It’s that time of year again. SHOT Show 2012 is in full swing today. Our own illustrious forum master JP is accompanying Claymore, Frosty and the rest of the MSE crew as well as others in Vegas this week to fondle and drool over the latest and greatest the shooting world has to offer. They’ll be keeping us updated as well as extremely jealous. Be sure to watch Kilroy’s MAKO-TV YouTube channel for his video updates.
But Claymore and Frosty arn’t the only Airsoft celebs (yep, I called them celebrities) attending. Arnie of ArniesAirsoft.co.uk will be there, updating the ArniesAirsoft news page. Use the Shot Show news tag to find his posts.
Also, Tim Ellwood from No Airsoft For Old Men (a theme that might resonate with many of our ‘senior’ players) has linked up with the guys from the outstanding YouTube Beat Down Boogie (If you haven’t seen their production, you’re really missing out!), the world-famous Scaar from Austria Airsoft TV, as well as others have already made their way before the start of the convention, having themselves a great time at a local gun range. How many airsoft celebs can you cram into one space?
I could go on, but we all know that everyone and their mother will be there, except those of us who are poor and have to work for a living. All we can do is hit refresh repeatedly on our favorite blogs until the next update, or we crash their server. I’ll try and grab the more interesting stuff that I can, but it will probably be everywhere within a few seconds of posting thanks to Twitter and Facebook. Now that I think about it, it’s a little daunting, considering the sheer amount of information.
This doesn’t appear to be a hoax. If it’s true, this is a blow to airsoft as a whole. Whether you like External Air Systems or not, Daytona Gun provided a high-quality platform, improving exsisting EAS GBB systems. The loss may not register with the wide majority of AEG users, but it does represent a blow to the sport.
From ArniesAirsoft via aznriptide859:
“The issue happened for more than 1 month time, here’s the update: i thought i can get back the money so that i have been shipped out 4 more 249 kits to 4 customers (Jesse / Finland), (Marcus / Sweden), (Danger Close / USA), (Alexander / USA), on 2-Dec-2011, please see attachement. But now i think i will loss that 4 kits also because i cannot feel that i can get any payment from Opforce “Ian Mazzochi”http://www.airsoftgasblowbacks.com . So i can’t ship out anything more because he own me money. Not to talk the old list amount, the current project he own me is another US$3,321.37(pls see attached file) , we argued for whole month and i said this, he said that, nothing was settled, so this is a deadend~! Now his website is still using my photos and receive payment, you can check that in facebook (Airsoftgasblowbacks Gbb). He is selling his own products but i don’t know why if they can do they should use their own photos, not mine. Our workshop have been already closed and there is no more DG, I have changed my job and nothing related to airsoft. I don’t have any relationship with Ian Opforce http://www.airsoftgasblowbacks.com and any other issue about him is none of my business~! Please help to spread it out all around the world~! Thank you for supporting DG in the past. What i know is that there are at lease 5 poeple paid him and cannot get the stuffs. Pls take care before you pay him.
Thanks”
From what I gather, there have been issues between DG himself and the fellow who runs/manages the Airsoft Gas Blowbacks website, which takes and processes the orders for DG guns. I don’t know if the AGBB will continue to make DG-style guns independant of DG, but for now it seems to be prudent to wait before purchasing from them.
Very good informational/instructional video from AirsoftRx with a real Rangemaster providing the dialogue and demo. There are those who do not know or worse, know but don’t heed the four fundimental rules of firearms handling. Even if you are an experienced shooter, it’s always good to review the fundimentals. Remember, these rules apply to airsoft just as they do with real steel.
Earlier this month, a bi-partisan group of sponsors in the Senate introduced S.1832, The Marketplace Fairness Act. It seeks to make it easier for states to collect sales tax from online transactions, particularly in cases where the purchases are made across state lines. A vast majority of online purchases are not taxed. Here, in Oklahoma, we have a “Use Tax” for items purchased out of state that are delievered and used in-state. The Use Tax is almost entirely self-reporting, with virtually no way for the OTC to track purchases made out of sate. Additional rates may apply per local and municiple laws, depending on the consumer’s location. This chiefly covers, but is not limited to, Internet sales. Details on tax reporting can be found on theOklahoma Tax Comission website.
The aim of the Senate bill is to enforce state sales and use tax laws on all Internet purchases. Most online retailers don’t calculate taxes. Amazon does for a few states, but not Oklahoma. Various online retailers have voice their opinions, either in support of or against the bill. Various political groups have also made their opinions public, includingGov. Haley Barbour(R-Miss), stating the “tax exemption” was originally to help encourage online start-ups like Amazon, “…but today, e-commerce has grown, and there is simply no longer a compelling reason for government to continue giving online retailers special treatment over small businesses.” He goes on to site that this “special treatment” for online businesses has hurt, even killed, small local brick-and-mortar businesses, who are forced to charge sales tax on every item purchased in-store.
However, other online giants are fighting it. eBay VP Tod Cohen stated “This is another Internet sales tax bill that fails to protect small business retailers using the Internet and will unbalance the playing field between giant retailers and small business competitors.”
From a political and economic stand-point, it seems to be a double-edge sword; on one side, you have local small independant retail stores that are at a disadvantage tax-wise. On the other side, you have similar small retailers starting up and flourishing with online sales.
So, what’s with all the politics on an airsoft blog? Well, we all know a vast majority of airsoft products are purchased online for various reasons. For many, there are no physical airsoft stores within a reasonable distance to purchase from. Online stores tend to be cheaper due to the low overhead. Further enticing customers are offers of free shipping, not only negating s&h charges, but the cost of gas and time to drive to a local shop. Then, there is the sales tax. I purchase a lot of items online each year, from airsofts to PC parts to video games and more. I can’t think of a single time that I’ve been charged for tax.
The passage of this bill could change that.
Whether you are for or against it, this will have a direct effect on airsoft online business, and could effect airsoft prices as a whole.
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