III. Firearm Information by Type

G. Airguns

2. Ten Reasons You Should Own an Airgun

1. They can be shot at home (even in an apartment). If you shoot into a carboard box filled with newspaper no one will hear you.
2. They are cheap - less than fifty dollars for an American model (long or short guns) or two-hundred and up for imported (and generally higher quality) models. High quality pellets are less than two cents each if you don't buy "match-grade".

   These two factors let you shoot a *lot*. I shoot a Webley air pistol ($180) and a Crosman CO2 revolver ($40) in my basement. I fire twenty to thiry shots *per day* in the winter (when I don't have yard work) and my firearm shooting shows a noticeable improvement during those months.

3. They are safe. All the standard gun safety rules apply to airguns, but when my seven year old daughter accidently pointed an air pistol at me I was sure glad it wasn't a .44 mag. (She has now become a gun- saftey Nazi, and gets called on by the leaders of her 4-H shooting club to teach others the rules.)

   "Don't EVER use an airgun without eye protection - You'll shoot someone's eye out."
   Love, Your Mom

4. You can transport them across state lines and on airplanes (not carry on). I bring an air pistol on business trips and vacations and shoot in hotel rooms. A wastebasket full of crumpled newspaper, with a flat (uncrumpled) section of the paper at the bottom, will stop the pellets very well. I also bring them with me when I visit my brother in another state. As you can see by now, I like to shoot a lot. Airguns make this possible.
5. They are excellent for picking off chipmunks in the garden, or driving off sex-crazed tomcats, or dogs. Felt "cleaning" pellets are available for teaching an animal a painful lesson without causing permanent harm. Of course you'll obey all applicable laws in this respect.
6. You can teach youngsters the basics of sight picture, trigger control, and safety, without worrying about noise, recoil, or getting dirt stuck in the muzzle when they use the gun as a walking stick. Getting shot is still a worry, but it is not nearly as big a problem as it is with firearms (see #3 above). My daughters were not allowed to shoot firearms until they demonstrated *total* understanding and commitment to safety.
7. You can give the used pellets you collect to your friends who cast their own black powder projectiles. (They are pure lead, and too soft for firearm bullets without hardening agents.)
8. You can learn to shoot ping-pong balls and aluminum cans out of the air, which is great training for shotgunning, and impresses your rifle-shooting friends who only shoot twenty rounds per year just before deer season.
9. With a match-grade rifle and a scope you can pursue that ultimate in dangerous game - the wasp.
10. The slow pace of an airgun (usually single-shot) and the lack of noise seems to translate into more disciplined shooting - there is far less tendency to "Spray-and-Pray". Even the revolver takes longer to reload than a firearm.