I am looking into buying an "Airsoft" gun, but would like to know more about the laws, in particular if I am allowed to shoot one in the backyard of my row-house without the neighbors yelling or calling the police?
When I was a kid growing up in the US, me and everyone I knew had BB guns and shot them in the backyard without problems, but of course that was a different time and place. "Airsoft" guns are not even as powerful as regular BB guns, "regular" BB guns shoot between 500-1000 fps (feet per second), while most Airsoft guns shoot in the 200-500fps range. I saw some YouTube videos of them, and one guy shooting at a can would dent it, but the BB wouldn't go thru the metal so it's clearly not that powerful and seems to be more in the "toy" range. Before 2008 they were considered toys in Switzerland, but it seems since 2008 they made some new laws, at least requiring a contract to be made when buying one, and sold to only 18 years or older (but I can't find any more info laws other than just that)
Anyway, if anyone has an Airsoft gun or could share some insights, I'd be glad to hear
Sounds as if they’ve been brought under proper gun law. In any case I doubt shooting them off in your backyard would be acceptable, toy or not. Drop in to your local police station and ask them what the rules are.
I had already found and read that, but all it basically says is that there are requirements to purchase one (over 18, show C-Ausweis, etc.) and that it's not allowed to take them in public except for transport. That's all the laws about it? If yes, then using it on "non-public property" ie: in my home and on my yard should be ok then?
I wrote to one of the Airsoft gun retailers in Switzerland, and he said it's allowed to shoot Airsoft guns within your property, however, he also said that because the guns look realistic that you shouldn't do it if your neighbors can see since they will probably get afraid and call the police.
So for shooting at home, you can either shoot outside if neighbors don't see the gun (or gun is not realistic looking), or else shoot indoors in a safe area.
I get spam emails about enlarging my gun all the time, maybe they were meant for you
According to Art. 10 Weapons Law (Waffengesetz,
http://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classifie...208/index.html ) the following are inter alia considered weapons:
f. Compressed air or CO2-Weapons with a muzzle velocity of at least 7,5 Joule or which due to their appearance can be mistaken for real firearms.
g. Imitation, signal or soft-air weapons, which due to their appearance can be mistaken for real firearms.
Art. 11 Weapons Law requires a written contract to purchase such weapons but no weapons buying permit.
In other words, if it has a high enough muzzle velocity or if it looks like a real gun at first glance (Art. 6 Weapons Ordinance, http://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classifie...148/index.html ) it is considered a weapon. This also leads to requirements for storing them, transporting them, etc.