New York, May 15 (ANI): Toy guns sold in US can easily be transformed into the real killing machines. The popular airsoft or paintball guns which are used to shoot pellets of colour have a similar bottom half as their lethal cousins the AR-15.
�The airsoft can be converted to an AR-15,� firearms manufacturer Leo Gonnuscio told FoxNews.com after testing the make and model of airsoft guns seized by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) .
Gonnuscio said he was surprised to find that he was able to to transform this particular gun to the real thing — and with �minimal work,� because its bottom half, or �receiver,� is so similar to an AR-15”s, the report said.
To make the airsoft receiver function just like an AR-15�s, all one has to do is drill a hole. And once that”s out of the way, the rest is even easier. The AR-15 receiver is the only part of the semi-automatic rifle that is given a serial number, and is the only part that is regulated.
The cost of buying the Taiwan-made airsoft gun and all the parts needed to convert it to an AR-15 comes to roughly $1,100 — more than the cost of some real AR-15s. But someone who can�t clear a background check or has been refused a gun for any other reason could use this method to make his own lethal weapon.
The makeshift gun would likely be able to fire only 15-20 rounds before it stopped working due to the pressure it would have to withstand while firing in an automatic fashion.
Gonnuscio said: �It may not last forever, but they�ve got a gun to get the job done that they were assigned to do, and nobody knows the wiser.�
Meanwhile, the (ATF) is already in the know of the airsoft�s possible abuse. However, the guns continue to be sold in stores around the country, and it appears to be bowing to critics and reconsidering its stance on the guns” convertibility.
�We�re having to take a serious look at this, so it�s just something that we�re reviewing, and I�m hoping we�ll have some information that we can make available to the public certainly very soon,� ATF spokesman Drew Wade told FoxNews.com.
Commercial considerations are also responsible for the unregulated sale of these guns, the U.S. is such a big market for these airsoft guns, Gonnuscio said, a foreign manufacture would change the product if its current design were banned here.
�There are tons of good uses for these guns: We use them for training, kids do reenacting with them, kids get out there and play just like the old days. So let them have their toys.
�Just make sure they”re still toys,� he adds as a word of caution. (ANI)