Thank you.
